Evans et al. 2006:

"In the near-shore sites in the Whitsundays, the mean population density of the primary target fishes, Plectropomus spp. (coral trout), changed from being 1.2 times higher in the fished than the proposed no-take areas before the rezoning, to 1.6 times higher in the no-take than in fished areas after rezoning, an increase from 5.2 to 9.0 fish per1,000m² (Figure 1). Similarly, mean biomass of Plectropomus spp. changed from 1.1 times higher in the fished than proposed no-take protected areas, to 2.2 times higher in the no-take protected than fished areas. Mean Plectropomus spp. biomass increased by 1.7 times from 7.6 to 13.5 kg per 1,000m² (Figure 1) in the new no-take areas after rezoning. In contrast, density and biomass of Plectropomus spp. decreased slightly in the areas that remained open to fishing (Figure 1). However, observed differences in both density and biomass between zones and years were not statistically significant (p>0.05, Table 1)."

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Citation and/or URL

Evans, R.D, Williamson, D.H., Sweatman, H., Russ, G.R., Emslie, M., Cheal, A. and Miller, I. 2006, Surveys of the effects of rezoning of the GBR Marine Park in 2004 on some fish species – preliminary findings,A report to the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility,Department of Environment and Heritage, 17pp.

Spatial Coverage

James Cook University: Whitsunday Islands

Australian Institute of Marine Science: reef-wide

Temporal Coverage

 2005-2006

Update Frequency

Every second year 

Other Information

 None