Marine reserves: patterns of adult movement of the coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus (Serranidae))

Movements of Plectropomus leopardus (Serranidae), a major fisheries species, across marine reserve boundaries were investigated on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Mark-release-recapture and ultrasonic telemetry were used to assess movements. Mark-release-recapture used hook and line as the method of capture and underwater visual census (UVC) as the "recapture" tool. Catch rates were significantly higher in zones closed to fishing, despite UVC indicating no significant differences in density between closed and open zones. Of 183 fish marked with numerical freeze brands, 93 estimates of movements of branded fish were obtained. No branded fish was recorded to cross the reserve boundaries during the 2-month study, probably due to the initial decision to allocate capture effort evenly across the study area, rather than concentrating it on reserve boundaries. Fish carrying ultrasonic transmitters, and having home ranges straddling reserve boundaries, crossed boundaries on average 15.3 times ·month-1. The mean distance moved by freeze branded specimens between capture and recapture was significantly larger in areas closed to fishing than in those open to fishing. However, mean distance moved per day determined by ultrasonic telemetry did not differ between areas closed and open to fishing. This study suggests low flux rates of adult P. leopardus across marine reserve boundaries.

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Population estimates and size structure of Plectropomus leopardus (Pisces : Serranidae) in relation to no-fishing zones: mark-release-resighting and underwater visual census

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf99020 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 51 (3) ◽

pp. 221 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

D. C. Zeller ◽

G. R. Russ

Keyword(s):

Great Barrier Reef ◽

Population Size ◽

Size Structure ◽

Barrier Reef ◽

Visual Census ◽

Underwater Visual Census ◽

Coral Trout ◽

Population Size Estimates ◽

Lizard Island ◽

Plectropomus Leopardus

A mark–release–resighting (MRR) technique was used to estimate population size of the coral trout, Plectropomus leopardus, on coral reefs fringing Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Fish were captured by hook-and-line fishing, and marked with individual freeze-brand numbers in August 1995. An underwater visual census (UVC) technique was used during September and October 1995 both for resighting of marked fish and to make an independent estimate of fish density and thus population size. The study area was 750 966 m2 . The UVC sampled 154 000 m2 (20.5%) of this area. Six different methods of analysis of MRR gave similar population size estimates (e.g. Petersen 12 873; 95% CI 9989–15 754) extrapolated to the 4.5 million-m2 reef area from datum to 20-m depth around Lizard Island. UVC gave a population size estimate (24 182; 95% CI 21 860–26 504) twice that of MRR. The lower estimate derived from MRR may be the result of tag-induced mortality, or of the relative difficulty in discriminating between marked and unmarked trout by UVC. This is only the second estimate of population size of coral trout on an area of the Great Barrier Reef.

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eDNA metabarcoding as a biomonitoring tool for marine protected areas

10.1101/2020.08.20.258889 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Zachary Gold ◽

Joshua Sprague ◽

David J. Kushner ◽

Erick Zerecero ◽

Paul H. Barber

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Fish Species ◽

Marine Protected Areas ◽

Marine Reserve ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Site Occupancy ◽

Visual Methods ◽

Visual Census ◽

Underwater Visual Census ◽

Promising Alternative

AbstractMonitoring of marine protected areas (MPAs) is critical for marine ecosystem management, yet current protocols rely on SCUBA-based visual surveys that are costly and time consuming, limiting their scope and effectiveness. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is a promising alternative for marine ecosystem monitoring, but more direct comparisons to visual surveys are needed to understand the strengths and limitations of each approach. This study compares fish communities inside and outside the Scorpion State Marine Reserve off Santa Cruz Island, CA using eDNA metabarcoding and underwater visual census surveys. Results from eDNA captured 76% (19/25) of fish species and 95% (19/20) of fish genera observed during pairwise underwater visual census. Species missed by eDNA were due to the inability of MiFish 12S barcodes to differentiate species of rockfishes (Sebastes, n=4) or low site occupancy rates of crevice-dwelling Lythrypnus gobies. However, eDNA detected an additional 30 fish species not recorded in paired visual surveys, but previously reported from prior visual surveys, highlighting the sensitivity of eDNA. Significant variation in eDNA signatures by location (50m) and site (~1000m) demonstrates the sensitivity of eDNA to address key questions such as community composition inside and outside MPAs. Interestingly, eDNA results recorded higher species richness outside the MPA while visual surveys observed the opposite pattern. This result is likely caused by swamping effects of high fish abundance in MPAs that reduce detection probabilities of pelagic and intertidal taxa. Results demonstrate the utility of eDNA metabarcoding for monitoring marine ecosystems, providing an important complementary tool to visual methods.

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Perceptions of trends in Seychelles artisanal trap fisheries: comparing catch monitoring, underwater visual census and fishers' knowledge

Environmental Conservation ◽

10.1017/s0376892910000901 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 75-88 ◽

Cited By ~ 63

Author(s):

TIM M. DAW ◽

JAN ROBINSON ◽

NICHOLAS A. J. GRAHAM

Keyword(s):

Statistical Models ◽

Psychological Factors ◽

Information Sources ◽

Scientific Data ◽

Data Sources ◽

Visual Census ◽

Underwater Visual Census ◽

Fisheries Governance ◽

Catch Rates ◽

Memory And Recall

SUMMARYFisheries scientists and managers are increasingly engaging with fishers’ knowledge (FK) to provide novel information and improve the legitimacy of fisheries governance. Disputes between the perceptions of fishers and scientists can generate conflicts for governance, but can also be a source of new perspectives or understandings. This paper compares artisanal trap fishers’ reported current catch rates with landings data and underwater visual census (UVC). Fishers’ reports of contemporary ‘normal’ catch per day tended to be higher than recent median landings records. However, fishers’ reports of ‘normal’ catch per trap were not significantly different from the median CPUE calculated from landings data, and reports of ‘good’ and ‘poor’ catch rates were indicative of variability observed in landings data. FK, landings and UVC data all gave different perspectives of trends over a ten-year period. Fishers’ perceptions indicated greater declines than statistical models fitted to landings data, while UVC evidence for trends varied between sites and according to the fish assemblage considered. Divergence in trend perceptions may have resulted from differences in the spatial, temporal or taxonomic focus of each dataset. Fishers may have experienced and understood behavioural changes and increased fishing power, which may have obscured declines from landings data. Various psychological factors affect memory and recall, and may have affected these memory-based estimates of trends, while different assumptions underlying the analysis of both interview data and conventional scientific data could also have led to qualitatively different trend perceptions. Differing perspectives from these three data sources illustrate both the potential for ‘cognitive conflicts’ between stakeholders who do not rely on the same data sources, as well as the importance of multiple information sources to understand dynamics of fisheries. Collaborative investigation of such divergence may facilitate learning and improve fisheries governance.

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eDNA metabarcoding as a biomonitoring tool for marine protected areas

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0238557 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. e0238557

Author(s):

Zachary Gold ◽

Joshua Sprague ◽

David J. Kushner ◽

Erick Zerecero Marin ◽

Paul H. Barber

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Fish Species ◽

Marine Protected Areas ◽

Marine Reserve ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Site Occupancy ◽

Visual Methods ◽

Visual Census ◽

Underwater Visual Census ◽

Promising Alternative

Monitoring of marine protected areas (MPAs) is critical for marine ecosystem management, yet current protocols rely on SCUBA-based visual surveys that are costly and time consuming, limiting their scope and effectiveness. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is a promising alternative for marine ecosystem monitoring, but more direct comparisons to visual surveys are needed to understand the strengths and limitations of each approach. This study compares fish communities inside and outside the Scorpion State Marine Reserve off Santa Cruz Island, CA using eDNA metabarcoding and underwater visual census surveys. Results from eDNA captured 76% (19/25) of fish species and 95% (19/20) of fish genera observed during pairwise underwater visual census. Species missed by eDNA were due to the inability of MiFish 12S barcodes to differentiate species of rockfishes (Sebastes, n = 4) or low site occupancy rates of crevice-dwelling Lythrypnus gobies. However, eDNA detected an additional 23 fish species not recorded in paired visual surveys, but previously reported from prior visual surveys, highlighting the sensitivity of eDNA. Significant variation in eDNA signatures by location (50 m) and site (~1000 m) demonstrates the sensitivity of eDNA to address key questions such as community composition inside and outside MPAs. Results demonstrate the utility of eDNA metabarcoding for monitoring marine ecosystems, providing an important complementary tool to visual methods.

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Mortality rate of a cohort of the coral trout, Plectropomus leopardus, in zones of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park closed to fishing

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf97224 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 49 (6) ◽

pp. 507 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Garry R. Russ ◽

Dong C. Lou ◽

James B. Higgs ◽

Beatrice P. Ferreira

Keyword(s):

Mortality Rate ◽

Great Barrier Reef ◽

Small Sample ◽

Barrier Reef ◽

Coral Trout ◽

Marine Park ◽

Plectropomus Leopardus ◽

Catch Rates ◽

Small Sample Sizes ◽

Annual Mortality

From 1990 to 1993, samples of coral trout, Plectropomus leopardus, were collected at two coral reefs closed to fishing since 1987 in the central Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The age structure was dominated by a strong cohort which settled in early 1984 and which accounted for 54%, 45%, 42% and 36% of the experimental hook-and-line catches at Glow and Yankee reefs. Catch rates (fish person-1 hour-1) per age class per reef per year provide the first reliable estimates of the exponential rate of mortality of coral trout in zones of the GBR Marine Park closed to fishing. The annual mortality rate between the ages of 6 and 9 years was 0.115 (s.e. 0.040) at Glow reef and 0.189 (s.e. 0.100) at Yankee reef. The annual mortality rate between ages 6 and 9 years was 0.147 (s.e. 0.028) at the two reefs combined. Age-specific estimates of annual mortality ranged from 0.024 (age 7–8 at Glow) to 0.442 (age 6–7 at Yankee) but were unreliable because of small sample sizes. This is one of the first estimates of mortality rate of an exploited species in an area closed to fishing in the tropics.

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Spawning aggregations:patterns of movement of the coral trout Plectropomus leopardus (Serranidae) as determined by ultrasonic telemetry

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps162253 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 162 ◽

pp. 253-263 ◽

Cited By ~ 104

Author(s):

DC Zeller

Keyword(s):

Ultrasonic Telemetry ◽

Coral Trout ◽

Plectropomus Leopardus

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Asosiasi ikan pada terumbu buatan di Teluk Tahuna Kabupaten Kepulauan Sangihe

JURNAL ILMU DAN TEKNOLOGI PERIKANAN TANGKAP ◽

10.35800/jitpt.2.2.2015.9236 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Wenseslaus Fransiscus Makawaehe ◽

Lefrand Manoppo ◽

Revols D.Ch. Pamikiran

Keyword(s):

Visual Census ◽

Underwater Visual Census ◽

Scuba Divers

Minimnya pengetahuan tentang ekologi terumbu buatan merupakan inti masalah perdebatan penggunaannya dalam manajemen sumberdaya perikanan; dan membatasi aplikasi habitat buatan tersebut sebagai alat mitigasi pada berbagai kerusakan lingkungan. Pemahaman ekologi yang lebih baik akan menuntun pada pembuatan desain dan penggunaan struktur buatan secara lebih efektif dan efisien. Hal ini juga akan menjawab pertanyaan tentang manfaat konstruksi habitat buatan pada berbagai kondisi lingkungan. Asosiasi ikan di terumbu buatan bervariasi, namun perlu dilakukan perbandingan jenis ikan yang berasosiasi pada saat air pasang dan air surut. Oleh karena itu penelitian ini bertujuan untuk Membandingkan struktur asosiasi ikan di terumbu buatan pada saat air pasang naik dan pasang surut di perairan Teluk Tahuna. Penelitian ini dilakukan di perairan Teluk Tahuna, Kabupaten Kepulauan Sangihe pada bulan April–Juni 2015; yang didasarkan pada metode deskriptif. Asosiasi ikan di terumbu buatan diamati dengan teknik Underwater visual census (UVC) oleh dua orang SCUBA divers sebanyak 4 kali. Kelimpahan spesies ikan di terumbu buatan dianalisis dengan indeks keragaman dan indeks dominansi. Berdasarkan jumlah individu total ikan yang berasosiasi dengan terumbu buatan, maka nilai tertinggi terdapat pada bulan purnama saat pasang tertinggi (156 ekor), kemudian diikuti bulan kuartir pasang tertinggi (120 ekor), bulan purnama surut terendah (107 ekor) dan bulan kuartir surut terendah (103 ekor). Keanekaragaman spesies ikan, baik pada bulan kuartir maupun pada bulan purnama masih tergolong sedang dan dominansi spesies tergolong rendah

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