Assessing Assemblage Composition of Reproductively Mature Resource Fishes at a Community Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA)

• Published in: Diversity (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 3; p. 114
• Main Authors: Weible, Rebecca M., Rodgers, Ku‘ulei S., Friedlander, Alan M., Hunter, Cynthia L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-03-2021
• Subjects: assemblage composition; Benthos; Biodiversity; Biomass; Commercial fishing; community based subsistence fishing area; Community support; Composition; Coral reefs; Enforcement; Fish; Fisheries; Fisheries management; Fishing; Invertebrates; L50; marine protected area; Marine protected areas; Polls & surveys; Protected areas; Random sampling; reproductive maturity; resource fishes; Sampling designs; Species diversity; Statistical sampling; Papua New Guinea
• ISSN: 1424-2818; 1424-2818
• DOI: 10.3390/d13030114

Nearshore fisheries in Hawai‘i have been steadily decreasing for over a century. Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been utilized as a method to both conserve biodiversity and enhance fisheries. The composition of resource fishes within and directly outside of the recently established Hā‘ena Community Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA) on the island of Kaua‘i were assessed to determine temporal and spatial patterns in assemblage structure. In situ visual surveys of fishes, invertebrates, and benthos were conducted using a stratified random sampling design to evaluate the efficacy of the MPA between 2016 and 2020. L50 values—defined as the size at which half of the individuals in a population have reached reproductive maturity—were used as proxies for identifying reproductively mature resource fishes both inside and outside the CBSFA. Surveys between 2016 and 2020 did not indicate strong temporal or spatial changes in overall resource fish assemblage structure; however, some species-specific changes were evident. Although overall resource species diversity and richness were significantly higher by 2020 inside the MPA boundaries, there is currently no strong evidence for a reserve effect.