Critical thresholds and tangible targets for ecosystem-based management of coral reef fisheries

TLDR

Sustainably managing ecosystems is challenging, especially for complex systems such as coral reefs. The study aims to develop critical reference points for sustainable management of coral reef fisheries by analyzing a large empirical dataset from the western Indian Ocean. It examines associations between target fish biomass and eight ecosystem metrics across a continuum from heavily fished sites to closed fisheries. The analysis identified eight ecological thresholds along the fish biomass continuum, with three above and five below the hypothesized B MMSY window, showing that unregulated fisheries typically fall below B MMSY while closures and gear‑restricted fisheries often lie within or above it, providing tangible management targets and highlighting trade‑offs.

Abstract

Sustainably managing ecosystems is challenging, especially for complex systems such as coral reefs. This study develops critical reference points for sustainable management by using a large empirical dataset on the coral reefs of the western Indian Ocean to investigate associations between levels of target fish biomass (as an indicator of fishing intensity) and eight metrics of ecosystem state. These eight ecological metrics each exhibited specific thresholds along a continuum of fishable biomass ranging from heavily fished sites to old fisheries closures. Three thresholds lay above and five below a hypothesized window of fishable biomass expected to produce a maximum multispecies sustainable yield ( B MMSY ). Evaluating three management systems in nine countries, we found that unregulated fisheries often operate below the B MMSY , whereas fisheries closures and, less frequently, gear-restricted fisheries were within or above this window. These findings provide tangible management targets for multispecies coral reef fisheries and highlight key tradeoffs required to achieve different fisheries and conservation goals.