{"id":121,"date":"2013-08-15T15:14:58","date_gmt":"2013-08-15T19:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee\/?p=121"},"modified":"2013-08-15T15:14:58","modified_gmt":"2013-08-15T19:14:58","slug":"effectiveness-of-the-coconut-island-marine-reserve-in-protecting-highly-prized-reef-fishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee-lab\/effectiveness-of-the-coconut-island-marine-reserve-in-protecting-highly-prized-reef-fishes\/","title":{"rendered":"Effectiveness of the Coconut Island marine reserve in protecting highly prized reef fishes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kim Holland<\/strong> – Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii
\nBrad Wetherbee<\/strong> – Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island
\nChris Lowe<\/strong> – California State University at Long Beach
\nCarl Meyer<\/strong> – Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii<\/p>\n

The Coconut Island Marine Reserve in\u00a0Kaneohe\u00a0Bay\u00a0,Oahu\u00a0,\u00a0Hawaii\u00a0has existed for the last 35 years.\u00a0\u00a0A number of types of fish that are highly prized by recreational and commercial fishers occur within the reserve and are presumed to be protected from fishers to various extents despite the relatively small size of the refuge and the high mobility of several of these species.\u00a0\u00a0We used conventional tagging and acoustic telemetry methods to conduct intensive studies on the movement and residence patterns of four economically valuable species of fish that are abundant within the Coconut Island Marine Reserve; two species of\u00a0trevally\u00a0– the giant\u00a0trevally\u00a0or\u00a0ulua\u00a0(Caranx<\/em>ignobilis<\/em>),<\/em>\u00a0the blue\u00a0trevally\u00a0or\u00a0omilu\u00a0(Caranx<\/em>melampygus<\/em>), and two species of goatfish \u2013 the white goatfish or\u00a0weke\u00a0(Mulloides<\/em>\u00a0flavolineatus<\/em>), and thewhitesaddle\u00a0goatfish or\u00a0kumu\u00a0(Parupeneus<\/em>\u00a0porphyreus<\/em>) to examine the effectiveness of the Coconut Island Marine Reserve in providing protection from fishing for each species.\u00a0Each species differs in their patterns of use of the Coconut Island Marine Reserve.\u00a0 All\u00a0omilu\u00a0that were tracked remained almost exclusively within the marine reserve.\u00a0 This included\u00a0omilu\u00a0approaching the maximum size attained by this species.\u00a0 Thus,\u00a0omilu\u00a0over the entire size range for this species essentially remain within theCoconut\u00a0Island\u00a0reserve.\u00a0\u00a0Ulua\u00a0on the other hand moved outside of the marine reserve more frequently and regularly traveled fairly long distances from\u00a0Coconut\u00a0Islandto reach nearby reefs.\u00a0 In addition, no mature\u00a0ulua\u00a0were ever captured or observed at\u00a0Coconut\u00a0Island\u00a0and thus the marine reserve not only offers a lower degree of protection for\u00a0ulua\u00a0than for\u00a0omilu, but offers protection only for pre-reproductive size\u00a0ulua.\u00a0 The two species of goat fishes showed similar movement patterns and essentially remained within the Coconut Island Marine Reserve throughout active tracks.\u00a0 During the day goatfish remained among large schools, but at night individual goatfish moved onto shallow reef flats where they spent the night foraging.\u00a0 Each morning the goatfish returned to their daytime refuge school and spent the entire day within this small area.\u00a0 Although these two species showed similar movement patterns both of which indicate a high degree of protection within the marine reserve, population demographics differ between the two species and affect the level of protection offered by the Coconut Island Marine Reserve.\u00a0\u00a0Weke\u00a0occur in schools of several hundred mature fish, whereas only immature\u00a0kumu\u00a0were found at\u00a0Coconut\u00a0Island\u00a0.\u00a0 Therefore, although the Coconut Island Marine Reserve is very effective in protecting goatfish that occur within its boundaries, only pre-reproductive\u00a0kumu\u00a0occupy this habitat in comparison to protection of hundreds of\u00a0weke\u00a0that are reproducing and contributing to the population growth of this species.\u00a0 Our studies demonstrate that even a small marine reserve such as\u00a0Coconut\u00a0Island\u00a0can provide an effective refuge from fishing pressure for reef fishes.\u00a0 However, the degree of protection varies with species and is dependent upon the movement patterns and life history characteristics of individual species.\u00a0 In evaluating the effectiveness of marine reserves or in design of reserves, it is critical that the behavior, habitat requirements and life history characteristics of target species are considered on an individual basis.<\/p>\n

For pdf versions of publications resulting from this study click on the manuscript below.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Wetherbee, B.M., K.H. Holland, C.G. Meyer and C.G. Lowe. 2004. Use of a marine reserve in\u00a0Kaneohe Bay\u00a0,Hawaii\u00a0by the giant trevally,\u00a0Caranx ignobilis<\/em>.\u00a0Fish. Res.<\/span>67:253-263.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Meyer, C.G., K.N. Holland, B.M. Wetherbee and C.G. Lowe. 2001. Diet, resource partitioning and capture vulnerability of Hawaiian jacks captured in fishing tournaments.\u00a0Fish. Res.<\/span>\u00a053:105-113.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Meyer, C.G., K.N. Holland, B.M. Wetherbee and C.G. Lowe. 2000. Movement patterns, habitat utilization, home range size and site fidelity of whitesaddle goatfish (Parupeneus porphyreus<\/em>), in a marine reserve.\u00a0Env. Biol. Fish.<\/span>\u00a059:235-242.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Holland, K.N., C.G. Lowe and B.M. Wetherbee. 1996. Movements and dispersal patterns of blue trevally (Caranx melampygus<\/em>) in a fisheries conservation zone.\u00a0Fish. Res.<\/span>25:279-292.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Holland, K.N., J.D. Peterson Jr., C.G. Lowe and B.M. Wetherbee. 1993. Movements and growth rates of the white goatfish\u00a0Mulloides flavolineatus<\/em>\u00a0in a fisheries conservation zone.\u00a0Bull. Mar. Sci.\u00a0<\/span>52:982-992<\/span><\/p>\n

[col grid=”2-1 first”]<\/p>\n

\"\"
Relative use of Coconut Island reef by blue trevally – grid shading corresponds to amount of use in each grid square.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Single point locations for giant trevally around Coconut Island – each point represents a 15 min time interval location.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Omilu – bluefin trevally<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Ulua – giant trevally<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[\/col]<\/p>\n

[col grid=”2-1″]<\/p>\n

\"\"
Relative use of Coconut Island reef by a white goatfish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Kumu – whitesaddle goatfish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Weke – white goatfish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[\/col]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kim Holland – Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii Brad Wetherbee – Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island Chris Lowe – California State University at Long Beach Carl Meyer – Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii The Coconut Island Marine Reserve in\u00a0Kaneohe\u00a0Bay\u00a0,Oahu\u00a0,\u00a0Hawaii\u00a0has existed for the last 35 years.\u00a0\u00a0A number […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":129,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/581"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wetherbee-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}