Impact of marine protected areas on economical important coral reef fish communities: An evaluation of the biological monitoring of coral reef fish in Anambas Islands, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract. Putra RD, Siringiringo RM, Suryanti A, Sari NWP, Sinaga M, Hidayati NV, Hukom FD, Abrar M, Makatipu PC, Sianturi R, Ilham Y. 2021. Impact of marine protected areas on economical important coral reef fish communities: An evaluation of the biological monitoring of coral reef fish in Anambas Islands, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 4169-4181. The use of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is the core strategy to reduce the impact of the anthropogenic stressor on marine fisheries, especially in reducing the overexploitation of fisheries resources and destructive fishing in which this plays a significant role in the conservation of marine biodiversity and populations. We conducted a study over 4 years to evaluate and assess the impact of MPAs on economically important reef fish in the Anambas Islands. We compared density, size, biomass, and diversity indices from the seven families of coral reef fish (Acanthuridae, Haemulidae, Lethrinidae, Lutjanidae, Scaridae, Siganidae, and Serranidae) using Underwater Visual Census (UVC) with a total of 12 MPAs stations (70-m transect). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to evaluate and assess reserve protection on the coral reef fish, and several ecological indices were used to compare the potential change of economically coral reef fish diversity. We also measured the rate of change in coral cover to identify the effectiveness of the MPAs. After 4 years of studies, our result showed that there was an increase of economical reefs. Fish diversity, density, and biomass increased by 244%, 257%, and 179% respectively. There was no significant difference in the rate of coral cover change among MPAs stations. Economical coral reef fish in Anambas Islands were restored in marine reserve overtimes after fisheries restriction protection, but this does not change the rate of coral cover through time. In addition, the government managed and increased community awareness that significantly influenced decreasing destructive fishing practices and overexploited reef fish species in Anambas Islands but no change in coral cover. The MPAs environmental condition and natural disturbance, including thermal stress and high sedimentation, play a key role in coral cover recovery besides fisheries restriction in the MPAs area.

Marine Protected Area management under the impacts of climate change and increased human activities in marine ecosystems: A review for Anambas Islands MPA

“…While it is too early to draw conclusions based on data provided by LKKPN Pekanbaru alone, some studies have found positive results from the MPA's establishment, such as increasing fish populations and projected capture fisheries in the area. One study used multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to examine 7 groups of reef fishes (Acanthuridae, Haemulidae, Lethrinidae, Lutjanidae, Scaridae, Siganidae, and Serranidae), and found an increase in diversity, density and biomass of reef fish by 244%, 257% and 179%, respectively [14]. This result supported by another study that estimated the fishery potential of certain fish species at IDR 301 billion per year.…”

“…The creation of Anambas MPA implies fisheries restriction in the area which helped the rehabilitation of reef fish communities. However, it should be noted that there are no effects on the rehabilitation of coral reef cover, probably because the physical and chemical conditions in the Anambas MPA may influence the coral reef rehabilitation process [14]. The rehabilitation of coral reefs certainly affects the increase in reef fish habitat and rehabilitation efforts using artificial reef-building have been carried out in the Nyamuk Island area, Anambas, which has an impact on the increasing number and diversity of reef fish species in the area [18], [19].…”