Article Summary:

A new paper published in Marine Ecology Progress Series journal shows that traditional estimates of reef fish recovery on over-fished reefs may well be considerable underestimates. The Wildlife Conservation Society study looked at the Kenyan marine parks that were established in the mid 1970s and have since received steady protection from fishing and high levels of tourism. The authors examined the size, growth and reproduction characteristics of the fishes within the protected areas and found that neither growth nor reproduction patterns had stabilized. The body sizes of the fish species showed more evidence for stabilizing but were still increasing up to the full length of the study. This has significant implications for the management of fishing in reef areas. The full paper is available as a free pdf download.