Fish diet heats up marine biodiversity hotspot
Scientists have discovered a never-before-seen biodiversity pattern of coral reef fishes that suggests some fishes might be exceptionally vulnerable to environmental change. A new study shows plank
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au
Scientists say stable seafood consumption amongst the world’s poorer coastal communities is linked to how local habitat characteristics influence fishing at different times of the year.
In the coastal communities of low-income countries, the seafood people catch themselves is often a main food source. In a new study, scientists focused on an often-overlooked type of fishing called gleaning: collecting molluscs, crabs, octopus and reef fish by hand close to shore.
“We surveyed 131 households in eight coastal communities on a small island off Timor-Leste,” said study lead author Ruby Grantham a PhD candidate from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.
Grantham said even though gleaning is important for food security in rough weather—when other types of fishing often aren’t possible—some households don’t do it.
“It’s not just a case of people fishing when they need to. Weather and coastal conditions make fishing activities, including gleaning, dangerous, unsuccessful or even impossible in some places at certain times of the year,” Grantham said.
She said the findings illustrate the ways people interact with, and benefit from, coastal ecosystems. And how this varies between communities and seasons.
The study found the ability of households to glean in rough weather was influenced by the total area and type of shallow habitat close to the community.
“This highlights why we need context-specific understanding of dynamic coastal livelihoods and small-scale fisheries in particular,” Grantham said.
“Even amongst these eight communities on the same small island we found distinct differences in how and when gleaning contributes to household fishing activities and as a source of subsistence seafood.”
Co-author Dr David Mills, Research Leader for the WorldFish Country Program in Timor-Leste, said the research is important for the future management of coastal fisheries.
“In Timor-Leste, low-income households have few opportunities to access the high-quality nutrition available from seafood,” Dr Mills said.
“We know that gleaning fisheries are really important for food security at particular times of the year,” he said.
“And this detailed research will help us develop management approaches that keep fisheries sustainable while also ensuring seafood remains available to those who need it the most, when they need it the most.”
Climate change is altering the world and its environments rapidly. People depend on their interactions with nature for many aspects of wellbeing. Understanding these interactions is critical for diagnosing vulnerabilities and building resilience, especially amongst coastal communities who depend directly on healthy oceans for food.
“The success of coastal livelihood strategies depends on a range of influences that are now, at best, poorly-understood,” Grantham said.
“We wanted to explore how people interact with and benefit from coastal environments through time.”
Grantham said a better understanding of the existing relationships between people and nature, as well as how these influence interactions between societies and local ecosystems, is crucial to legitimate environmental policy and management to ensure sustainable futures.
“We need to further consider the factors influencing how feasible and how desirable social-ecological interactions, like fishing, are across different seasons,” she said.
“These insights of the fine scale dynamics in how people interact with coastal ecosystems through activities such as gleaning can help strengthen our understanding in research, decision-making and management in coastal areas exposed to environmental change.”
PAPER
Grantham R, Álvarez‐Romero J, Mills D, Rojas C, Cumming G. (2021). ‘Spatiotemporal determinants of seasonal gleaning’. People and Nature. DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10179
IMAGES
A selection of images can be used for media stories with credit to the photographer as stated in the caption. Please note these are for single use with this story only, not for any other story. No archival permissions are granted.
CONTACT
Ruby Grantham (Townsville, Australia)
E: Ruby.Grantham@my.jcu.edu.au
David Mills (Townsville, Australia)
P: +61 (0) 415 067 551
E: D.Mills@cgiar.org
FURTHER INFORMATION
Melissa Lyne / Coral CoE (Sydney, Australia)
P: +61 (0)415 514 328
E: Melissa.Lyne@jcu.edu.au
Scientists have discovered a never-before-seen biodiversity pattern of coral reef fishes that suggests some fishes might be exceptionally vulnerable to environmental change. A new study shows plank
Scientists say stable seafood consumption amongst the world’s poorer coastal communities is linked to how local habitat characteristics influence fishing at different times of the year. In the co
An international group of scientists is predicting markedly different outcomes for different species of coral reef fishes under climate change – and have made substantial progress on picking the ‘
New research has found as climate change causes the world’s oceans to warm, baby sharks are born smaller, exhausted, undernourished and into environments that are already difficult for them to survi
Abstract: The vast majority of reef fishes have a life history consisting of a pelagic larval phase of typically 20 to 60 days, followed by larval settlement where they remain through their juvenile a
Abstract: Social networks have been and remain important across the Pacific Islands, and beyond, for building and maintaining social-ecological resilience. However, there is little quantitative infor
Abstract: The global conservation community is comprised of a range of organisations, processes, and professionals. Given the diversity of these actors, and the complexity of the systems that conser
Abstract: Seasons create a rhythm in nature and, by extension, in the lives of people who depend directly on natural resources. However, our understanding of how seasons affect the ways that people
Abstract: Oceanic shark populations have declined 77% over the past 60 years as a result of overexploitation in fisheries. However, sustainable shark management is limited to a few developed nations
Abstract: Vertigo3 is a new class of small, fast and agile ‘true-flight’ underwater glider, purposely designed for robotic, artificial intelligence-assisted broadscale marine surveys, and capable
Abstract: Recurrent marine heat waves are leading to widespread coral bleaching, transforming the structure and function of tropical coral reefs. Past bleaching events have highlighted large variatio
Abstract: Shallow-water tropical seascapes typically include a range of habitat types such as coral reefs, mangroves, macroalgal and seagrass beds. These habitats can occur in close proximity and are
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au