1 The University of Western Australia (UWA) – 35 Stirling Highway Crawley Western Australia 6009, Australia
2 Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement (CRIOBE) – Universit´e de Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique : USR3278 – BP 1013 Papetoiai 98729 PAPETOAI, France
3Curtin University – Bentley Western Australia, Australia
No-take marine reserves (marine reserves) are commonly used to assess the impacts of fishing.
Many metrics such as abundance, size classes and biomass have been used in combination with marine reserves to assess the effects of fishing, however a recent study on the behaviour of coral reef fish suggests that behavioural metrics may be more sensitive to changes in fishing pressure than measures of abundance, length or biomass (Goetze et al. 2017). The effectiveness of marine reserves has been found to depend on the life-history and fisheries value of species considered, the size and age of the marine reserves and the level of compliance. In Mo’orea, French Polynesia, a marine reserve network was implemented in 2007 however, underwater visual census surveys have demonstrated inconsistent effects of protection (Thiault et al. in prep). We used diver-operated stereo video (stereo-DOV) to collect data on fish behaviour (using a proxy for wariness, minimum approach distance) simultaneous to abundance and length estimates to determine the effectiveness of three of the marine reserves surrounding Mo’orea. We observed no patterns in total abundance, species richness and the abundance of the two most abundant highly targeted species (Chlorurus spilurus and Ctenochaetus striatus). However, overall wariness was lower within the reserves and increased with increasing body size at a faster rate in fished areas compared to inside the reserve. This was consistent for non-targeted, moderately targeted and highly targeted species. The current reserve network in Mo’orea is not adequately protecting the fish assemblage. We recommend compliance should be increased in the marine reserves to provide adequate protection for the fish assemblages of Mo’orea.
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Partially protected areas: a conservation middle ground?
April Hall ∗† 1, Michael Kingsford 2
1 College of Science and Engineering (JCU) – James Cook University, 1 James Cook Drive, Australia
2 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and College of Science and Engineering (JCU) – Marine Biology, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811,
Australia, Australia
The establishment of marine protected areas to conserve coral reef biodiversity is known to be an effective conservation measure to combat fishing impacts. In the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP), many studies have highlighted the effectiveness of no-take marine re- serves, however, very little data exists for zones that offer partial protection to fishes, such as Conservation Park Zones (CPZs). Conservation Park zones are areas within the GBRMP where partial protection is provided through restrictions on the use of fishing gear (e.g. 1 hook/line per fisher), and prohibition of destructive fishing techniques such as trawling. These zones may offer dual benefits by allowing limited access to fishers whilst potentially gaining a conserva- tion benefit. Conservation Park Zones could be a powerful conservation tool, if they enable the needs of stakeholders to be balanced against conservation goals. Here, we examine trends in predator-prey relationships in CPZs in the Capricorn Bunkers region, and assess their utility for protecting key fishing targets such as coral trout. Surveys were conducted in no-take ma- rine reserves, conservation park zones, and open fishing zones, to encompass a range of fishing intensity. We found evidence of a gradient response to fishing intensity, whereby biomass of coral trout was intermediate in CPZs compared to marine reserves (greatest biomass), and open fishing areas (lowest biomass). There was variation in the response of other trophic groups, however we did find evidence of prey release for small fishes in areas where predators where depleted, which suggests that protection of predators in CPZs may have a flow on effect to other trophic groups. These data provide the first insight into the performance of CPZs on the GBR, and suggest that partial protection may be effective for conserving predatory fishes and trophic relationships. Future studies will more comprehensively examine the role of CPZs in protecting reef fish assemblages and biodiversity, and enable an assessment of the overall value of CPZs within the zoning design. This research will provide much needed insight into the ability for partially protected areas to enable conservation outcomes, and their potential use as a ”conservation middle ground”.
Relationships between Zooplankton Production, Pelagic Fish Production and
Commercial Finfish Catch in Tropical Shelves
Bruce Hodgson ∗ 2,1
2 Bruce.Hodgson@aurecongroup.com – 116 Military Road, Neutral Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2089, Australia
1Aurecon Australasia, Advisory – 116 Military Road, Neutral Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2089, Australia
The purpose of this study was to review Ecopath model results for six tropical shelves (Christensen and Pauly, 1993, Bulman, 2006) to investigate the role of zooplankton production to pelagic fish production as a fundamental process to inform acceptable levels of fish catch in these fishery areas, at the trophic ecosystem level. The investigation of the relationships be- tween productions of pelagic fish with acceptable levels of catch was prompted by Allen’s 1971 paper on the ”Relation between Production and Biomass”. Zooplankton production transfers to small pelagic fish, and from them to pelagic finfish production, was investigated using trophic transfer efficiencies in the six tropical shelf fishery areas. These relationships were then used at Heron Island to estimate the potential acceptable level of fish catch from measurements of zooplankton biomass and estimates of production near Heron Island, in the southern area of the Great Barrier Reef marine park.
The six tropical shelves were reviewed for the following productivity and fish catch relationships:
Estimating Trophic Transfer Efficiencies from zooplankton to fish;
Determining relationships between fish production and the commercial pelagic fish catches;
Considering the role of fish production in the various fishery areas in relation to acceptable levels of fish catches;
Estimating pelagic fish production at Heron Island from the trophic transfer efficiencies and potential fish catch from the tropical shelf relationships between fish production and catch.
The close-fitting relationships between the tropical shelf zooplankton production, pelagic fish production and fish catch data suggests that the fish catches across all these areas are strongly
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related to the productivity of the fisheries. This suggests that fish catches are at acceptable levels because they keep pace with the available production inputs from zooplankton production, into the fishery.
Subject to further investigation, the potential benefits of this approach for fishery management could include consideration of production based fish catches as acceptable levels in marine parks and surrounding areas, with protection of appropriate areas (eg. spawing areas) that generate the fish production supporting the fish catch.
Science inventory of the Austral Islands’
marine environment and project of large marine reserve by the population of the 5
Austral islands
Donatien Tanret ∗ 1, Tihoti Tanepau 2
1The Pew Charitable Trusts – Tahiti Gare maritime, French Polynesia
2School of Tubuai – Tubuai, French Polynesia
A detailed scientific inventory of the Austral Islands’ marine environment has been con- ducted in 2015 by IRCP, CRIOBE and The Pew Charitable Trusts, with thirty experts and four field expeditions.
With a total ocean area of about 1 million square kilometers, the Austral archipelago differs from other island strings in French Polynesia. The diversity of island topographies, the varied characteristics of the Austral climate between a tropical zone and a temperate one, and the Australs’ relative isolation has led to a remarkable diversity of life well preserved and a high number of endemic species, especially among mollusks, fish, coral, and algae. It makes this a valuable site to observe the impacts of a changing climate. The island of Rapa is a hot spot of marine biodiversity, with 112 coral species out of the 170 in all of French Polynesia, 250 species of mollusks and 383 species of coastal fish-10 percent of which are endemic to the island.
In the 1980s, Rapa was able to fix their coastal fish decline through a coastal rahui cover- ing 30% of the coast. This traditional temporary ban on the use of a resource or a territory was widely used in the Polynesian Triangle. But now, local fishermen are experiencing a collapse of their pelagic resources because of industrial fishing of which they are not responsible. Therefore, they want to create a pelagic rahui in the waters of their archipelago. They called this proposal the ” big rahui of Austral islands ”.
After an extensive series of consultations and a participatory and collaborative process, the 5 municipalities and the population of the 5 Austral islands have proposed a large marine reserve in the waters of their archipelago. The proposed zoning foresees 5 coastal fishing areas of 20 nautical miles around each island, with boats smaller than 10 meter long. And a large 1 million km2 no take marine reserve up to the limit of the EEZ where no fishing could occur. This would help protecting the Austral fishing resources for the 1600 Austral artisanal fishermen relying on them for their subsistence.
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The role of marine protected areas in the replenishment of local fisheries
Hugo Harrison ∗ 1, Michael Bode 1, David Williamson 2, Michael Berumen 3,4, Geoff Jones 5
1 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoralCoE) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook University TownsvilleQueensland 4811 Australia, Australia
2 Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (ARC CoE for Coral Reef Studies) – 1 James Cook Drive, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
3 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
4 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) – 266 Woods Hole Road Woods Hole, MA 02543-1050, United States
5 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University (CoralCoE and JCU) – ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Marine Biology and Aquaculture, College of Science
and Engineering, James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia, Australia
The precarious state of many coastal marine ecosystems has prompted the use of marine protected areas (MPAs) as a tool for management and conservation. However, the effectiveness of MPA networks is contingent upon our understanding of the processes that affect population dynamics. Since coral reefs are a naturally patchy and fragmented environment, the degree of connectivity between discrete populations is critical to the persistence of populations and by extension, the subsistence of local fisheries. We compared observed patterns of larval dispersal over successive years for two exploited species of coral reef fish in the Keppel Islands, Great Barrier Reef. We combine parentage analysis with emergent analytical tools in graph theory to determine the consistency of larval export from a small network of no-take MPAs to nearby fished areas. Further, we test the old adage that bigger, older and fatter fish make the greatest contribution to the replenishment of fished population, and provide empirical evidence for the relationship between fish size and local recruitment success. Our findings give unprecedented insight into the mechanisms shaping connectivity patterns in coral reef fish and the role of no-take MPAs in the replenishment of local fisheries.
Towards a network of large marine reserves in the Pacific ocean
J´ erˆ ome Petit ∗ 1
1The Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) – Gare maritime, Papeete, Polyn´esie franácaise, French Polynesia
From the heat of the equator to the deep chills of the North and South poles, the ocean binds the planet together. Making up more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, it is home to nearly a quarter of the world’s known species, many of which still await discovery. But human activities are increasingly threatening its health.
Research shows that large, fully protected marine reserves are a key tool for addressing many challenges to ocean health. Reserves help conserve valuable biodiversity and protect traditional cultures closely linked to the sea.
In 2006, The Pew Charitable Trusts and several partners launched the Global Ocean Legacy project in an effort to establish the world’s first generation of great marine parks. In its 10 years of existence, Global Ocean Legacy helped to obtain commitments to safeguard more than 2.4 million square miles (6.3 million square kilometers) of ocean.
But even with these successes, less than 3 percent of the world’s ocean has strong protections.
Recognizing that the International Union for Conservation of Nature recommends we need to protect 30 percent of our oceans, based on the best-available science, Pew and the Bertarelli Foundation have joined forces in a new partnership with the goal of helping increasing the num- ber of fully protected parks in the sea and contributing to the management of existing marine reserves.
This presentation will review the current efforts undertaken to help creating fully protected ma- rine reserves in New Caledonia, the Austral Islands and Marquesas of French Polynesia, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands and to help managing created and announced marine reserves: Papah¯anaumoku¯akea Marine National Monument, Aus- tralia’s Coral Sea, Easter Island Marine Park, the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary in New Zealand and Palau National Marine Sanctuary.
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Tracking Interactions of Large Marine Protected Areas and Fisheries from Space
Kristina Boerder ∗ 1, Derek Tittensor 2, Boris Worm 1
1 Dalhousie University (DAL) – Biology Department Dalhousie University 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS B3H 4J1, Canada
2 United Nations Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP WCMC) – 219 Huntingdon Rd Cambridge CB3 0DL, United Kingdom
Large Marine Protected Areas (LSMPAs) are increasing both in size and number - since 2012 five protected areas exceeding 1 million km2 have been implemented and further areas have been announced, all located in remote oceanic areas. However, their benefits for highly migratory tuna and billfish, and their associated fisheries, have been difficult to assess empirically. Using novel satellite-based vessel tracking data (AIS) collected by Global Fishing Watch we present global analyses of spatial and temporal patterns of fishing effort in relation to existing LSMPAs.
We exemplify interactions of spatial protection and fisheries for the Gal´apagos Marine Reserve, documenting its effects on tuna and associated purse seine in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. While tuna biomass and catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) are declining in the surrounding area following changes in productivity regimes, areas bordering the Gal´apagos Marine Reserve attract four times the fishing effort and sustain higher catches and CPUE. In conjunction with an extensive review of the current literature on impacts of spatial protection on large pelagic predators we discuss further ongoing analyses of other LSMPAs and the potential of satellite-based vessel tracking data in the context of MPA monitoring and fisheries science.
B3/ Aquaculture of native marine and estuarian South Pacific finfish
Aquaculture in French Polyn´ esia: from rural to industrial sectors
Lafille Marc-Andr´ e ∗ 1
1Direction des ressources Marines et Mini`eres (DRMM) – BP 20 Fare Ute Papeete 98713 TAHITI, French Polynesia
With about 120 islands and atolls spread over 5 archipelagos, French Polynesia has a mar- itime area as large as Europe. With about 280,000 inhabitants, French Polynesia is strongly turned towards the ocean. Marine resources are therefore the most important economic resources of the country (tourism attraction, fishing, pearl farming, etc.). Around the world, as well as in French Polynesia, the demand for sea products is constantly increasing and some natural stocks are decreasing dangerously. Aquaculture allows to limit over-fishing and French Polynesia have a considerable potential for the development of these sustainable sectors (available maritime surface, favorable climate conditions, health status, limited industrialization, etc.). In French Polynesia, aquaculture revolves around different private actors, and the Polynesian government, through the Direction of Marine and Mining Resources with its research partners, intervenes to assist and guide the development of a sustainable Aquaculture. Here, it is proposed to give an overview of Aquaculture in French Polynesia (excluding pearl farming): from a rural to an industrial sector.
Environmental analysis method to guide aquaculture sustainable development: case
study in Mayotte marine natural park
Killian Chary ∗ 1, Myriam Callier 1, Denis Coves 1, Joel Aubin 2, Annie Fiandrino 3
1 Institut Franácais de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la MER - IFREMER (3AS - UMR MARBEC) – Institut Franácais de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la MER - IFREMER – Chemin de Maguelone,
F-34200 Palavas, France
2INRA Rennes (INRA) – UMR 1069 AS – 65 rue de Saint Brieuc CS 84215 35 042 Rennes cedex, France
3Centre for Marine Biodiversity, Exploitation and Conservation (MARBEC) – Institut Franácais de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique -
CNRS, Institut de Recherche pour le D´eveloppement - IRD (FRANCE), Universit´e Montpellier II - Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc – Avenue Jean Monnet CS 30171 34203 S`ete cedex, France
Mayotte Island is a French Outermost Region located in the Indian Ocean. A marine Nature Park was created in 2010 and cover all EEZ. Within Mayotte’s Marine Park management plan, a goal of sustainable aquaculture in Mayotte was recognised by stakeholders and local authori- ties. The marine fish farming sector mainly produced red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) and it is composed of small and medium size farms (200t) to serve the European Market.
The present project aims at developing a methodology to compare the environmental perfor- mances of several scenarii of aquaculture production (production scale, farm sites). Impact assessment of aquaculture systems are mainly studied with two different kinds of environmental assessment methods; sites vs product approach. Sites approach gives an absolute evaluation of environmental sustainability through indicators that measure the effect of a pollution (ex.
Nutrient enrichment) or an ecosystem state (ex. Diversity indices) at a local or regional scale.
Product approach analyses environmental burdens at all stages of its life cycle and gives relative environmental performances (ex. Carbon footprint) at a global level.
The specific objective is to combine sites and product complementary approaches. Local impact assessment is focused on benthic effects associated to particulate waste deposition from aquacul- ture cages and is evaluated with the DEPOMOD particle tracking model. Global environmental impact assessment of emissions and resources used for red drum farming production is conducted with a product perspective using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The project will contribute to 1) site selection for aquaculture to respect environmental carrying capacity of tropical lagoon, 2) develop an integrated tool to assess the environmental performance of aquaculture systems.
The integration of local impact indicators based on organic footprint and benthic impacts to existing impact categories in LCA will allow to highlight potential impact transfers between local, regional and global scales. This environmental analysis method is a generic framework
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that can be applied to other species or territories and that can be useful for decision makers to guide aquaculture development.
Nutritional evaluation of two types of euryhaline rotifers Brachionus plicatilis sp.
complex and digestive enzyme response at first feeding in Japanese Flounder,
Paralichthys olivaceus
Viliame Waqalevu ∗† 1, Shojiro Miyauchi 2, Shuo Zhang 2, Tomonari Kotani 3
1 United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University – United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Kagoshima University Korimoto 1-21-24, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture,
890-0065, Japan
2 Graduate School of Fisheries, Kagoshima University – Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University Shimoarata 4-50-20, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, 890-0056, Japan
3 Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University (http://www.fish.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/efish/) – Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University Shimoarata 4-50-20, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, 890-0056,
Japan
It is well established that aquaculture can provide solutions in relieving pressure applied to wild stocks due to heavy consumer demand that often leads to a cascade of ecological effects.
The bottleneck in hatcheries in many developing countries lies in reliable production of live feed suitable for the important stage of first exogenous feeding. Rotifers occur naturally in the wild and due to many of its suitable characteristics, it is a preferred source of nutrition during first feeding of finfish larvae. In this study, B. plicatilis (Obama strain) and B. rotundiformis (Indonesian strain) were enriched with microalgae Chlorella vulgaris and Salmon roe derived oil emulsion and fed to Japanese flounder until 7 days after hatching (DAH). Analysis were conducted to assess the viability of these enrichment media in terms of its (i) essential fatty acids content such as arachidonic acid (C20:4 n-6; ARA), eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5 n-3;
EPA) and docohexaenoic acid (C22:6 n-3; DHA), vital for the development of early stage fish larvae and (ii) differences in the induction of digestive protein breakdown in first feeding stages of the Japanese flounder. It was found that DHA enrichedC. vulgaris and salmon roe emulsion oil contain high fatty acid composition of essential fatty acids that were absorbed by both rotifer species. It was also found the smaller sized B. rotundiformis induced higher protein hydrolysis in 5 DAH larvae and this activity switched to L-type at 7 DAH. This may be reflective of the preference of the larvae and/or metabolic changes linked to metamorphosis that it would soon undergo in its life cycle. There are hopes that parallels from this study on nutritional requirements and digestive enzymatic activity can be used to develop knowledge on the culture of the economically important and difficult to culture, Leopard Coral Trout, Plectropomus leopardus, at the moment of first exogenous feeding.
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†Corresponding author: vwaqalevu@hotmail.com