Recovery Potential of the Worlds Coral Reef Fishes

Aaron MacNeil, Nicholas A. J. Graham, Joshua E. Cinner, Shaun K. Wilson, Ivor D. Williams, Joseph Maina, Steven Newman, Alan M. Friedlander, Stacy Jupiter, Nicholas V. C. Polunin & Tim R. McClanahan

An examination of coral reef management techniques and reef resilience was conducted and published in Nature: The International Journal of Science. The question the authors attempt to answer is; what ecological management techniques support reef resilience and increase overall fish biomass while meeting conservation benchmarks? This question is being asked because large-scale fishing operations have been the primary source of diminished reef functionality across the globe, resulting in cascading ecological problems since coral reefs support more species than any other marine habitat in the world. Calls to recover fish biomass and therefor reestablish reef functionality have been vocalized by environmentalists everywhere, so the purpose of the study was to set empirical conservation benchmarks and develop fish biomass recovery timelines for protected and unprotected regions of coral reef habitats. The researchers compiled private and public organizational data from 64 countries and territories regarding 832 coral reefs, and used a Bayesian estimation approach to analyze the data of global fished and un-fished biomass to determine recovery potential of the 800+ coral reefs. The results demonstrated that crucial coral reef ecosystem functions could be maintained through multiple fishery restrictions, and reef fish biomass has the potential to recover within 35 years on average and less than 60 years when heavily depleted.

Although this research was meant for an audience with experience in the field of ecology, it was reasonably easy to read and contained no bias. The authors did not include what types of fish management techniques could be combined for the best possible result or any other ways to build on top of the research. One fact that caught my attention in the research was that 83% of commercially fished coral reefs are missing more than half their expected biomass, which has severe consequences for ecosystem functions and predation.