Intra-Annual Variability of an Artificial Reef Fish Assemblage in the Marine Reserve of Tabarca (Alicante, Spain, Sw Mediterranean)
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BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE. 55(2-3): 824-835. 1994 INTRA-ANNUAL VARIABILITY OF AN ARTIFICIAL REEF FISH ASSEMBLAGE IN THE MARINE RESERVE OF TABARCA (ALICANTE, SPAIN, SW MEDITERRANEAN) Just T. Bayle-Sempere, Alfonso A. Ramos-Espld and Jose A. Garda Charton ABSTRACT An experimental artificial reef was designed and placed in the Marine Reserve at Tabarca (Alicante, SE Spain) to avoid trawl-fishing activities on the Posidonia oceanica seagrass bed and to provide alternative fishing sites. The fish assemblage monitoring of the experimental artificial reef for I year is presented. The number of fish species recorded (21 spp.) is lower than that found for nearby natural rocky bottoms close to the site studied. This difference can be accounted for due to reef characteristics, such as module design, relative low volume submerged, excessive depth andJor high degradation of P. oceanica beds surrounding the experimental artificial reef. Changes in the fish assemblage throughout the study period due to seasonal nature cannot be clearly distinguished from later colonization episodes. The main effect of the experimental artificial reef seems to be the attraction of subadults and adults of demersal fish species from nearby natural rocky bottoms. The study of the effectiveness of artificial reefs (ARs) deployed in coastal zones is essential when programming fisheries management (Bohnsack and Sutherland, 1985; Seaman and Sprague, 1991). In this respect, it is important to determine the "status of the AR" already installed (Bortone and Kimmel, 1991), especially when functioning hypotheses are proposed. In spite of large numbers of ARs already present along the Mediterranean coast, especially on the Valencian Community (a Spanish regional department) coast (BeIda and Jover, 1992), their ecological effects and performances for fisheries are largely unknown. The protection of the seagrass beds of Posidonia oceanica from trawl-fishing and the enhancement of the traditional fisheries are the main aims of ARs in the Mediterranean Sea (Bombace, 1989). An experimental AR was designed and installed in the southern part of the Marine Reserve at Tabarca (MRT) (Alicante, SE Spain) (Fig. 1), created by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Regional Government (Generalitat Valenciana). The purpose of the MRT is not only to protect marine ecosystems but also to subject the zone to a rational management policy instead of total protection (Ramos-Esplii, 1985a). Therefore, some traditional fishing techniques are permitted for certain periods and in authorized areas (Ramos-Esphi and Bayle-Sempere, 1990). Likewise, tour- ist-recreational activities compatible with the protection of the marine environ- ment are also permitted. The main objective of the experimental artificial reef of Tabarca (EART) was to halt illegal trawl-fishing activities and to stop the damage to P. oceanica beds. A secondary aim was the fishing use of the EART, to determine whether or not it generates an increase in the exploited stock by supplying new recruitment areas or does it only attract individuals from near natural bottoms (Bohnsack and Suth- erland, 1985; Bohnsack, 1989; Bohnsack et aI., 1991). Herein we describe the intra-annual fish assemblage variation at the EART. Its effectiveness was verified by assessing the recruitment of juveniles and by com- 824 BAYLE-SEMPERE ET AL.: ANNUAL VARIABILITY OF ARTIFICIAL REEF FISH 825 00")0 W OO·2tw / ; i .i A· , \ \ \ \ i I ,;.i ,... 50. I~ I i OO"30'W .i Figure I. Location of the study site, showing the delimitation of the Marine Reserve at Tabarca, the different management zone and the situation of the artificial reef (AR). paring the characteristics of its fish assemblage with those from near natural rocky-zones. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study Area.-The MRT totally surrounds Nueva Tabarca Island (Alicante, SE Spain, W Mediterranean Sea) (Fig. I). It occupies an area of about 1,400 ha, rectangular in shape and its perimeter is delimited by light buoys. The three basic functions of a Biosphere Reserve, as recommended by the MaB Program (UNESCO, 1987), have been adapted for the MRT. The protected area was divided into three zoncs in accordance with the protection level and permitted uses (Ramos-Esphi, 1985b; Ramos-Espla and Bayle-Sempere, 1990): I) integral reserve area (100 ha); IT) damping area (630 ha); III) peripheral area (670 ha). The management and administration of the MRT are the responsibilities of a commission consisting of representatives of different organizations [viz. the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (Regional Government) and A]icante's Local Council]. Other associations and institutions involved in the conservation of marine resources (Ministry of Public Works, Tabarca Fisherman's Brotherhood, University of Alicante, ecological associations) can all par- ticipate. Scientific activity is coordinated by a scientific adviser, and includes the study of the P. oceanica meadow, fish assemblages, the monitoring of traditional fisheries and the effect of the EART. Supervision and control of the protected area are carried out by two fish-keepers. Experimental Artificial Reef of Tabarca (EART).- The EART is located in the zone Ill, in the southern part of Nueva Tabarca Island (Fig. I), between ]4 and 24 m in depth, on a degraded P. oceanica meadow with a very low "shoot" density due to illegal trawl-fishing. It is made of 25 anti-trawling concrete modules with projecting railways ties, cubic in shape, 1.5 m3 in size and weighing about 9 tons, distributed along an area of ]30 ha. Between the anti-trawling modules, four attraction/concen- tration pyramids are lined up, constructed with alveo]ar modules (Fig. 2) with a volume of about 55 m) each and occupying about 600 m2. The installation was finished in August 1989. Sampling Methods.-The protectionist nature of the MRT made it impossible to use destructive sam- pling techniques traditionally used in these studies (trawling, gill-nets, hooks, poisons, spearfishing). Therefore, visual census techniques by SCUBA diving were chosen for the study of fish communities in these zones and of the ARs (Harmelin-Vivien et aI., 1985). Visua] censuses were carried out between 10:00 and 14:00 (Ioca] time), quarterly from February 1990 until February 1991. All fish species observed in the volume of water comprised within I m from each pyramid were recorded. A survey of the external zone was followed by a careful exami- nation of the internal structures of the pyramids to record sedentary and cryptic fish species. In each sampling occasion, duplicate censuses were undertaken per pyramid, scoring numbers of individuals 826 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 55, NO. 2-3. 1994 c B '''' Figure 2. Schematic view of the different elements of the Tabarca artificial reef. A: attraction/con- centration pyramid; B: anti-trawling module; C: general view of the reef. of each fish species on prefixed abundance intervals according to a geometric progression (Harmel in- Vivien et aI., 1985). The size of the individuals was estimated with a ruler attached to the end of a meter stick (Bohnsack and Bannerot, 1986). Eight censuses per period were undertaken, except in February and May 1990 (6 and 7, respectively). Statistical Analysis.-For each period absolute mean abundance and fish species richness and Shannon- Weaver diversity index (Margalef, 1974) were calculated. Each fish species was assigned to one spatia] category (Table ]) defined as suggested (Harmel in, 1987) for fish species of Mediterranean rocky bottoms. The residence status (resident, transient and occasional) was assigned according to the biology of each fish species (i.e., Mobility, site-fidelity). Sizes were clustered into three intervals (small, medium, large) according to maximum length of each species (Whitehead et aI., 1986). The mean percentage of individuals which belong to each size class in every sampling period was calculated, comparing the total proportions by means of the Chi- square test from contingency tables. The mean abundance of each fish species (considering all species together, and discerning between size-intervals) and the total mean abundance were compared between sampling-periods by one-way ANOVA (Zar, ]974) with In(x + I) transformed data when Bartlett's test advised it; differences were located by Tukey's test. Diversity for every sampling-period was compared by means of non-parametric Kruska]-Wallis test (Zar, 1974). Table I. Space occupation classes of Mediterranean littoral rocky fish species (after Harmelin, 1987) Spatial category Description Cat. I Highly mobile gregarious, pelagic erratic species Cat. 2 Planktophagous and relatively sedentary species, living throughout the water column Cat. 3 Demersal mesophagous species, with medium-amplitude vertical movements and more-or-Iess important horizontal movements Cat. 4 Demersal species, with slight vertical and high lateral movements Cat. 5 Sedentary demersal mesophagous species Cat. 6 Highly-sedentary cryptic benthic species BAYLE-SEMPERE ET AL.: ANNUAL VARIABILITY OF ARTIFICIAL REEF FISH 827 RESULTS Assemblage Structure.-Twenty-one fish species belonging to 10 families (Table 2) were recorded during the study period. Among these, Sparidae includes most of the species recorded (38.1 %). This was followed by Labridae (l4.3%) and Serranidae (9.5%). The rest of the fish families were represented only by one l species each. The total mean abundance of individuals was 109·pyramid-