Table 1 in Use of monitoring data to support conservation management and policy decisions in Micronesia

Table 1. Summary characteristics of monitoring for adaptive management in 4 conservation case studies in Micronesia.
CaseLocationFormal decision-makerMonitoring data used for decision makingCorresponding decision made based on monitoring dataHelen ReefRepublic of PalauHatohobei State & Palau National Legislaturesbaseline survey in 2000 of coral reef and fish health following the 1998 coral bleaching event and problems with resource depletion due to overharvesting, illegal fishing, and poaching e.g., by foreign fleets (Oldiais 2009; Golbuu et al. 2013)Hatohobei State declares formal protection status for Helen Reef (Andrew 2011)in 2006 Helen Reef joins other marine conservation areas as the Palau Protected Area Network is passed into law requiring that all marine conservation areas receiving funding from the “green fee” tourism tax adhere to a standard monitoring protocol for the explicit purpose of decision making (Republic of Palau 2012); community members trained to support biological monitoringcoral reef and fish surveys in 2007 replicate the sites of the earlier survey; coral cover on outer reefs significantly increased and coral cover on inner reefs and fish density in either habitat unchanged (Golbuu et al. 2013)governor of Hatohobei State describes how biological data from iterative surveys of Helen Reef have been the core information used in management decisions (Oldiais 2009)socioeconomic surveys show 96% of Tobians support no-take zone in Helen Reef; 60% think resources have increased as result of management actions; 56% believe there is not enough enforcement; and 87% indicate interest in being more involved in management of Helen Reef (Oldiais 2009)to increase enforcement, an outreach position created within the Helen Reef management board to engage community members and develop community-driven management planNimpal ChannelYap, Federated States of MicronesiaCouncils of Chiefsanecdotal evidence the preferred reef fish food species were in decline, particularly the bumphead parrotfish (Chieng et al. 2011)in 2006 a no-take marine conservation area proposed (Houk et al. 2013)2007 baseline ecological monitoring (Chieng et al. 2011)no-take marine conservation area established in 2008 to protect fisheries resources in the 77 ha channel (Houk et al. 2013)after establishment, community monitoring revealed night-time fishing was still a problem in the no-take zone (Gorong 2009)in 2009 community raised funds for and built a floating surveillance platform to monitor illegal extraction (Gorong 2009)monitoring in 2012 showed fish biomass in the conservation area was twice that of the reference area, whereas other indicators of coral reef health (coral density and recruitment) were better in the reference areas (Olsudong et al. 2012)Laolao BaySaipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna IslandsCNMI Governor; Civic Leadersmonitoring of sea cucumber population commenced in 1997 in response to depleted stocks on Rota and apparent declining stocks in Laolao (Trianni 2002)in 1997 Department of Fish & Wildlife closed Laolao Bay to harvest (Trianni 2002)Marianna Archipelago Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP) surveys conducted in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009 adding water quality (Castro et al. 2014), socioeconomic assessments (SeaWeb 2014), and extra sites in response to management requests (Hermann & Gumbos 2009); Coral Reef Resilience monitoring program established 2011 (Castro et al. 2014)Laolao Bay Conservation Action Plan updated with information from Coral Reef Resilience monitoring program (Castro et al. 2014)surveys of human disposed litter showed a decreasing trend in volume after communications campaigns (SeaWeb 2014)Marine conservation area networkPohnpei, Federated States of MicronesiaPohnpei State Legislature; Traditional Chiefsspawning aggregations (SPAGs) of groupers monitored and managed using traditional methods for recorded history (Johannes 2002)by 1990 Pohnpei State government restricted harvest during assumed spawning season (Rhodes & Sadovy 2002)annual monitoring of SPAGs reveals continued grouper decline (Rhodes & Sadovy 2002)in 1995 Kehpara Marine Sanctuary established (Rhodes & Sadovy 2002)at least one grouper SPAG ceased to form due to fishing pressure around 1997 (Rhodes & Sadovy 2002)marine sanctuary expanded (Rhodes & Tupper 2007); market restrictions to control unsustainable fishing gear use (Rhodes et al. 2008)annual market survey data (Rhodes & Tupper 2007) and interviews of full-time patriarchal fishers in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Palau, Micronesia, Fiji, the Solomon Islands show Pohnpei is 1 of only 2 sites where grouper SPAGs were increasing (Sadovy et al. 2008); continued monitoring reveals no difference in fish density between protected and unprotected sites (Koshiba et al. 2011)legislature passes size class restrictions on market sales of grouper (Bejarano et al. 2013; Rhodes et al. 2013)
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