Cappo, Mike, Stowar, Marcus, Stieglitz, Thomas, Lawrey, Eric, Johansson, Charlotte, and Macneil, Aaron (2012) Measuring and communicating effects of MPAs on deep "shoal" fisheries. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium. 18A_1. pp. 1-5. From: 12th International Coral Reef Symposium, 9-13 July 2012, Cairns, QLD, Australia.

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Abstract

Counts by divers have shown a rapid rise in coral trout populations on shallow reefs of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park closed to fishing in 2004, but the deeper line-fishing grounds (>20m) have been inaccessible to fish biologists until the development of baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS™). Here we summarise pair-wise comparisons of inter-reef "shoal grounds", closed and open to line-fishing, in terms of abundance and lengths of prized sportfish, bycatch and unfished species. The results of paired "fished-unfished" contrasts all depended on the context of microhabitat type, proximity to fishing ports and species vulnerability to line-fishing. On diffuse, low-relief grounds off Townsville prized target species were actually less abundant in zones closed to fishing. On discrete sunken banks of the Capricorn plateau closed to fishing there were about twice as many prized species, and they were larger than conspecifics on fished banks. A positive effect of closure to fishing around the deep bases of reefs in the Pompeys, Swains and Capricorn- Bunkers was visible only in coral-dominated microhabitats. Reef sharks were consistently more abundant in zones closed to fishing. These differences have been communicated with novel point-and-click, map-based BRUVS footage and data summaries on the "e-Atlas", using Google “Earth” and YouTube. This allows the public to make independent conclusions about the local effects of marine protected areas.

Item ID:	22403
Item Type:	Conference Item (Research - E1)
ISBN:	978-0-9808572-5-2
Keywords:	baited video, MPA, length measurement, multibeam bathymetry, line-fishing, sharks, lutjanids
Related URLs:	Organisation
Additional Information:	© Copyright belongs to the authors.
Date Deposited:	26 Jul 2012 23:22
FoR Codes:	05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050202 Conservation and Biodiversity @ 50% 07 AGRICULTURAL AND VETERINARY SCIENCES > 0704 Fisheries Sciences > 070403 Fisheries Management @ 50%
SEO Codes:	83 ANIMAL PRODUCTION AND ANIMAL PRIMARY PRODUCTS > 8302 Fisheries - Wild Caught > 830201 Fisheries Recreational @ 50% 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960507 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Marine Environments @ 50%
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