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Accounting for habitat and seafloor structure characteristics on southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) assessment in a small marine reserve

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Abstract

Where to place marine protected areas (MPAs) and how much area they should cover are some of the most basic questions when designing MPAs. Based on the theory of island biogeography, larger reserves are likely to protect more species and individuals but smaller reserves have been shown to positively influence populations. In this study, we assess a localised population of the ecologically and economically important southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) inside and outside a small reserve. We used standardised fishery assessment trapping methods to sample J. edwardsii populations inside a reserve and an adjacent area outside the reserve. The population characteristics of the captured individuals were compared inside and outside the reserve using t tests (male size, female size, number of reproductive females, number of individuals and biomass), and we found that there were significantly greater numbers and larger individuals and biomass inside the reserve. However, many assessments of MPA effectiveness are confounded by differences in habitat. To account for possible differences in habitat, we collected multibeam bathymetry data to allow us to characterise seafloor structure and video data to assign each sampling location to a biotope class based on macroalgae assemblages. Then, using generalised linear models (GLMs), we assessed differences in populations while accounting for habitat. The GLMs revealed that there was still a significant difference in populations inside the reserve despite habitat differences inside and outside the reserve. We demonstrate a methodological approach to provide a baseline data set to assess MPA effectiveness through time and measure how habitat may respond to indirect consequences of fishing or other human impacts at the species or ecosystem level. We also highlight some of the limitations in sampling design and data availability common in MPA studies and resulting implications for assessment.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Parks Victoria for funding the capture of the multibeam sonar and southern rock lobster data used in this study within the Merri Marine Sanctuary. We also acknowledge the Pozible Project- Voyages of discovery and Somers Carroll Productions for funding the multibeam sonar and video data collection. Data analysis was supported by project 2015-025 funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) awarded to DI and MY. We thank members of the crew S. Blake and A. Pope of Deakin University’s research vessel Yolla for assistance in the collection of the Multibeam sonar and video data. We thank the Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) fishery-independent fixed site survey programme for access to concurrent sample data for southern rock lobster populations outside the sanctuary. GIS laboratory facilities at Deakin University, Warrnambool, Victoria were used for spatial analyses. Ethics approval for this study was provided by the Department of Primary Industries Wildlife and Small Institutions Animal Ethics Committee (application 02.13). All animals collected in this study were collected using a Victorian Fisheries permit (#10006648).

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Correspondence to Mary A. Young.

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Young, M.A., Ierodiaconou, D., Edmunds, M. et al. Accounting for habitat and seafloor structure characteristics on southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) assessment in a small marine reserve. Mar Biol 163, 141 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-2914-y

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