Residency and dispersal of three sportfish species from a coastal marine reserve: Insights from a regional-scale acoustic telemetry network

Abstract

Understanding the movements of adult fish around marine reserves is central to evaluating the importance of these areas to conservation but is difficult to quantify in many coastal settings. We used a 300 km long passive acoustic telemetry network to measure site fidelity and dispersal distances of adult red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), black drum (Pogonias cromis), and spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) tagged within two estuarine no-take zones at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. Seventy-eight tagged fish were tracked an average of 549 days with some individuals followed for over four years. Fish spent most of their total time at liberty inside no-take zones with a mean residency of 125–178 consecutive days after release, and 67%–95% of their total time, depending on species. Sixty-four individuals (82%) also utilized adjacent public waters, dispersing up to 650 km, although dispersal rates averaged less than 0.10 km day−1 for all three species. Red drum and black drum movements across reserve boundaries were clearly bi-directional with individuals averaging 4 and 30 excursions per year, respectively, into fished areas. Both species spent more time outside reserve boundaries during their reproductive periods, suggesting that these no-take zones protect individuals that subsequently spawn over a wider geographic area. Our findings demonstrate that coastal marine reserves have the potential to provide substantial protection for highly mobile non-reef fishes. They further suggest that reserves designed to safeguard fish during non-reproductive periods may be most practical for estuarine species whose home ranges increase during spawning seasons.

Keywords

• Marine protected area
• Spillover effect
• Passive acoustic telemetry
• Site fidelity
• Fish behavior
• FACT Network