Dispersal of Grouper Larvae Drives Local Resource Sharing in a Coral Reef Fishery

• Published in: Current biology 2013-04, Vol.23 (7), p.626-630
• Main Authors: Almany, Glenn R., Hamilton, Richard J., Bode, Michael, Matawai, Manuai, Potuku, Tapas, Saenz-Agudelo, Pablo, Planes, Serge, Berumen, Michael L., Rhodes, Kevin L., Thorrold, Simon R., Russ, Garry R., Jones, Geoffrey P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Distribution; Animals; Base Sequence; collaborative management; Conservation of Natural Resources - methods; Coral Reefs; corals; fisheries; Fisheries - methods; fisheries management; grouper; juveniles; Larva - physiology; larvae; Marine; Microsatellite Repeats - genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Papua New Guinea; parentage; Perciformes - genetics; Perciformes - physiology; Plectropomus; Sequence Analysis, DNA; spawning
• ISSN: 0960-9822; 1879-0445
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.03.006

In many tropical nations, fisheries management requires a community-based approach because small customary marine tenure areas define the spatial scale of management [1]. However, the fate of larvae originating from a community’s tenure is unknown, and thus the degree to which a community can expect their management actions to replenish the fisheries within their tenure is unclear [2, 3]. Furthermore, whether and how much larval dispersal links tenure areas can provide a strong basis for cooperative management [4, 5]. Using genetic parentage analysis, we measured larval dispersal from a single, managed spawning aggregation of squaretail coral grouper (Plectropomus areolatus) and determined its contribution to fisheries replenishment within five community tenure areas up to 33 km from the aggregation at Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Within the community tenure area containing the aggregation, 17%–25% of juveniles were produced by the aggregation. In four adjacent tenure areas, 6%–17% of juveniles were from the aggregation. Larval dispersal kernels predict that 50% of larvae settled within 14 km of the aggregation. These results strongly suggest that both local and cooperative management actions can provide fisheries benefits to communities over small spatial scales. ► Restricted larval dispersal can provide localized recruitment benefits to fisheries ► Localized benefits provide strong incentives for community-based management ► Larval dispersal connects adjacent fishing grounds and fish populations ► Restricted larval dispersal is common in coral reef fishes