Abstract

Mangrove forests are unique habitats that function as feeding grounds and nurseries for numerous fish which includes commercial and subsistence species. Over the past decades, mangrove forest cover has been greatly reduced in Guyana due to the construction of rip-raps and dams, tree harvesting, grazing of livestock and the natural processes of erosion and ac-cretion. Different mangrove habitat types (natural, restored& degraded) along Guyana’s coast were surveyed to investigate fish species diversity, community structures and ecosystem degradation impacts in order to protect and to improve the man-grove fish resources. Per habitat type, nine random plots of 1ha were established at each site for habitat evaluation, fol-lowed by sampling during both wet and dry season, using cast nets, gills and hand nets of different mesh sizes. A total of 24 species from 14 families were recorded, with the sea catfishes, Ariidae, (6 species) being the most speciose family. The mean Simpson Diversity Index showed that the natural habitats had the greatest fish diversity in both the dry and wet sea-son followed by the degraded and restored mangrove habitats respectively. Significantly higher fish abundance, biomass and mean length were observed in natural and restored mangrove habitats in comparison to the degraded habitats. These results indicate that mangrove restoration significantly increases fish diversity and abundance. It also demonstrates the need for an integrated approach to mangrove resource management/conservation, including intensive mangrove restoration, and habitat protection for ecosystem recovery of degraded mangrove ecosystems.

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