Empowering Fishing Communities in the MAR Reef

As promised, we are back on the coasts of Belize and Honduras, in the Belize Barrier Reef and offshore atolls, and in northwestern Honduras and adjacent deep waters. Following MarAlliance’s, an organization that explores, enables and inspires conservation actions, hard work with the project “Identifying spawning aggregations of economically important deep-sea fish species in Belize and Honduras.”

With the goal of extending ongoing research in the region focusing on the reproductive activity of deep-sea groupers and snappers to identify potential spawning aggregations in Belize and Honduras, MarAlliance set out to research the deep sea with the participation of fishers from both countries. Monitoring was carried out through scientific vertical longlines and deep-sea cameras, and fish samples were used for life history, reproductive status, and for genetic analysis.

After training fishers from both countries in deep-sea monitoring techniques, a total of 213 snappers and groupers were sampled for reproductive status, of which only 11 individuals were observed in spawning or recently spawned conditions at five sites: two sites in Honduras (east and west of Cayos Cochinos), and three in Belize (Southwater Caye Marine Reserve, Glover’s Reef Atoll, and at a deep bank between Glover’s Reef Atoll and Lighthouse Reef Atoll). A total of 738 tissue samples were collected from snappers and are being analysed; identifying snappers DNA and having a database will help determine whether the deep-sea snappers are a single stock in the region or have smaller, more regional populations, which will help in understanding the genetic diversity of the species and how vulnerable they are to local overfishing.

Combining data from previous work, MarAlliance found that most snappers and groupers spawn in the fall months (August-November), with the exception of the silk snappers, which were observed actively spawning in the spring and summer (March – July). Although spawning individuals were observed, no evidence of aggregations could be confirmed. All the results and information gathered were shared at seven stakeholder meetings with fishers, managers, co-managers, and conservation groups to receive feedback and understand the implications these results have on the deep-sea fishery.

Knowledge of this information is vital for the management of the deep-sea fishery, which is expanding rapidly in Belize and is well established in parts of Honduras. Understanding these species spawning patterns will help managers and co-managers of marine protected areas understand how to develop their surveillance programs as well as how to manage this resource.

Thanks to your help, we will continue supporting MarAlliance in their work to understand and identify spawning aggregations of these economically important deep-sea species, so stay tuned, a new phase of this project is being implemented.

Thank you

The MAR Fund Team.

Working together with two countries, we find ourselves in the coasts of Belize and Honduras. Specifically in the Belize Barrier Reef and offshore atolls, and northwestern Honduras and adjacent deep waters.

MarAlliance, an organization that explores, enables, and inspires conservation actions, is working on acquiring knowledge on deep-sea fishes (150-500 m) in the western Caribbean. As coastal fisheries in the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) continue to decline and human populations increase, many fishers are increasingly dependent on the deep sea (>150 m) as a primary or alternative source of income. In Belize, deep-sea fisheries are undergoing rapid expansion, while in parts of Honduras the fishery is well-established.

In the MAR, deep-sea fisheries are expanding with little management, data on the species targeted and captured as bycatch are virtually unknown, and no region-specific data is available for the life history characteristics, abundance, genetic population structure, or distribution of the species. These basic data is vital for the management and conservation of marine fauna.

The goal of this project is to expand on ongoing research in the region focusing on the reproductive activity of deep-sea groupers and snappers to identify potential spawning aggregations in Belize and Honduras. Deep-sea snappers and groupers tend to grow slowly and mature late in comparison to their shallow counterparts. Because of their depth preferences, spawning activity cannot be easily identified for these vulnerable species. Using fishery independent methods (standardized scientific surveys) and dependent capture methods (data and/or samples collected by fishers during their normal fishing activities), along with novel camera installments, this monitoring will be the first to identify potential spawning aggregations of deep-sea snappers and groupers in the MAR. Coupled with state-of-the-art genetic analysis, MarAlliance will determine how gene flow influences the distribution of the species, and will identify critical spawning locations and times for these commercially important and unique species.

The objectives of this project are:

• To identify locations and timing for spawning in deep-sea snappers and groupers using fishery-independent and dependent methods.
• To use genetic analysis from tissue samples to determine the genetic connectivity of the species in Belize and Honduras.
• To train 5-10 fishers and fishery-adjacent persons in port sampling techniques to build local monitoring capacities and enhance sample sizes.
• To inform managers and stakeholders of the results and propose action for conservation and management recommendations for time area closures of spawning aggregation sites during critical spawning periods

Involving fishers in the monitoring and sharing the knowledge will help empower them in the importance of these species. Also, identifying spawning aggregations in the deep-sea ecosystem of the MAR, will allow unprecedented management strategies in Honduras and Belize, and support replication in surrounding countries.

Supporting new monitoring to identify spawning aggregations in the deep-sea ecosystem, has been able due to your support, for this we are more than grateful. We´ll keep you posted on the results achieved with this project.

Thank you for your support

The MAR Fund Team.