The last 50 yr of fisheries catch statistics and ecological surveys have reported sig nificant decreases in shark populations, which have largely been attributed to human activities. However, sharks are challenging to census, and this decline likely pre-dated even the longest fishery-dependent time series. Here we present the first use of dermal denticles preserved in reef sediments as a novel ...

Reaction of fishers is an essential source of uncertainty in implementing fishery management decisions. Provided they realistically capture fisher behaviour, models of fishing vessel dynamics provide the basis for evaluating the impact of proposed management strategies. Information flow among vessels has not been a major focus of such models however, although it might play a critical role in ho...

Brazilian shellmounds are archaeological sites with a high concentration of marine faunal remains. There are more than 2000 sites along the coast of Brazil that range in age from 8,720 to 985 cal BP. Here, we studied the ichthyoarchaeological remains (i.e., cranial/postcranial bones, otoliths, and teeth, among others) at 13 shellmounds on the southern coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, which...

Sublethal disturbance may lead to behavioral modifications that have detrimental consequences for the individual. Sublethal disturbance is an indirect effect of fishing that has seldom been examined. In summer 2003, we conducted surveys on the Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus in the Florida Keys, USA, before and after a 2 d mini-season exclusively for recreational sportdivers to assess t...

When managing heterogeneous socioecological systems, decision-makers must choose a spatial resolution at which to define management policies. Complex spatial policies allow managers to better reflect underlying ecological and economic heterogeneity, but incur higher compliance and enforcement costs. To choose the most appropriate management resolution, we need to characterize the relationship b...

Artificial reefs have barely been used in Neotropical reservoirs (about five studies in three reservoirs), despite their potential as a fishery management tool to create new habitats and also to understand fish ecology. We experimentally assessed how reef material (ceramic, concrete, and PVC) and time modulated fish colonization of artificial reefs deployed in Itaipu Reservoir, a large reservoi...

I . D. WILLIAMS 1 , 2 ∗, W. J . WALSH 2 , R . E . SCH ROE D E R 3 , A. M. F RI E D LAN D E R 4 , B . L. RICHARDS 3 AND K. A. STAMOU L IS 2 1Hawaii Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA, 2Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources, Honokohau Marina, 74-380B Kealakehe Parkway, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740, USA, 3Joint Institute...

Predicting the oceanic dispersal of planktonic larvae that connect scattered marine animal populations is difficult, yet crucial for management of species whose movements transcend international boundaries. Using multi-scale biophysical modeling techniques coupled with empirical estimates of larval behavior and gamete production, we predict and empirically verify spatio-temporal patterns of lar...

Increased ocean temperature due to climate change is raising metabolic demands and energy requirements of marine ectotherms. If productivity of marine systems and fisheries are to persist, individual species must compensate for this demand through increasing energy acquisition or decreasing energy expenditure. Here we reveal that the most important coral reef fishery species in the Indo-west Pa...

Severe climatic disturbance events often have major impacts on coral reef communities, generating cycles of decline and recovery, and in some extreme cases, community-level phase shifts from coral-to algal-dominated states. Benthic habitat changes directly affect reef fish communities, with low coral cover usually associated with low fish diversity and abundance. No-take marine reserves (NTRs) ...