Modelling and mapping regional-scale patterns of fishing impact and fish stocks to support coral-reef management in Micronesia

Abstract

Aim: Use a fishery-independent metric to model and map regional-scale fishing impact, and demonstrate how this metric assists with modelling current and potential fish biomass to support coral-reef management. We also examine the relative importance of anthropogenic and natural factors on fishes at biogeographical scales. Location: Reefs of five jurisdictions in Micronesia. Methods: A subset of 1,127 fish surveys (470 surveys) was used to calculate site-specific mean parrotfish lengths (a proxy for cumulative fishing impact), which were modelled against 20 biophysical and anthropogenic variables. The resulting model was extrapolated to each 1 ha reef cell in the region to generate a fishing ..