Fishing groupers towards extinction: a global assessment of threats and extinction risks in a billion dollar fishery

  1. Yvonne Sadovy de Mitcheson1,
  2. Matthew T Craig2,
  3. Athila A Bertoncini3,†,
  4. Kent E Carpenter4,
  5. William W L Cheung5,6,
  6. John H Choat7,
  7. Andrew S Cornish8,
  8. Sean T Fennessy9,
  9. Beatrice P Ferreira10,
  10. Philip C Heemstra11,
  11. Min Liu12,
  12. Robert F Myers13,
  13. David A Pollard14,
  14. Kevin L Rhodes15,
  15. Luiz A Rocha16,
  16. Barry C Russell17,
  17. Melita A Samoilys18,
  18. Jonnell Sanciangco4

Article first published online: 28 APR 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-2979.2011.00455.x

Issue

Fish and Fisheries

Fish and Fisheries

Volume 14, Issue 2, pages 119–136, June 2013

Additional Information

How to Cite

Sadovy de Mitcheson, Y., Craig, M. T., Bertoncini, A. A., Carpenter, K. E., Cheung, W. W. L., Choat, J. H., Cornish, A. S., Fennessy, S. T., Ferreira, B. P., Heemstra, P. C., Liu, M., Myers, R. F., Pollard, D. A., Rhodes, K. L., Rocha, L. A., Russell, B. C., Samoilys, M. A. and Sanciangco, J. (2013), Fishing groupers towards extinction: a global assessment of threats and extinction risks in a billion dollar fishery. Fish and Fisheries, 14: 119–136. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-2979.2011.00455.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Swire Institute of Marine Science, School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong

  2. 2

    University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, PO Box 9000, Mayagüez, PR 006861, USA

  3. 3

    ECOMAR – Associação de Estudos Costeiros e Marinhos dos Abrolhos, Rua Abel Capela, 863 Bloco D6/ap31, Coqueiros – Florianópolis, SC 88080-251, Brazil

  4. 4

    IUCN Species Programme/Conservation International Global Marine Species Assessment, Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA

  5. 5

    School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK

  6. 6

    Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft, UK

  7. 7

    School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia

  8. 8

    WWF-Hong Kong, 1 Tramway Path, Central Hong Kong, Hong Kong

  9. 9

    Oceanographic Research Institute, PO Box 10712, Marine Parade 4056, Durban, South Africa

  10. 10

    Departamento de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil 50670-901

  11. 11

    South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Private Bag 1015, Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa

  12. 12

    Laboratory of Marine Biodiversity and Global Change and State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Oceanography and Environmental Science, Xiamen University, 182 Daxue Road, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, China

  13. 13

    Coral Graphics, 412 Rainbow Springs Terrace, Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411, USA

  14. 14

    The Australian Museum, Six College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia

  15. 15

    College of Aquaculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, University of Hawaii at Hilo, 200 W. Kawili St., Hilo, HI 96720, USA

  16. 16

    California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA

  17. 17

    Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory, PO Box 4646, Darwin, NT 0801, Australia

  18. 18

    Coastal Oceans Research and Development – Indian Ocean P.O.BOX 24562, Karen 00502, Nairobi, Kenya

  1. †

    Following authorship determined alphabetically.

*Matthew T Craig, University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, PO Box 9000, Mayagüez, PR 00681, USA Tel.: +1 (787) 899-2048, ext. 252 Fax: +1 (787) 899-5500 E-mail: matthewcraig4@gmail.com

  1. †

    Following authorship determined alphabetically.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 13 APR 2013
  2. Article first published online: 28 APR 2012
  3. Received 15 Apr 2011 Accepted 16 Dec 2011

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Keywords:

  • Epinephelidae;
  • IUCN Red List;
  • overfishing;
  • marine extinction;
  • marine biodiversity;
  • population decline

Abstract

Groupers are a valuable fishery resource of reef ecosystems and are among those species most vulnerable to fishing pressure because of life history characteristics including longevity, late sexual maturation and aggregation spawning. Despite their economic importance, few grouper fisheries are regularly monitored or managed at the species level, and many are reported to be undergoing declines. To identify major threats to groupers, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria were applied to all 163 species. Red List assessments show that 20 species (12%) risk extinction if current trends continue, and an additional 22 species (13%) are considered to be Near Threatened. The Caribbean Sea, coastal Brazil and Southeast Asia contain a disproportionate number of Threatened species, while numerous poorly documented and Near Threatened species occur in many regions. In all, 30% of all species are considered to be Data Deficient. Given that the major threat is overfishing, accompanied by a general absence and/or poor application of fishery management, the prognosis for restoration and successful conservation of Threatened species is poor. We believe that few refuges remain for recovery and that key biological processes (e.g. spawning aggregations) continue to be compromised by uncontrolled fishing. Mariculture, through hatchery-rearing, increases production of a few species and contributes to satisfying high market demand, but many such operations depend heavily on wild-caught juveniles with resultant growth and recruitment overfishing. Better management of fishing and other conservation efforts are urgently needed, and we provide examples of possible actions and constraints.

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