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The goliath grouper Epinephelus itajara is a large sized (> 400 kg) and critically endangered marine fish, which is protected in many countries, including Brazil. Through the application of semi-structured interviews, we investigated the local ecological knowledge of seven fishermen specialist on catching E. itajara from the Babitonga bay, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Local long-line fisheries for E. itajara seemed to be a disappearing tradition in the studied site, with a detailed inherent local ecological knowledge system, which is also being lost. Our study also showed that fishermen engaged in recent fisheries, such as spear-fishing, can also possess a detailed local ecological knowledge system. Through the analysis of fishermen local ecological knowledge, several aspects of E. itajara life history were registered. This species is found in the inner and outer Babitonga bay, from saline waters to areas with a large input of freshwater, and inhabits submerged wooden substrates and artificial reefs such as shipwrecks, mooring pillars and cargo containers. It is known to spawn in December and subsequent summer months in the studied area. Spawning aggregations are usually seen in December (during full moon), being also eventually observed in January and February by our informants. While lobsters, spadefishes and octopuses seem to constitute the most important food items of inner bay E. itajara, outer bay individuals may feed on catfishes, crustaceans and other fish species. The goliath grouper is regarded as pacific and curious fish, but frequently display agonistic behavior in the presence of divers. Based on the perception of well experienced spear fishermen, we hypothesize that E. itajara undertakes seasonal migrations from the inner to the outer bay during summer, and that the studied population is suffering from growth over-fishing. Our data provides a practical evidence of how joining scientific and local ecological knowledge will likely benefit E. itajara local conservation and management practices by adding important new biological data into the decision-making process.O mero Epinephelus itajara é uma espécie de peixe marinho de grandes proporções (>400 kg) e criticamente ameaçado, protegido em muitos países, incluindo o Brasil. Através da aplicação de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, investigamos o conhecimento ecológico local de pescadores de espinhel e pesca subaquática, especialistas na captura de E. itajara na baía Babitonga, Santa Catarina, Brasil. A pescaria de espinhel direcionada à E. itajara parece ser uma tradição em desaparecimento, com um detalhado sistema de conhecimento ecológico local que está também sendo perdido com o tempo. Nosso estudo mostra que pescadores envolvidos em pescarias recentes, como a pesca subaquática, podem também possuir detalhado sistema de conhecimento ecológico local. Através da análise e integração do conhecimento ecológico local dos informantes, diversos aspectos da história de vida de E. itajara foram registrados. Esta espécie é encontrada na porção interna e externa da ...

This article discusses the current problems and issues associated with the implementation of a National System of Marine Protected Areas in Brazil. MPA managers and higher governmental level authorities were interviewed about their perceptions of the implementation of a national MPA strategy and the recent changes in the institutional arrangement of government marine conservation agencies. Interviewees' narratives were generally pessimistic and the National System was perceived as weak, with few recognizable marine conservation outcomes on the ground. The following major flaws were identified: poor inter-institutional coordination of coastal and ocean governance; institutional crisis faced by the national government marine conservation agency; poor management within individual MPAs; problems with regional networks of marine protected areas; an overly bureaucratic management and administrative system; financial shortages creating structural problems and a disconnect between MPA policy and its delivery. Furthermore, a lack of professional motivation and a pessimistic atmosphere was encountered during many interviews, a malaise which we believe affects how the entire system is able to respond to crises. Our findings highlight the need for a better understanding of the role of 'leadership' in the performance of socio-ecological systems (such as MPA networks), more effective official evaluation mechanisms, more localized audits of (and reforms if necessary to) Brazil's federal biodiversity conservation agency (ICMBio), and the need for political measures to promote state leadership and support. Continuing to focus on the designation of more MPAs whilst not fully addressing these issues will achieve little beyond fulfilling, on paper, Brazil's international marine biodiversity commitments.

Goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara) aggregations and relative abundances were described and mapped through the use of fishermen's local ecological knowledge in Babitonga Bay in southern Brazil. Six well-experienced informants were asked to individually provide information about goliath grouper abundance and distribution, drawn over a satellite image of the study area, which was later overlaid and gathered into a final map. According to our informants, the goliath grouper occurs along a broad salinity and depth range, from shallow estuarine areas (less than 5 m deep) with high freshwater input (smaller individuals, up to 150 kg) to coastal marine-dominated environments (at least 35 m deep); (larger individuals more common, frequently reaching more than 300 kg). Fishermen referred to goliath groupers inhabiting hard substrates such as rocky reefs around islands and continental shores, submerged rocky outcrops and shipwrecks (juveniles and adults). At least two aggregation sites mapped (ranging from 2 to 60 individuals) could be concluded as spawning aggregation sites through evidence of high abundance and spawning activity. Priority research and conservation targets were identified and discussed for Babitonga Bay (e.g., design of a tagging experimental program and establishment of a marine protected area). Fishers' resource mapping provided a means of exchanging information among various disciplines while maintaining methodological rigor in a clear and straightforward way of presenting fishers' knowledge. The use of fishers' sketch maps is a promising tool for marine conservation in Brazil, with special regard to adaptive co-management regimes, where frequent environmental re-evaluations are needed.A abundância relativa e agregações de meros Epinephelus itajara foram descritas e mapeadas através do conhecimento ecológico local de pescadores da baía Babitonga, sul do Brasil. Seis informantes muito experientes desenharam individualmente sobre uma imagem de satélite da área de estudo informações sobre abundância e distribuição de meros, seguindo-se de uma sobreposição das imagens em um mapa final. O mero ocorre ao longo de uma larga faixa de salinidade e profundidade (principalmente juvenis), de áreas estuarinas rasas (menos que 5 m de profundidade) com alta incidência de água doce, até ambientes costeiros marinhos (ao menos até 35 m de profundidade); (indivíduos maiores são mais comuns, alcançando mais de 300 kg). A espécie é também encontrada habitando substratos consolidados como recifes rochosos ao redor de ilhas e continente, parcéis submersos e emersos e naufrágios. Ao menos duas das agregações mapeadas (variando de dois a 60 indivíduos observados) puderam ser consideradas agregações reprodutivas através de evidências de alta abundância e atividade reprodutiva. Ações de pesquisa e conservação foram identificadas e discutidas para a baía Babitonga. O mapeamento de recursos possibilitou uma forma de trocar informações entre várias disciplinas, mantendo rigor metodológico e apresentando o conhecimento dos pescad...

The goliath grouper Epinephelus itajara (Epinephelidae) is an exceptionally large marine fish that inhabits sub-tropical and tropical waters of the Americas and western Africa. Due to a lack of readily observable morphological variation in specimens across its range, the goliath grouper has been regarded as a single species. We tested the hypothesis that Pacific and West Atlantic populations constitute a single species by analyzing nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence data. We found numerous fixed genetic differences for mitochondrial loci between Pacific and West Atlantic goliath grouper (genetic distance D ≈ 3.5% at 16S and D ≈ 6% at cytochrome b; ϕ st = 0.98 [p < 0.001] for 16S and ϕ st = 0.98 [p < 0.001] for cytochrome b). The nuclear S7 intron showed 3 fixed nucleotide differences between Pacific and West Atlantic populations. Within the West Atlantic, we found few absolute genetic differences (D < 0.01 at 16S and D < 0.02 at cytochrome b), but statistically significant population structure based on haplotype frequency data (ϕ st = 0.04 [p = 0.05] at 16S; ϕ st = 0.14 [p < 0.001] at cytochrome b). These data indicate that (1) goliath grouper in the West Atlantic are subdivided into discrete populations, (2) goliath grouper populations in the Pacific and western Atlantic represent 2 (or more) distinct species, and (3) these distinct populations/species require separate management and conservation strategies. We resurrect the species Epinephelus quinquefasciatus (Bocourt 1868) for Pacific goliath grouper. KEY WORDS: Epinephelus itajara · Epinephelus quinquefasciatus · Phylogeography · EpinephelidaeResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher OPEN PEN ACCESS CCESS Contribution to the Theme Section 'Range-wide status and conservation of the goliath grouper'Endang Species Res: 7: 167-174, 2009 tinue to be at the forefront of conservation efforts. Surprisingly, this basic information is lacking in many areas, despite its obvious importance for conservation measures.In the marine environment, biodiversity inventories often reflect the fact that marine species tend to be more broadly distributed than their terrestrial counterparts, with some organisms ranging more than 10 000 km (Jablonski & Lutz 1983). With the now widespread use of molecular genetic techniques, it has become clear that cryptic genetic diversity may confound estimates of both species ranges and biodiversity (reviewed in Bickford et al. 2006). Species once thought to be distributed over immense oceanic expanses are now known to be comprised of discreet lineages that may or may not occur in sympatry (reviewed in Rocha et al. 2007). Although this phenomenon was thought to occur most commonly in small or difficult-to-study organisms, recent evidence shows that these cryptic genetic lineages also occur amongst Earth's largest and most well-studied marine animals (e.g. Bass et al. 2005, Quattro et al. 2006, Vianna et al. 2006. In addition, these genetic studies often elucidate genetic patterns that reflect...