Wild fish aggregations around fish farms in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea: implications for fisheries management and conservation

Fish farm structures attract a variety of fish species by providing solid structure, and ‘free meals’ in the form of uneaten feed and feces that fall from the cages. In this study, we compared the composition and abundances of wild fish populations around 2 fish farms in the Red Sea and at nearby re...

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Autores principales:	A Özgül, D Angel
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Inter-Research 2013
Materias:	Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling SH1-691 Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/23f7212d82574464920b0fffd391518f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:23f7212d82574464920b0fffd391518f2021-11-17T10:05:14ZWild fish aggregations around fish farms in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea: implications for fisheries management and conservation1869-215X1869-753410.3354/aei00076https://doaj.org/article/23f7212d82574464920b0fffd391518f2013-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.int-res.com/abstracts/aei/v4/n2/p135-145/https://doaj.org/toc/1869-215Xhttps://doaj.org/toc/1869-7534Fish farm structures attract a variety of fish species by providing solid structure, and ‘free meals’ in the form of uneaten feed and feces that fall from the cages. In this study, we compared the composition and abundances of wild fish populations around 2 fish farms in the Red Sea and at nearby reference locations. Fish assemblages were evaluated by SCUBA divers carrying out rapid visual censuses in August, September and October 2007. A total of 87238 fishes, representing 39 species and 25 families and a number of trophic levels, were observed. Overall, the abundance, biomass, and diversity of wild fish were much greater at the sea cages than at the open-water reference sites, at both fish farms. It is noteworthy that 35 out of the 39 species observed at the farms were juveniles and adults of coral-reef fish species. This finding is especially interesting, considering that the nearest coral reefs were >4 km away and reef fishes generally have small home ranges, typically <1 km. Among these, the Carangidae (5 species), Sparidae (3 species), and Pomacentridae (3 species) contributed the most to species richness. In light of strong fishing pressures in many areas, the large populations of wild fishes at the fish farms, the high availability of nourishment from artificial food pellets, and restrictions on fishing within farm lease areas, we suggest that coastal net-cage fish farms may serve as small marine protected areas.A ÖzgülD AngelInter-ResearcharticleAquaculture. Fisheries. AnglingSH1-691EcologyQH540-549.5ENAquaculture Environment Interactions, Vol 4, Iss 2, Pp 135-145 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling SH1-691 Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling SH1-691 Ecology QH540-549.5 A Özgül D Angel Wild fish aggregations around fish farms in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea: implications for fisheries management and conservation
description	Fish farm structures attract a variety of fish species by providing solid structure, and ‘free meals’ in the form of uneaten feed and feces that fall from the cages. In this study, we compared the composition and abundances of wild fish populations around 2 fish farms in the Red Sea and at nearby reference locations. Fish assemblages were evaluated by SCUBA divers carrying out rapid visual censuses in August, September and October 2007. A total of 87238 fishes, representing 39 species and 25 families and a number of trophic levels, were observed. Overall, the abundance, biomass, and diversity of wild fish were much greater at the sea cages than at the open-water reference sites, at both fish farms. It is noteworthy that 35 out of the 39 species observed at the farms were juveniles and adults of coral-reef fish species. This finding is especially interesting, considering that the nearest coral reefs were >4 km away and reef fishes generally have small home ranges, typically <1 km. Among these, the Carangidae (5 species), Sparidae (3 species), and Pomacentridae (3 species) contributed the most to species richness. In light of strong fishing pressures in many areas, the large populations of wild fishes at the fish farms, the high availability of nourishment from artificial food pellets, and restrictions on fishing within farm lease areas, we suggest that coastal net-cage fish farms may serve as small marine protected areas.
format	article
author	A Özgül D Angel
author_facet	A Özgül D Angel
author_sort	A Özgül
title	Wild fish aggregations around fish farms in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea: implications for fisheries management and conservation
title_short	Wild fish aggregations around fish farms in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea: implications for fisheries management and conservation
title_full	Wild fish aggregations around fish farms in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea: implications for fisheries management and conservation
title_fullStr	Wild fish aggregations around fish farms in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea: implications for fisheries management and conservation
title_full_unstemmed	Wild fish aggregations around fish farms in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea: implications for fisheries management and conservation
title_sort	wild fish aggregations around fish farms in the gulf of aqaba, red sea: implications for fisheries management and conservation
publisher	Inter-Research
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/23f7212d82574464920b0fffd391518f
work_keys_str_mv	AT aozgul wildfishaggregationsaroundfishfarmsinthegulfofaqabaredseaimplicationsforfisheriesmanagementandconservation AT dangel wildfishaggregationsaroundfishfarmsinthegulfofaqabaredseaimplicationsforfisheriesmanagementandconservation
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Wild fish aggregations around fish farms in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea: implications for fisheries management and conservation

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