Proposal for creation and assessment of marine fisheries enhancement reserves: a report to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

Abstract

As a logical extension to the work N.S.W. Fisheries has been carrying out on and off over the past 20 years or so in relation to the development of a system of marine and estuarine reserves in N.S.W. waters, I would like to propose a study aimed specifically at the uses and benefits of such reserves for fisheries enhancement and management purposes. The basic biological concepts behind such "marine fishery reserves" are outlined in detail in recent reviews by Bohnsack (1990) and Roberts and Polunin (1991), and summarised in the recent newspaper article by Gruson (1992) (see attachments). In principle, the basis of this concept is to set aside unfished areas of habitat in which fish (and also crustaceans and molluscs) of commercial and recreational importance can grow to maturity and reach large adult sizes at which their fecundity is greatly increasej (see example of red snapper fecundity in Bohnsack's paper, attached), thus "seeding" surrounding fished areas with both increased numbers of juvenile recruits and surplus adults emigrating from these protected areas.