Evidence of a biomass hotspot for targeted fish species within Namena Marine Reserve, Fiji

Abstract

Namena is Fiji's oldest and second largest no-take marine reserve, and has relatively high abundance and biomass of targeted fishes within its boundaries due to a high level of protection since its creation in 1997 (formalised in 2005). Following anecdotal reports of exceptionally high fish abundance at the Grand Central Station dive site within Namena, we conducted a 500-m meandering diver-operated video transect along the main reef formation, to obtain abundance, length and biomass estimates for fish species targeted by local fishers. Our census revealed extremely high diversity, abundance and biomass (11 436 kg ha-1) of targeted fishes. While demersal reef fishes were present at higher de..