Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve - Effects of The Change in Fishing Regulations

Effects of The Change in Fishing Regulations

A study examined the response of snapper (Pagrus auratus) to the establishment of a no-take reserve around the Poor Knights Islands. The Poor Knights and two reference locations, Cape Brett and the Mokohinau Islands, were sampled biannually for four years using baited underwater video (BUV).

Following full marine reserve status at the Poor Knights in October 1998, snapper showed significant increases in abundance and biomass relative to fished control locations. This was particularly apparent for large snapper (>270 mm), whose numbers increased rapidly to levels 7.4 times higher in the final survey compared to the initial pre-reserve survey, and total snapper biomass increased by 818%. There was no significant increase in the abundance, biomass or size of snapper at the reference locations over this time.

While the incredible increase in snapper density resulted from the immigration of adult fish into the reserve, rather than from within-reserve recruitment, these results suggests that partial fishing regulations, as implemented in the early years of the reserve, are ineffective for protecting targeted species.

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