The Bermuda Fisheries a Tragedy of the Commons Averted?

Butler, James N.; Burnett-Herkes, James; Barnes, John; Ward, Jack A.

doi:10.1080/00139157.1993.9929067

Cited by 26 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…Fishing pressure may have influenced this pattern (Luckhurst and Ward 1996). Commercial and recreational fishing activities such as angling, trawling and lobster pots are historically widespread in Bermuda and lead to local overexploitation of shallower reefs (Butler et al 1993;. In this study, large groupers, snappers, jacks and even a silky shark were sighted during deeper dives at the most distant sites in Bermuda.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upper and lower mesophotic coral reef fish communities evaluated by underwater visual censuses in two Caribbean locations

et al. 2015

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Despite more than 60 yr of coral reef research using scuba diving, mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) between 30 and 150 m depth remain largely unknown. This study represents the first underwater visual census of reef fish communities in the Greater Caribbean on MCEs at depths up to 80 m in Bermuda and 130 m in Curaçao. Sampling was performed using mixed-gas closed-circuit rebreathers. Quantitative data on reef fish communities were obtained for four habitats: coral reefs (45-80 m), rhodolith beds (45-80 m), ledges (85-130 m) and walls (85-130 m). A total of 38 species were recorded in Bermuda and 66 in Curaçao. Mesophotic reef fish communities varied significantly between the two localities. MCEs in Bermuda had lower richness and abundance, but higher biomass than those in Curaçao. Richness, abundance and biomass increased with depth in Bermuda, but decreased in Curaçao. A high turnover of species was found among depth strata and between Bermuda and other Caribbean upper MCEs (45-80 m), indicating that depth was an important driver of community structure at all localities. However, local and evolutionary factors (habitat and endemism) are likely the main factors shaping communities in isolated locations such as Bermuda. High fishing pressure is evident in both localities, as total biomass of apex predators was generally low, and thus may be driving a ''refugia'' scenario in Bermuda, as the abundance and biomass of macro-carnivores increased with depth and distance from the coast.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upper and lower mesophotic coral reef fish communities evaluated by underwater visual censuses in two Caribbean locations

et al. 2015

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“…Parrotfish were protected because of the important role they play in keeping seaweeds in check on rocky coasts and coral reefs (Smith-Vaniz et al 1999), while also contributing to the formation of sand by grinding away at rocky substrates with their toothed beaks to harvest benthic algae (Thomas 2004). These large herbivores were not harvested for food until 1977 when other more desirable species were declining prior to forthcoming protection laws (Butler et al 1993). At this time a shift took place from annual catches dominated by grouper and snapper to one in which herbivorous reef fishes, including parrotfish, were the bulk of the Bermuda fishery (Butler et al 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These large herbivores were not harvested for food until 1977 when other more desirable species were declining prior to forthcoming protection laws (Butler et al 1993). At this time a shift took place from annual catches dominated by grouper and snapper to one in which herbivorous reef fishes, including parrotfish, were the bulk of the Bermuda fishery (Butler et al 1993). From zero harvest in 1975, parrotfish catch grew to 92,000 kg in 1987, fully 36% of the total catch of miscellaneous reef fish (Butler et al 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other apex predators that could affect parrotfish population dynamics, Galapagos sharks (Carcharhinus galapagensis, called dusky or puppy sharks in Bermuda) and tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier), faced similar fortunes due to overfishing during the same time period. From 1990 to 1991, pelagic fish harvest numbers had doubled from previous decades to 40.7% of the total fisheries catch in Bermuda (Butler et al 1993). Although shark population data specifically for Bermuda is unavailable, pelagic and inshore shark populations in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean showed a steady decline from 1986 to 1998 due to overfishing (Baum et al 2003), and their presence in the islands has not been robust since the 1978 Fisheries (Protected Species) Order has gone into effect (unpublished observations).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Could marine animal conservation laws be responsible for the decline or extirpation of macroalgal populations in Bermuda over the past century?

Schneider

Flook

2017

Botanica Marina

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Using over 10,000 archival herbarium specimens from Bermuda, we compared the presence or absence of seaweeds from a century ago with our more than 5000 collections from the last 30 years. Populations of parrotfish, important herbivores of macroalgae in the tropics, have increased since the 1993 amendment to the Bermuda 1978 Fisheries (Protected Species) Order. A fish pot ban for Bermuda was put into effect in 1990 to protect a variety of fish including parrotfish and several species of grouper, important predators of parrotfish that were rarely seen in island waters at the time. Intertidal grazing West Indian top shells were reintroduced in 1982 to Bermuda, and since then, along with the rise in parrotfish populations, inshore populations of many macroalgae have dramatically changed. We suggest that several large and abundant Bermuda macroalgal species recorded in the early 20th century appear to have been extirpated or are greatly diminished in sizes of individuals as well as population abundance, and propose that marine animal protections over the past 35 years are a possible reason for the changes we are presently observing.

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“…46 Overfishing not only affects the size of harvestable stocks but can lead to major shifts, direct and indirect, in community structure, both of fish species and reef communities as a whole. 47 In the competition for space between corals and algae, herbivorous fish help to control algae, thus favoring the growth and recruitment of corals.…”

Section: Map 5 Reefs Threatened By Marine-based Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Una contribución a la política pública para el manejo costero integrado de Honduras: análisis diagnóstico

Caviedes¹,

Granados²,

Carrasco³

2014

RGCI

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The Bermuda Fisheries a Tragedy of the Commons Averted?

Cited by 26 publications

References 0 publications

Upper and lower mesophotic coral reef fish communities evaluated by underwater visual censuses in two Caribbean locations

Upper and lower mesophotic coral reef fish communities evaluated by underwater visual censuses in two Caribbean locations

Could marine animal conservation laws be responsible for the decline or extirpation of macroalgal populations in Bermuda over the past century?

Una contribución a la política pública para el manejo costero integrado de Honduras: análisis diagnóstico

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