Biology Faculty Articles
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-31-2023
Publication Title
Frontiers in Marine Science
Keywords
acoustic telemetry, Nassau grouper, endangered species, fisheries management, marine protected areas, fisheries conservation, fish spawning aggregation (FSA)
ISSN
2296-7745
Volume
10
Issue/No.
1154689
Abstract
Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus, Serranidae) were one of the most important fishery species in the Caribbean, but are now listed as critically endangered. Population collapse in most places occurred primarily by fishers targeting their spawning aggregation sites, where thousands of fish gathered during full moon periods from December to April. Identifying management options for protecting this vulnerable period is crucial for their survival. In the US Virgin Islands, we tagged 24 Nassau grouper with acoustic transmitters at a fish spawning aggregation (FSA) site called the Grammanik Bank, a 1.5 km2, marine protected area (MPA) closed each year from February to April. We tracked their movements over a seven-year period and found that the small MPA protected Nassau grouper only 65% of time during the spawning season. Nassau grouper arrived at the FSA from January to May, with a peak in March, and made daily roundtrip migrations (1-25 km) from the FSA site. Females swam twice as far as males, while males were more sedentary and remained longer (22 d) at the FSA than females (9 d); behavioural characteristics that may cause differential bycatch mortality among sexes. We also found nearly half of all fish were temporary residents within 5 km of the FSA site for 2 to 6 months after the spawning season. This mismatch of MPA size and timing of closed season provided the impetus for developing new guidelines for protection. The large acoustic array allowed us to calculate spatially relevant areas useful for conservation including courtship arena (1.2 km2), staging area (4.7 km2) and primary migration pathways (9.6 km2) used by Nassau grouper during spawning season. To improve conservation goals of this endangered species, increasing the Grammanik Bank seasonal closure to five months and its size to 6.4 km2 would increase protection to >96%. These spatial and temporal changes to existing management regulations incorporate the best available data to improve conservation goals by reducing potential bycatch mortality, eliminating disturbance of spawning fish, and protecting critical spawning habitat for Nassau grouper. These guidelines may also be applied more broadly to other Nassau grouper FSA sites located on large insular or continental shelfs areas throughout the Caribbean.
Additional Comments
Support for deploying and maintaining the acoustic array included Puerto Rico Sea Grant (#R-31-1-06), NOAA Saltonstall-Kennedy program (#NA09NMF4270068), the Virgin Islands Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (VI-EPSCoR #NSF-814417) and the Guy Harvey Research Institute, Nova Southeastern University. Also thanks to Lana Vento Charitable Trust which provided research dive equipment and materials for this project.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
NSUWorks Citation
Nemeth, Richard S.; Elizabeth Kadison; Jonathan Jossart; Mahmood Shivji; Bradley Wetherbee; and Jordan Matley. 2023. "Acoustic telemetry provides insights for improving conservation and management at a spawning aggregation site of the endangered Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus)." Frontiers in Marine Science 10, (1154689). doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1154689.
ResearcherID
G-4080-2013
DOI
10.3389/fmars.2023.1154689
Comments
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1154689/full#supplementary-material