Length-based assessment of coral reef fish populations in the main and northwestern Hawaiian islands.
The coral reef fish community of Hawaii is composed of hundreds of species, supports a multimillion dollar fishing and tourism industry, and is of great cultural importance to the local population. However, a major stock assessment of Hawaiian coral reef fish populations has not yet been conducted. Here we used the robust indicator variable "average length in the exploited phase of the population ([Formula: see text])", estimated from size composition data from commercial fisheries trip reports and fishery-independent diver surveys, to evaluate exploitation rates for 19 Hawaiian reef fishes. By and large, the average lengths obtained from diver surveys agreed well with those from commercial data. We used the estimated exploitation rates coupled with life history parameters synthesized from the literature to parameterize a numerical population model and generate stock sustainability metrics such as spawning potential ratios (SPR). We found good agreement between predicted average lengths in an unfished population (from our population model) and those observed from diver surveys in the largely unexploited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Of 19 exploited reef fish species assessed in the main Hawaiian Islands, 9 had SPRs close to or below the 30% overfishing threshold. In general, longer-lived species such as surgeonfishes, the redlip parrotfish (Scarus rubroviolaceus), and the gray snapper (Aprion virescens) had the lowest SPRs, while short-lived species such as goatfishes and jacks, as well as two invasive species (Lutjanus kasmira and Cephalopholis argus), had SPRs above the 30% threshold.
University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, United States of America; Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, HI, 96822 United States of America; NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Honolulu, HI, 96818, United States of America.
Marc O
MO
Nadon
University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, United States of America.
Jerald S
JS
Ault
NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Honolulu, HI, 96818, United States of America.
Ivor D
ID
Williams
University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, United States of America.
Steven G
SG
Smith
NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Honolulu, HI, 96818, United States of America.
Gerard T
GT
DiNardo
D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D057894:Coral Reefs; D005399:Fishes / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D006254:Hawaii; D011153:Population; D011156:Population Density