Catch Composition and Selectivity of Fishing Gears in a Multi-Species Indonesian Coral Reef Fishery

There are millions of small-scale fishers worldwide that rely on coral reefs for their livelihood. Yields from many of these coral reef fisheries, however, have been declining. In Indonesia and other coral reefs worldwide, management approaches are dominated by marine protected areas but other options including gear-restrictions may be feasible and more adaptive to local ecological and social conditions. Yet, there is little data on the impacts and selectivity of fishing gears for coral reef fisheries. In this paper, we present results from a case study on the island of Lombok, where we examine the selectivity and overlap in catch composition of the two main fishing gear types: spearguns and handlines. The catch per unit effort (CPUE) was greater in handlines than spearguns, 10.8 and 9.97 kg trip-1, respectively. The two gears targeted different fish communities with little overlap in dominant species, suggesting a partitioning of resources; handlines targeted piscivores, whereas spearguns targeted mostly herbivores. Mean trophic level was 3.6 for the handline catch and 2.8 for spearguns, where it was inversely related to CPUE. Spearguns captured more species overall and the number of species increased as the CPUE increased. Length parameters of maturity indicated that neither gear showed signs of (growth) overfishing and fishing grounds dominated by speargun fishers had catches associated with younger ages at first maturity than handlines. Our findings provide local baseline data on the potential utility of gear restrictions as a management tool. Specifically, managers could monitor reefs and reduce handlines when piscivorous fishes are low and on spearguns when species diversity is low or algal abundance is high. Should it become more desirable to implement ecosystem approaches to management that are adaptive to changing ecological and social conditions, these indicators may be used as starting points along with local management preferences of fishers

Stakeholder participation in management planning for grouper and snapper fisheries in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia

In 2016, a collaborative management planning for grouper and snapper fisheries started in Saleh Bay, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia, as the first attempts to adapt a national fisheries management plan engaging local stakeholder (such as government units, fishers, traders, academics, and non-governmental organisations). In this work, we describe a management planning based on stakeholders over two years. We found that engaging stakeholders from the beginning fostered a strong sense of ownership within the planning process; enabled scientifically generated recommendations to lead to the most suitable management measures; and facilitated early communication leading to acceptance of the proposed fishing rules during public consultations. To synthesis the process, we propose and discuss a framework aiming to guide management planning in other parts of Indonesia

Reef Fish Status in Northern Acehnese Reef Based on Management Type

The objectives of this study were to provide reliable data and information on reef fish in the northern Aceh region of Weh and Aceh islands based on management types. Using underwater visual census techniques at 29 sites around Weh Island and Aceh Islands. Reef fish abundance in in area that were protected under the management of Panglima Laot of Sabang Weh Island (32505 no.ha-1) and biomass (748 kg.ha-1) were also significantly higher than in Aceh Islands which is open access areas (abundance=9539 no.ha-1; biomass=396 kg.ha-1). Fish species from the family Pomacentridae (damsel fish) were highest in abundance and biomass at northern Acehnese reef. Population of carnivorous fish such as parrotfish (Family Scaridae) was low in all study sites which indicated that northern Acehnese reef is lack of reef resilience both in managed and open access area. Higher numbers and abundance of reef fish in marine managed areas, such as Panglima Laot in Sabang, could be considered for further conservation purpose of marine resources

Disturbance to coral reefs in Aceh, Northern Sumatra: impacts of the Sumatra-Andaman tsunami and pre-tsunami degradation

The Sumatra-Andaman tsunami of 26 December 2004 was the first to occur in areas for which good ecological data existed prior to the event and consequently provided\ud a unique opportunity to assess the effects of this type of natural disturbance in tropical marine ecosystems. Less than 100 days after the event we visited 49 sites on coral reefs\ud in northern Aceh, Indonesia, all within 300 km of the epicentre, to determine the nature and extent of tsunami damage and pre-tsunami disturbance. Reef fish diversity and\ud abundance were also assessed in relation to tsunami impact and existing marine resource management regulations. At these sites, the initial damage to corals, while occasionally spectacular, was surprisingly limited and trivial when compared to pre-existing damage most probably caused by destructive fishing practices. The abundance of up-turned corals was highly dependent on habitat and largely restricted to corals growing in unconsolidated substrata at depth, a feature we believe unique to tsunami disturbance.\ud Other evidence of tsunami damage, including the abundance of broken corals and recently killed corals was patchy and varied unpredictably between sites: reef aspect, geographic location and management regime had no significant effect on these variables with the exception of broken live corals which were more abundant at locations where the tsunami was larger. Interestingly, there was little correlation between damage variables, suggesting the type of damage observed was strongly influenced by which corals were present at a particular site or depth. In contrast, reef condition was clearly correlated with the management regime. Coral cover was on average 2-3 times higher on reefs managed under the traditional Acehnese system, Panglima Laut, and in the Pulau Rubiah Marine Park when compared to open access areas. Turf algae and coral rubble were 2-3 times more abundant in open access sites compared with managed areas. These results are\ud consistent with a history of destructive fishing practices, such as bombing and cyanide fishing in open access areas. Coral reef fish abundance and diversity did not differ among\ud management zones, despite the fact that Pulau Rubiah Marine Park has been closed to fishing for 10 years. However, there were consistent differences in the structure of the reef fish assemblages among these zones. For example, the near absence of chaetodontids at open access sites is probably the result of low coral cover. The high abundance of\ud scarids and acanthurids in the Marine Park, suggests that while management efforts have failed to allow fish to increase in abundance, they have been effective at protecting certain species. The tsunami had no detectable affect on reef fish assemblages at these sites. This lack of major damage means that neither the conservation priorities nor the risks to reefs have been changed by the tsunami and it is vitally important that resources are not directed to short term, small scale, rehabilitation programs which will not reverse long term declines in reef condition which were evident at many of our sites

Acehnese reefs in the wake of the Asian tsunami

The Sumatra-Andanaman tsunami was one of the greatest natural disasters in recorded human history. Here, we show that on the northwest coast of Aceh, Indonesia, where the tsunami was most ferocious [1], the damage to corals, although occasionally spectacular, was surprisingly limited. We detected no change in shallow coral assemblages between March 2003 and March 2005, with the exception of one site smothered by sediment. Direct tsunami damage was dependent on habitat and largely restricted to corals growing in unconsolidated substrata, a feature unique to tsunami disturbance. Reef condition, however, varied widely within the region and was clearly correlated with human impacts prior to the tsunami. Where fishing has been controlled, coral cover was high. In contrast, reefs exposed to destructive fishing had low coral cover and high algal cover, a phase shift the tsunami may exacerbate with an influx of sediments and nutrients [2]. Healthy reefs did not mitigate the damage on land. Inundation distance was largely determined by wave height and coastal topography. We conclude that although chronic human misuse has been much more destructive to reefs in Aceh than this rare natural disturbance [3], human modification of the reef did not contribute to the magnitude of damage on land

BioTIME : a database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene [data paper]

Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Main types of variables included: The database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record. Spatial location and grain: BioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km(2) (158 cm(2)) to 100 km(2) (1,000,000,000,000 cm(2)). Time period and grainBio: TIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year. Major taxa and level of measurement: BioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates