Cinner, Joshua E., McClanahan, Timothy R., Daw, Tim M., Graham, Nicholas A.J., Maina, Joseph, Wilson, Shaun K., and Hughes, Terence P. (2009) Linking social and ecological systems to sustain coral reef fisheries. Current Biology, 19 (3). pp. 206-212.

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2008

Abstract

The ecosystem goods and services provided by coral reefs are critical to the social and economic welfare of hundreds of millions of people, overwhelmingly in developing coun- tries [1]. Widespread reef degradation is severely eroding these goods and services, but the socioeconomic factors shaping the ways that societies use coral reefs are poorly understood [2]. We examine relationships between human population density, a multidimensional index of socioeco- nomic development, reef complexity, and the condition of coral reef fish populations in five countries across the Indian Ocean. In fished sites, fish biomasswas negatively related to human population density, but it was best explained by reef complexity and a U-shaped relationship with socioeconomic development. The biomass of reef fishes was four times lower at locations with intermediate levels of economic development than at locations with both low and high devel- opment. In contrast, average biomass inside fishery closures was three times higher than in fished sites and was not asso- ciated with socioeconomic development. Sustaining coral reef fisheries requires an integrated approach that uses tools such as protected areas to quickly build reef resources while also building capacities and capital in societies over longer time frames to address the complex underlying causes of reef degradation

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