Artisanal fish fences pose broad and unexpected threats to the tropical coastal seascape
Exton, D.A.; Ahmadia, G.N.; Cullen-Unsworth, L.C.; Jompa, J.; May, D.; Rice, J.; Simonin, P.W.; Unsworth, R.F.K.; Smith, D.J. (2019). Artisanal fish fences pose broad and unexpected threats to the tropical coastal seascape. Nature Comm. 10(1): 9 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10051-0
In: Nature Communications. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 2041-1723; e-ISSN 2041-1723, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Exton, D.A.
- Ahmadia, G.N.
- Cullen-Unsworth, L.C.
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- Jompa, J.
- May, D.
- Rice, J.
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- Simonin, P.W.
- Unsworth, R.F.K.
- Smith, D.J.
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| Abstract |
Gear restrictions are an important management tool in small-scale tropical fisheries, improving sustainability and building resilience to climate change. Yet to identify the management challenges and complete footprint of individual gears, a broader systems approach is required that integrates ecological, economic and social sciences. Here we apply this approach to artisanal fish fences, intensively used across three oceans, to identify a previously underrecognized gear requiring urgent management attention. A longitudinal case study shows increased effort matched with large declines in catch success and corresponding reef fish abundance. We find fish fences to disrupt vital ecological connectivity, exploit > 500 species with high juvenile removal, and directly damage seagrass ecosystems with cascading impacts on connected coral reefs and mangroves. As semi-permanent structures in otherwise open-access fisheries, they create social conflict by assuming unofficial and unregulated property rights, while their unique high-investment-low-effort nature removes traditional economic and social barriers to overfishing. |
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