Diversity of coral reef fish in the coastal water of Spelman Straits, Southeast Sulawesi

Abstract

Spelman Strait is one of the potential reef fisheries. This study aims to examine the potential of reef fisheries in the Spelman Strait. The data used in this study are primary data to determine the abundance of reef fish and the use of PaST (Paleontological Statistics) tools to assess diversity, Evenness, wealth, and dominance indices. The results showed that live coral cover from all observation stations was 37.71%. The abundance of reef fish has been under pressure, the diversity index still has good but some families experience threats, the Evenness index value also still shows an even distribution but there are several families threatened, the wealth index still describes good species wealth, but the distribution is uneven, while the dominance index value illustrates that the condition of the coral reef ecosystem is under pressure. This condition is caused by destructive fishing so that the existence of some economically important targeted fish is threatened.

Reef fish community on Sabira Island, Kepulauan Seribu Regency, DKI Jakarta

“…Another factor that causes differences in the number and type of fish is food availability and the time of observation [9]. Many factors can influence the number of fish found in the reef areas, primarily water temperature and current [10,[21][22][23], and interaction among fish groups of indicator fish, major fish, and target fish [24][25].…”

What's wrong with the coastal waters of Spelman Strait, Indonesia: Sustainable reef fisheries management is required

“…Trends in CPUE and fish size are heavily affected by non-environmentally friendly fishing practices, such as the use of explosives, resulting in fewer and smaller catches using the hand line by fishermen. Muis et al, (2019Muis et al, ( , 2020 confirmed that some fishermen still use explosives to capture reef fish in the coastal waters of the Spelman Strait. The fishing ground is far from the fish landing site (TPI) because the coral reef environment has been damaged due to destructive fishing that the community has carried out for a long time.…”

“…Muis et al (2019) reported that the living coral cover in the coastal waters of Spelman Strait were moderate requirements (37.71%). The decline in live coral cover has been caused by destructive fishing, as shown during observation by several coral fragments (Muis et al, 2020). Therefore, these two sensitive characteristics need to be managed by carrying out restoration/transplantation of coral reef, especially in the main habitat of fish with high stocks and economic value, such as the Serranidae and Lutjanidae families.…”

“…The coastal waters of Spelman Strait are rich in reef fish stocks and are a cornerstone of small-scale fishermen inhabiting Mawasangka District's coastline (Muis et al, 2019(Muis et al, , 2020. Muis et al (2019) reported that the reef fish in the coastal waters of Spelman Strait consisted of 8 families and 14 genera.…”

“…The use of fishing equipment, which has always been a social issue, is unfriendly resource (destructive fishing). Muis et al (2020) reported that the use of bomb fishing equipment in the coastal waters of Spelman Strait caused high dead corals (33.17%), which decreased live coral cover (37.71%).…”