Abstract
The extent to which no‐take marine reserves can benefit anadromous species requires examination. Here, we used acoustic telemetry to investigate the spatial behavior of anadromous brown trout (sea trout, Salmo trutta) in relation to a small marine reserve (~1.5 km2) located inside a fjord on the Norwegian Skagerrak coast. On average, sea trout spent 42.3 % (±5.0% SE) of their time in the fjord within the reserve, a proportion similar to the area of the reserve relative to that of the fjord. On average, sea trout tagged inside the reserve received the most protection, although the level of protection decreased marginally with increasing home range size. Furthermore, individuals tagged outside the reserve received more protection with increasing home range size, potentially opposing selection toward smaller home range sizes inflicted on fish residing within reserves, or through selective fishing methods like angling. Monthly sea trout home ranges in the marine environment were on average smaller than the reserve, with a mean of 0.430 (±0.0265 SE) km2. Hence, the reserve is large enough to protect the full home range of some individuals residing in the reserve. Synthesis and applications: In general, the reserve protects sea trout to a varying degree depending on their individual behavior. These findings highlight evolutionary implications of spatial protection and can guide managers in the design of marine reserves and networks that preserve variation in target species' home range size and movement behavior.
Highlights
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely used as a means to pro‐ tect species in their habitat and have been shown to increase num‐ bers and/or biomass of protected species, both inside MPAs (Lester et al, 2009) and as spillover beyond MPA borders (Abesamis & Russ, 2005; Goñi, Hilborn, Díaz, Mallol, & Adlerstein, 2010; Roberts, Bohnsack, Gell, Hawkins, & Goodridge, 2001)
We expected that habitat use during the marine phase would vary substantially among individual sea trout, and that the amount of protection afforded by the no‐take marine reserve would be influ‐ enced by tagging location and home range size
This study evaluates factors determining the efficacy of a marine reserve for protecting anadromous brown trout
Summary
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely used as a means to pro‐ tect species in their habitat and have been shown to increase num‐ bers and/or biomass of protected species, both inside MPAs (Lester et al, 2009) and as spillover beyond MPA borders (Abesamis & Russ, 2005; Goñi, Hilborn, Díaz, Mallol, & Adlerstein, 2010; Roberts, Bohnsack, Gell, Hawkins, & Goodridge, 2001). Brown trout (Salmo trutta, Figure 1) is a salmonid species with an anadromous compo‐ nent called sea trout It has a highly variable life history, with some trout spending their whole life in the river, and others spending most of their time in the marine environment (Klemetsen et al, 2003). Selection on behavior and movement can indirectly select on life‐history traits like growth and fecundity (Biro & Stamps, 2008) and alter the productivity in a population, which in turn will affect fishing yields The interplay between these selective effects will determine how a marine reserve succeeds in protecting a population and its different behavioral components (see Baskett & Barnett, 2015). We expected that habitat use during the marine phase would vary substantially among individual sea trout, and that the amount of protection afforded by the no‐take marine reserve would be influ‐ enced by tagging location and home range size
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