Population and ecosystem effects of reef fishing

Summary

Fishing activities affect the population structure, growth, reproduction and distribution of target species and have indirect effects on non-target fish or invertebrate populations and their reef habitats. We review the multi-farious impacts of fishing and conclude that existing knowledge of fishing effects is remarkably primitive given the burgeoning literature on reef fishery science and management. In particular, fishing effects are widely treated as synonymous with overfishing and thus many studies of fishing effects have been based upon examination of localized catastrophic events rather than changes that occur within sustainable fisheries subject to different fishing intensities or cropping regimes. An improved understanding of fishing effects in sustainable fisheries may assist the development of a range of new monitoring, assessment and management methods. These would provide an alternative to methods based on conventional population analyses within reef fisheries of limited economic importance which are unlikely to be selected for rigorous scientific study. Initial development of the fishing effects science could be achieved at moderate cost by refining existing procedures for collection of catch and effort data and by treating observed combinations of gear, effort and catch composition as a series of experimental manipulations.