Understanding movement of Caribbean coral reef fishery species: Improving the design of marine reserves in the Caribbean

Project Overview Designing effective marine reserves for fisheries management requires an understanding of the movement rates and ranges of key fishery species and how these species use habitats within and outside reserve areas. In this project, the Perry Institute for Marine Science mapped marine habitats, and examined the habitat use and movement of key Caribbean fishery species, particularly Nassau grouper in existing and proposed marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Bahamas. While the initial focus of the proposed research included two national parks with extensive marine areas and several sites within a network of Fishery Reserves being developed by the Bahamas Department of Marine Resources, partnering stakeholders requested that we also conduct some of our work in several newly created and proposed National Park areas. To accommodate this request, we expanded the scope of our habitat mapping and assessments of species distributions. Due to resource limitations, however, expanding the scope of this aspect of the project meant that we had to limit tracking studies, with detailed studies of movement being focused on Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus). Nevertheless, in addition to Nassau grouper, movement of other important species, such as Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), queen conch (Strombus gigas), and snappers (e.g., Lutjanus apodus, L. griseus, L. synagris) were also examined. For Nassau grouper, we examined movements on multiple spatial (meters to hundreds of kilometers) and temporal (daily to seasonal) scales as they relate to key ecological processes (daily foraging movements to spawning migrations) and seascape features such as habitat characteristics and bathymetry. To do this, we mapped habitats within several existing and proposed MPAs using satellite imagery and in situ ground-truthing, we examined species distributions using in situ survey techniques, and we tracked movement of key fishery species using visual and acoustic tagging techniques. This research, conducted with the input from Bahamian marine resource management authorities and with the assistance of various stakeholders, has contributed to the MPA and fishery management planning processes in the Bahamas. In this final report, we present the results and key outcomes and outputs of our progress to date with respect to the five key objectives of the study: