GREATER BIOMASS AND VALUE OF TARGET CORAL-REEF FISHES IN 2 SMALL CARIBBEAN MARINE RESERVES

We studied the coral-reef fish communities of Saba Marine Park (Netherlands Antilles) and Hol Chan Marine Reserve (Ambergris Caye, Belize) in the Caribbean to assess differences between them and adjacent ecologically similar sites after 4 yr of protection from fishing. Forty-five percent of target species commonly recorded in visual censuses in Belize (23 % of all recorded target species), and 59 % at Saba (22 %), showed greater abundance, size or biomass in shallow protected sites. These differences are considered primarily to reflect increased survivorship with the cessation of fishing mortality. The greatest estimated biomasses were observed in locally protected snapper (Lutjanidae) in Belize and Saba, and grunt (Haemulidae) at Saba. In both protected areas the local stock of visible demersal target fishes was 1.9 to 2.0 times greater in biomass and 2.2 to 3.5 times greater in commercial value than in fished sites. Larger local stock of many target species is likely to support higher egg output from the protected areas, while larger predator biomass will mean more intense predation at the protected sites.