Download - ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

National Benefi t Case-StudyCase Study 1Science for ManagingReef FisheriesThe unifying theme of the ARC Centre forCoral Reef Studies is the developmentof frontier technologies for managementand sustainable use of the world’scoral reefs. A major approach tomanagement and sustainable use ofrenewable resources is spatial zoningfor multiple levels of use and protection.A key aspect of this zoning approachis the establishment of no-take marinereserves, where all extractive practicesby humans are banned permanently.Our recent studies have highlighted theneed for networks of marine reserves formanagement of biodiversity and fi sheries.Such zoning for multiple levels of use andprotection is fast becoming a principalmechanism of management of marineresources in Australia and elsewhere.No-take reserves are often establishedto conserve species, ecologicalcommunities, habitats, ecosystems andbioregions. They are increasingly alsobeing advocated as a tool for fi sheriesmanagement. To date, some of thelargest and most successful applicationsof no-take marine reserves have beenon coral reefs. A notable example isAustralia’s Great Barrier Reef MarinePark (GBRMP), with a no-take area ofover 100,000 km 2 .Program 3 of the ARC Centre has madesubstantial progress in 2006 in (a)assessing the importance of marinereserves for fi sheries managementon coral reefs, (b) determining theoptimal design of reserve networks formanagement of ecological resilience,and (c) identifying the levels of larvaldispersal and connectivity within andbetween coral reef systems and marinereserve networks. In 2006, Program3 Leader, Garry Russ and colleagues(DH Willamson, RD Evans) completedthe fi rst fi eld assessments of the newRepresentative Areas Program (RAP) oninshore coral reefs of the GBR. Initialdata from the Whitsunday Islandsindicated a relatively fast and positiveresponse of targeted reef fish populationsto the new zoning. Sean Connolly andJCU co-authors Will Robbins, MizueHisano and Howard Choat combineddirect underwater counts of sharkabundance with mathematical models toproject future population trends basedon information about reef sharks’ currentsurvival, growth and reproductive rates.These results generated considerablemedia attention in 2006 regarding theRAP rezoning of the GBR which wasinitiated by federal legislation enacted inJuly 2004.A key development of the ARC Centreover the past 12 months has beenthe development of new taggingtechnologies for coral reef fi sh ofmajor commercial and recreationalfi shing importance (e.g. large groupers,including coral trout). Larval rearing andmarking experiments (Ba isotopes) werecompleted successfully in 2006 on a largecommercially important grouper, by GlennAlmany, Geoff Jones and colleagues.Work by Mike Kingsford and colleaguesfrom Woods Hole OceanographicInstitute demonstrated that larval fi shesare behaviourally sophisticated, capableof cuing into environmental signalsthat allow them to distinguish theirnatal reef. Field experiments in comingmonths will employ enriched isotopelarval markers to measure dispersalof coral trout larvae (Plectropomusspp.) from marine protected areasto adjacent fi shed populations in theKeppel Islands. These results are ofmajor signifi cance to a key stakeholder,the GBR Marine Park Authority.Selected 2006 ReferencesAlcala, AC and Russ, GR (2006). No-takemarine reserves and reef fi sheriesmanagement in the Philippines: Anew people power revolution. Ambio35(5): 245-254.Bay, LK, Crozier, RH and Caley, MJ (2006).The relationship between populationgenetic structure and pelagic larvalduration in coral reef fi shes on theGreat Barrier Reef. Marine Biology149(5): 1247-1256.Cinner, J, Marnane, MJ, McClanahan,TR and Almany, GR (2006). Periodicclosures as adaptive coral reefmanagement in the Indo-Pacific.Ecology and Society 11(1).Gerlach, G, Atema, J, Kingsford, MJ,Black, KP and Miller-Sims, V. Smellinghome can prevent dispersal of reeffi sh larvae. Proc. National Acad. Sci.104 (In Press).Robbins, WD, Hisano, M, Connolly,SR and Choat, JH (2006). Ongoingcollapse of coral-reef sharkpopulations. Current Biology 16(23):2314-2319.Thorrold, SR, Jones, GP, Planes, S andHare, JA (2006). Transgenerationalmarking of embryonic otoliths inmarine fi shes using barium stableisotopes. Canadian Journal ofFisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63(6):1193-1197.41