374
M.W. Russell et al.
11.2 The Need for Management
The growing human population, especially in coastal areas is spurring the global
demand for fi shes. There is a ready cash sale market for reef fi shes, as well as developing export markets. Since many economically valuable species aggregate to
spawn, the incentive to fi nd and exploit spawning aggregations, which provide a
predictable source of large numbers of marketable fi sh, has dramatically increased
and, to date, is almost unchecked. Today, motorized vessels, electronic navigation,
and fi sh-fi nding equipment allow for relatively easy access to aggregation sites that
are increasingly being discovered or sought for commercial exploitation. Improved
fi shing gear, such as braided line and underwater breathing apparatus allow more
effi cient capture of fi sh than in earlier times. The advent of portable waterproof
lights, in particular, has facilitated night-fi shing causing further pressures on reef
fi shes, particularly in the Pacifi c region. Refrigeration and ice plants allow for storage of catch well beyond what can be immediately consumed or bartered, and typically are introduced without prior assessment of the resource base available.
Expanding markets and technological developments enable rapid processing and
sale of fi sh, including for export.
For many of the nearly 100 fi sh species reliably documented to spawn in aggregations (SCRFA database, www.SCRFA.org , Appendix ), these gatherings may
represent the major or sole opportunity to reproduce, because some species are not
known to spawn outside of aggregations. Among the two general types of spawning
aggregations, transient and resident (Chap. 1 ), the most intense commercial exploitation is targeted at transient aggregating species, because these species are usually
large and of great commercial or food interest. Subsistence fi shing occurs on both
types of aggregations. Regardless of the type of aggregation, ensuring that fi shes
successfully spawn, complete their life cycle and produce the next generation is the
foundation for a sustainable fi shery and a key consideration for management and
conservation. Moreover, aggregation conservation is essential for the maintenance
of larval recruitment and population connectivity as part of larger scale ecosystembased management.
There is a growing acknowledgement of the need to manage fi shing on aggregations and fi shes that aggregate to spawn because many species are also otherwise
vulnerable, due to their biology, to overfi shing. As one example, the outcome of a
spawning aggregation workshop in the Caribbean in 2008 concluded: It is unequivocal
that exploited aggregations need either total protection from fi shing or that fi shing
activity on them should be minimized through careful management. FSAs [fi sh
spawning aggregation sites] can be viewed as bank accounts from which we can
derive “interest”, and it is important to recognize FSAs as critical areas for
management. The challenge is how to achieve effective management. Major changes
in perspectives are needed to create an awareness of why aggregations are important
for sustaining the fi sheries of many aggregating species and why they need management even when they appear to be capable of producing large catches each year.
Management depends fi rst of all on an appreciation of the vulnerability and role of
M.W. Russell et al.
11.2 The Need for Management
The growing human population, especially in coastal areas is spurring the global
demand for fi shes. There is a ready cash sale market for reef fi shes, as well as developing export markets. Since many economically valuable species aggregate to
spawn, the incentive to fi nd and exploit spawning aggregations, which provide a
predictable source of large numbers of marketable fi sh, has dramatically increased
and, to date, is almost unchecked. Today, motorized vessels, electronic navigation,
and fi sh-fi nding equipment allow for relatively easy access to aggregation sites that
are increasingly being discovered or sought for commercial exploitation. Improved
fi shing gear, such as braided line and underwater breathing apparatus allow more
effi cient capture of fi sh than in earlier times. The advent of portable waterproof
lights, in particular, has facilitated night-fi shing causing further pressures on reef
fi shes, particularly in the Pacifi c region. Refrigeration and ice plants allow for storage of catch well beyond what can be immediately consumed or bartered, and typically are introduced without prior assessment of the resource base available.
Expanding markets and technological developments enable rapid processing and
sale of fi sh, including for export.
For many of the nearly 100 fi sh species reliably documented to spawn in aggregations (SCRFA database, www.SCRFA.org , Appendix ), these gatherings may
represent the major or sole opportunity to reproduce, because some species are not
known to spawn outside of aggregations. Among the two general types of spawning
aggregations, transient and resident (Chap. 1 ), the most intense commercial exploitation is targeted at transient aggregating species, because these species are usually
large and of great commercial or food interest. Subsistence fi shing occurs on both
types of aggregations. Regardless of the type of aggregation, ensuring that fi shes
successfully spawn, complete their life cycle and produce the next generation is the
foundation for a sustainable fi shery and a key consideration for management and
conservation. Moreover, aggregation conservation is essential for the maintenance
of larval recruitment and population connectivity as part of larger scale ecosystembased management.
There is a growing acknowledgement of the need to manage fi shing on aggregations and fi shes that aggregate to spawn because many species are also otherwise
vulnerable, due to their biology, to overfi shing. As one example, the outcome of a
spawning aggregation workshop in the Caribbean in 2008 concluded: It is unequivocal
that exploited aggregations need either total protection from fi shing or that fi shing
activity on them should be minimized through careful management. FSAs [fi sh
spawning aggregation sites] can be viewed as bank accounts from which we can
derive “interest”, and it is important to recognize FSAs as critical areas for
management. The challenge is how to achieve effective management. Major changes
in perspectives are needed to create an awareness of why aggregations are important
for sustaining the fi sheries of many aggregating species and why they need management even when they appear to be capable of producing large catches each year.
Management depends fi rst of all on an appreciation of the vulnerability and role of