Declines in Finfish resources in Tarawa lagoon, Kiribati, emphasize the need for increased conservation effort / Jim Beets

The very productive lagoon fisheries of Tarawa atoll changed greatly in recent decades as human development and intensive harvesting increased. Tarawa typifies the increasingly common condition of resource depletion and marine community structure change with expanding human activities and population growth. Fisheries-dependent reports have documented the change in fisher landings for nearly two decades. A comparison of fisheries-independent data collected during 1992-93 with data collected in 1977 allowed for documentation of large changes in important finfish resources in Tarawa Lagoon. The historically important bonefish (Albula glossodonta), like other important fishery species, demonstrated declines in catch-per-unit effort (CPUE), proportion of catch, mean length and weight (1977: 46.4 cm, 1.31 kg; 1992-93: 37.6 cm and 0.84 kg), and sex ratio (1977: 0.71:1 [F:M]; 1992-93: 0.15:1). Beach seine sampling of bait fishes demonstrated a major shift in species composition between 1977 and 1992- 93, with severe depletion of some preferred species. These results suggest declining abundance in locally important fish species and large changes in species composition within Tarawa Lagoon.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 16 p.

塔拉瓦环礁中极具生产力的潟湖渔业在近几十年间经历了巨大的变化，这一变化伴随着人类发展活动的增强和捕捞强度的加大。塔拉瓦环礁典型地反映了随着人类活动范围扩大和人口增长，资源枯竭及海洋群落结构变迁这一日益普遍的现象。依赖渔业的报告已记录了近二十年来渔民捕捞量的变化。通过对1992-1993年收集的渔业独立数据与1977年收集的数据进行对比，我们得以记录了塔拉瓦潟湖中重要经济鱼类资源发生的大规模变化。历史上具有重要价值的鲳鱼（Albula glossodonta），如同其他重要渔业物种，其捕捞每单位努力（CPUE）、捕捞比例、平均长度和重量（1977年：46.4厘米，1.31千克；1992-1993年：37.6厘米和0.84千克）以及性别比（1977年：0.71:1 [雌:雄]; 1992-1993年：0.15:1）均呈现下降趋势。对诱饵鱼类的海滩拖网采样显示，1977年至1992-1993年之间物种组成发生了重大转变，一些被偏好的物种遭受了严重枯竭。这些结果表明，当地重要鱼类种群的丰度正在下降，塔拉瓦潟湖中的物种组成发生了巨大变化。