Abstract

Fish spawning aggregation sites should be integrated into the design of marine reserves (MR) that seek to conserve biodiversi-ty and manage local fisheries. Field research conducted since 2005 at Mona Island, Puerto Rico has provided useful data for this purpose. The remote islands of Mona and Monito are enclosed in the largest marine protected area and MR (no-take zone) in Puerto Rico. The MR originally designated around Mona and Monito Islands in 2004 was established using general management principles but not with specific information on fish distribution and abundance. Underwater visual surveys throughout the insular platform were performed using three methods (belt transects, roving and drift dives). At least 22 coral reef species including threatened groupers (Epinephelus guttatus, Mycteroperca tigris and M. venenosa) were documented spawning or with indirect evidence of spawning at aggregation sites located outside the 2004 MR boundaries. As data on the location of these aggregations became available the MR boundaries were modified in 2007 as an amendment to the local fisheries regulations. The new and expanded boundaries protect other spawning sites as well, since these generally occur on the insular shelf break, and depth (100 fathoms) was utilized to define the new boundary. These results demonstrate the viability of the approach used in this study for locating spawning aggregations to provide information for fisheries management and MR design. The expansion of the no-take zone boundaries at Mona Island provides heavily exploited groupers and other species with the potential for recovery and supports ecosystem-based management.

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