The association of economically important fish with mangroves in Maumere Bay, Indonesia

Abstract

Mangroves are known to play a role in fisheries production, but specifically, however the associations between economically important fish species and mangroves with varied characteristics are not yet widely known. The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship (association) between economically important fish species and mangroves with varied characteristics in Maumere Bay, Indonesia. The research used spatial and non-spatial methods; the research on economically important fish species used an experimental fishing sampling method. Correspondence analysis was applied to answer the question why certain economically important fish species were associated with certain mangrove characteristics. The mangroves at the study locations with characteristically dominant species Bruguiera parviflora, Avicennia alba, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Ceriops tagal, with a moderate value of the Shannon diversity index (1< H’ ≤3), and moderate value of the Simpson dominance index (0.5< C ≤0.75), associated with the economically important fish species Psammoperca waigiensis, Synanceia verrucosa and Pomadasys maculatus. The locations of mangrove with high mangrove cover (≥ 80%), Avicennia marina as dominant species, large area (100 ha) and high density (≥ 3000 trees / ha), Rhizophora mucronata as dominant species, and high value of Pielou’s evenness index (0.6< e ≤1.0) were associated with the economically important fish species Upeneus mollucensis, Lethrinus lentjan, and Lutjanus bitaeniatus. The mangrove locations with medium cover (50% - 75%), moderate values of Simpson dominance index (0.5< C ≤0.75) but high mangrove belt width (≥ 400 m) were associated with the economically important fish species Siganus javus, Stegostoma fasciatum, Mugil cephalus, Carangoides malabaricus and Chanos chanos.