FINAL REPORT Life history specific habitat utilisation of tropical fisheries species Sheaves M, Barnett A, Bradley M, Abrantes KG, Brians M July 2016 FRDC Project No 2013-046 © 2016 Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. All rights reserved. ISBN 978-0-9925222-1-6 Life history specific habitat utilisation of tropical fisheries species FRDC 2013/046 Ownership of Intellectual property rights Unless otherwise noted, copyright (and any other intellectual property rights, if any) in this publication is owned by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and James Cook University. This publication (and any information sourced from it) should be attributed to Sheaves M., Barnett A., Bradley M, Abrantes K.G., Bryans M., James Cook University, 2016, Life history specific habitat utilisation of tropical fisheries species, Townsville, Australia, July. 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The authors do not accept any form of liability, be it contractual, tortious, or otherwise, for the contents of this document or for any consequences arising from its use or any reliance placed upon it. The information, opinions and advice contained in this document may not relate, or be relevant, to a reader’s particular circumstances. Opinions expressed by the authors are the individual opinions expressed by those persons and are not necessarily those of the publisher, research provider or the FRDC. The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation plans, invests in and manages fisheries research and development throughout Australia. It is a statutory authority within the portfolio of the federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, jointly funded by the Australian Government and the fishing industry. Researcher Contact Details FRDC Contact Details Name: Marcus Sheaves Address: 25 Geils Court Address: James Cook University Deakin ACT 2600 Townsville QLD 4811 Phone: 02 6285 0400 Phone: (07) 4781 4144 Fax: 02 6285 0499 Fax: (07) 4725 1570 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Web: www.frdc.com.au In submitting this report, the researcher has agreed to FRDC publishing this material in its edited form. ii Contents Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. ix Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. x Keywords ........................................................................................................................ xii 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Habitats for Fisheries Species .................................................................................... 1 1.2 Habitat Classification .................................................................................................. 2 1.3 How to manage based on habitats ............................................................................. 2 2. Objectives ......................................................................................................................... 5 3. Methods ............................................................................................................................ 6 3.1. Objective 1 - Develop detailed models of the life history stage-specific habitat utilisation of key coastal and estuarine fisheries species .................................................. 6 3.2. Objective 2 - Formalise and consolidate fisher knowledge on fish-habitat relationships into an organised fish-habitat understanding................................................ 6 3.3. Objective 3 - Develop estimates of the relative contributions of different juvenile habitats to adult populations, and estimates of the relative value per unit area of alternative stages-specific habitats to fisheries stocks ...................................................... 7 3.4. Objective 4 - Key resources provided by critical habitats over life histories ................ 7 3.5. Objective 5 - Develop specific, achievable measures of fisheries benefits stemming from repair, revitalisation and supplementation work ........................................................ 7 3.6. Objective 6 - Provide information from points 1-5 in forms that can inform fisheries habitat management and repair, and value-add to habitat mapping .................................. 8 3.6.1. Conceptualising fish habitats ............................................................................ 8 3.6.2. Fish-habitat matrices ...................................................................................... 12 4. Results and Discussion ................................................................................................. 18 4.1. Habitats in the context of fish life-history utilisation .................................................. 18 4.2. Fish-habitat matrices and their potential uses in informing management ................. 19 4.2.1. Process zone use by Australian mobile fisheries species ............................... 19 4.2.2. Process zone × macro-habitat matrix .............................................................. 20 4.2.3. Process zone × meso-habitat matrices ........................................................... 30 4.3. Fish-habitat matrices as tools for management and conservation ............................ 32 5. Implications .................................................................................................................... 37 5.1 Fish Habitat Matrices ................................................................................................ 37 6. Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 38 6.1 Further development ................................................................................................ 38 iii 7. Extension and Adoption ................................................................................................ 39 Project materials developed .............................................................................................. 40 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................... 41 Appendix 1. References..................................................................................................... 41 Appendix 2. Critical Fisheries Habitat: Developing Detailed Models of Life-History Habitat Utilization Via Large-Scale Video Analysis ......................................................... 47 Executive Summary........................................................................................................ 47 1. Introduction................................................................................................................. 48 2. Methods ..................................................................................................................... 51 2.1. Fish surveys ...................................................................................................... 51 2.2. Video analysis ................................................................................................... 55 2.3. Statistical Analyses ............................................................................................ 56 3. Results ....................................................................................................................... 58 3.1. Defining ecologically meaningful habitats .......................................................... 58 3.2. Defining fauna-habitat relationships ................................................................... 66 3.3. Settlement hotspots ........................................................................................... 71 4. Discussion .................................................................................................................. 72 4.1. Efficacy of technique: corroboration and new findings ....................................... 72 4.2. The relative fisheries values of different habitats ............................................... 77 4.3. The importance of habitat linkages .................................................................... 81 4.4. The functions of different process zones ............................................................ 83 4.5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 83 5. Implications and recommendations ............................................................................ 84 5.1. Prioritising fish habitat .......................................................................................