Abstract
Reef fish assemblages under fishing pressure generally exhibit a lower fish biomass, abundance, and size structure, which can be counteracted with the creation of marine protected areas (MPAs). The effectiveness of MPAs relies on enforcement and compliance, which is particularly challenging in developing countries with financial and socioeconomic limitations. By combining underwater visual surveys (UVS) and baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS), we determined the abundance, size distribution, and biomass of economic (e.g., target and ornamental species) and ecological (e.g., small/large predators and herbivorous) indicator fish groups inside and outside a no-take MPA from the north Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The biomass of economic fish groups was not affected by protection, yet overall abundance and size distribution of fishes differed between no-take and open-fishing zones. These results suggest that although illegal fishing may be occurring inside the MPA, there are at least partial benefits of protection on particular groups within the fish assemblage. Herbivores and ornamental fishes, two groups that are targeted by the artisanal compressor fishery and by the aquarium trade, respectively, had higher biomass and were more abundant inside the no-take MPA. Additionally, large shark species (e.g., Galeocerdo cuvier, Carcharhinus leucas, C. limbatus) were only present inside the MPA. Habitat quality was particularly important for ornamental fishes which showed higher biomass in areas with high coral cover. Our study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that, even with limited enforcement, MPAs still provide ecological benefits for reef fish assemblages.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on request.
Code availability
The code written to organize and analyze data for this study is available from the corresponding author on request.
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Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to T Araya, M Cambra, I Chaves, F Chirino, N Goebel, B Naranjo, N Moore, M Marrero, A Arriaga, and all other students and volunteers who contributed valuable hours on the analysis of BRUVS footage and fieldwork. The fieldwork logistics would have not been possible without the support from Minor Lara (Dive Center Cuajiniquil), Anibal Lara (Snorkeling Ciajiniquil), the park rangers at Islas Murciélago, and the staff from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG-Costa Rica). We conducted this study under permit ACG-PI-021-2017.
Funding
This project was financially supported by the Universidad de Costa Rica (VI-UCR No. B8600 and B7146). We are also thankful for the external support from the Global FinPrint, PADI Foundation, and IdeaWild.
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The study was designed by Mario Espinoza; the funds were acquired by Mario Espinoza; Marius Hannes Eisele and Mario Espinoza generated the data; Sergio Madrigal-Mora, Marius Hannes Eisele, and Mario Espinoza analyzed the data; Sergio Madrigal-Mora, Marius Hannes Eisele, and Mario Espinoza prepared the manuscript; Sergio Madrigal-Mora, Marius Hannes Eisele, and Mario Espinoza reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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We carried out visual and video surveys therefore no animal manipulation occurred for this study. Our study has all the required permits approved by the University of Costa Rica for projects UCR/VI-B8600, UCR/VI-B7146.
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Madrigal-Mora, S., Hannes Eisele, M. & Espinoza, M. Do reef fish assemblages benefit from a marine protected area in the north Pacific coast of Costa Rica?. Environ Biol Fish 105, 541–559 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01260-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01260-6