The majority of ocean types that are exploited by humans live in “stocks,” or groups of separated regional populations, which have shown hard to study and mark.
Fish in a web. Credit: Trond Larsen/ Conservation International
Hixon and co-authors from the UH Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and Conservation International integrated their competence and applied recent developments in their particular fields to establish the first Fish Flow map on the Island of Hawaii.
Their findings show that the northern and southern parts of the island are elaborately linked by larval dispersal and catch circulation, a discovery that highlights the value of an inclusive method to management and conservation of coral reefs in the area.
” From a fisheries management point of view, our work shows that the resource base for these fisheries is crucial for the food security of local neighborhoods, which even more emphasizes the significance of community-based fishery management,” stated Jack Kittinger, study co-author and director of Conservation International Hawaii.
At the frontiers of 5 disciplines
Researchers concentrating on oceanography, genes, ecology, fisheries biology, and social sciences, each operating at the frontier of their respective disciples, were required for this research study.
SOEST oceanographers rely on cutting-edge computer system designs that take into account physical and biological elements in ever greater resolution, allowing researchers to predict patterns of larval dispersal. Additionally, using advanced genomic techniques, tiny tissue samples from fish now expose the spawning and settlement places of adult fish and their offspring.
Larval dispersal patterns of surgeonfish among studied reef (dark arrows, circles) compared to reef-fish catch distribution patterns amongst regional neighborhoods (white arrows, circles) from landings at Kiholo Bay, Hawaii (white star). Credit: Hixon, et al., 2022
” The development of Fish Flow maps will better help and inform consumers resource managers in connecting fisheries and conservation policies with natural borders and paths, including stock boundaries, networks of marine safeguarded locations, and fisheries management locations,” said Hixon.
” These Fish Flow maps will help to make sure that everyone– from local community members to resource managers and policy makers– comprehend and appreciate how clearly linked and reliant human beings are on seafood produced in numerous, and often really remote, regions of the ocean,” added Kittinger.
The scientists intend to secure funding for a complete Fish Flow analysis of the ecologically and economically essential fish species in Hawaii. That effort is pictured to culminate in web-based, interactive “Fish Flow” maps depicting the many connections and interdependencies between marine environments and human communities.
Reference: “Fish Flow: following fisheries from generating to supper” by Mark A Hixon, Brian W Bowen, Richard R Coleman, Chelsie W Counsell, Megan J Donahue, Erik C Franklin, John N Kittinger, Margaret A McManus and Robert J Toonen, 16 December 2021, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.DOI: 10.1002/ charge.2449.
Funding: Harold K.L. Castle Foundation.
Fish in the Coral Sea. Credit: Shawn Heinrichs/ Conservation International
Recent developments in several disciplines now enable scientists to follow the entire life cycle of ocean fishes– from when and where they are spawned, to where they disperse and grow, to when and where they are recorded, carried, and consumed.
A just recently released study led by University of Hawaii (UH) at Manoa scientists brought together specialists from the fields of oceanography, genes, ecology, fisheries biology, and social sciences to establish unprecedented insights into the commercial and natural circulation of fish.
” We believe that Fish Flow analyses will promote sustainable fisheries management and marine preservation efforts, and may foster public knowledge, sensible seafood choices, and appreciation of social– environmental affiliations including fisheries,” stated Mark Hixon, lead author of the study and teacher and Hsiao Endowed Chair of Marine Biology at the UH Manoa School of Life Sciences.
