Reconstructed Marine Fisheries Catches at a Remote Island Group: Pitcairn Islands (1950–2014)

Amy R Coghlan,Terence P Dawson,Dirk Zeller,Robert A Irving,Rachel White,Maria L D Palomares

doi:10.3389/fmars.2017.00320

Abstract

The remote Pitcairn Island Group in the South Pacific was designated one of the world’s largest marine reserves in 2016, encompassing some of the few remaining near-pristine areas within EEZ boundaries. Pitcairn's domestic fisheries are small-scale, and consist mainly of subsistence (non-commercial) and limited artisanal (commercial) catches. There is no locally-based industrial (large-scale commercial) fishery and the level of foreign industrial activity in recent times has been minimal, due in part to the low biomass of commercially valuable species, along with economic constraints of the EEZ’s geographic isolation. Using a catch reconstruction method we estimated the total domestic marine catches for the Pitcairn Islands from 1950 to 2014. We show that overall the Pitcairn Islands’ small-scale fisheries catches were almost 2.5 times higher than the data reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on behalf of the Pitcairn Islands, however, this primarily reflects discrepancies prior to the 1980s. Overall, catches for the subsistence and artisanal sectors started with around 12 t∙year-1 in 1950, but declined to 4 t∙year-1 by 2014. Domestic reconstructed subsistence catch levels were entirely driven by changes in the human population on the island, with reconstructed artisanal catches only occurring in recent years (2000 onwards). Industrial fishing is entirely executed by foreign vessels, this catch is considerably variable throughout the years and ceases entirely in 2006. The implementation of the world’s largest marine reserve surrounding the offshore waters of Pitcairn Island has been specifically designed not to affect the rates of subsistence and artisanal fishing conducted by the resident population. Although there is no industrial fishing in the Pitcairn EEZ at present, climate change is predicted to influence the routes of migrating commercially-targeted species, potentially altering fishing effort levels and shift target fishing zones. Implementation of MPAs such as the Pitcairn Island Marine Reserve protect large oceanic areas from risk of future industrial exploitation, whilst protecting near-shore reef and deep-water zones, maintaining domestic coastal fisheries vital for local communities.

Highlights

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a well-recognized and increasingly utilized tool for managing and protecting marine ecosystems from the existing or potential impacts of anthropogenic activities
The purpose of this study was to utilize the available information on fishing by the subsistence, artisanal and industrial fisheries operating within the Pitcairn Island Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) or EEZ-equivalent waters, in order to reconstruct best estimates of total fisheries catches from 1950 to 2014, using the well-established catch reconstruction method (Zeller et al, 2016)
We considered the historical and on-going levels of catch for the Pitcairn Islands within the context of implementing large-scale marine reserves in remote, and fisheries residual areas

Summary

Introduction

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a well-recognized and increasingly utilized tool for managing and protecting marine ecosystems from the existing or potential impacts of anthropogenic activities. A trend of establishing these very large MPAs in locations described as “residual” to extractive or commercial uses has been identified (Devillers et al, 2015). These observations have led to concerns that emphasis on meeting conservation targets through coverage in square kilometers or political “ease of establishment” (Devillers et al, 2015) is resulting in additional Aichi target objectives (such as reserve connectivity and representativeness) being side lined (Singleton and Roberts, 2014; Devillers et al, 2015; Jones and De Santo, 2016). With changes to catch potential projected under climate change scenarios (Cheung et al, 2010), and shifts in the species being targeted by industrial fleets (Pauly and Palomares, 2005), understanding the historic and underlying causes of why an area is not targeted by commercial fisheries can provide insights into how MPAs may function in the context of future fisheries and conservation objectives

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