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SUMMARYIslands offer unique model systems for studying fisheries development in relation to the growing global seafood trade. This study examines how export-driven fisheries in India's oceanic islands (Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands) differ significantly as a result of their varied history, culture, available infrastructure and market access. Despite being geographically closer to export centres on the Indian mainland, processing and transport infrastructure in the Lakshadweep Islands are limited. This only allows for the trade of non-perishable commodities like dried tuna that are caught using traditional pole-and-line fishing techniques, restricting reef exploitation to local preference-based consumption and opportunistic export. The Andaman Islands, on the other hand, with multiple daily flight connections and large private and government processing facilities, are better connected to export markets. The relatively recent and multicultural fisheries of these islands supply marine commodity chains for reef fishery goods such as dried shark fins, frozen snapper fillets and chilled groupers. The Nicobar Islands are furthest away from mainland export centres and are mostly populated by indigenous communities – fishing here is mostly for subsistence and local sale. Revised estimates of travel times to export market centres are counterintuitive in terms of geographical distances and are significantly different from travel times to local markets.

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Over the last fi ve decades, inter-tidal ecology has evolved from being a purely descriptive science to using quantitative and experimental approaches to understand community structure. However, this has sometimes come at the cost of understanding generality since many studies have focused on local spatial scales and patch dynamics. Th is study aimed to assess the generality of co-occurrence patterns at a large spatial scale, covering over 1000 km, by comparing empirical association patterns with random patterns generated by simulations. Species co-occurrence patterns are useful to examine the role of abiotic and biotic factors in community assembly. Our results show non-random patterns of species association at large spatial scales, mainly refl ecting increasing community similarity with decreasing geographical distance, although random patterns of species association were found at the smallest spatial scales. Negative associations between species dominated the association pattern when all species pairs were considered, but most of the signifi cant associations were positive. Th ere was low congruence of association strengths of the same species-pairs in diff erent clusters, indicating that associations are likely to be contingent on local conditions. Finally, association strength of con-familial species pairs was found to be higher than species belonging to diff erent families, probably refl ecting habitat fi ltering. Th is study emphasizes the role and importance of examining general patterns and of using a combination of experimental and observational studies to gain insights at multiple scales.

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