Conservation issues for tropical reef fish spawning aggregations

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

9 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

02/20/2009

Category :

Political science

Sub category :

Ecology & environment

Oboulo.com selection criteria

$ 18.95 Add to cart

Summary :

Introduction.
Reef fish in decline.
Biology of fish spawning aggregations (FSA).
FSAs and the threat from overfishing.
Effects of overfishing FSA's.
1. Biological considerations.
2. Ecological and ecosystem considerations.
3. Economic considerations.
Conservation and management of FSA's.
Case study: Nassau grouper exploitation in the Caribbean.
Challenges to effective conservation.
1. Biological uncertainties.
2. Difficulty of monitoring practices.
3. Lack of funding, education and empirical evidence for reserve effectiveness.
4. Need to develop economic alternatives.
5. Larger coral reef crisis confounds small-scale efforts.
Issues for future research.
Literature cited.

Abstract

Coral reefs are in decline worldwide due to a variety of anthropogenic factors, of which overfishing is the oldest and most egregious (Bellwood et al. 2004, Graham et al. 2006). tropical reef fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) are preferentially targeted due to their predictable spatial and temporal occurrence and large concentrations of fish biomass (Sadovy and Domeier 2005). The targeted fishing of FSAs represents, interestingly, not only human degradation of tropical reef resources at large but also how humans have exploited natural evolutionary characteristics for our benefit. FSAs are biologically, ecologically, and economically significant phenomena, so their conservation is essential. Current management measures, however, are largely ineffective and plagued by challenges that largely grow from scientific uncertainty about how best to manage exploited aggregations. Flexible management options that account for unique species traits, as well as an improved understanding of reef fish population dynamics, are necessary to surmount these challenges and achieve effective conservation.