Impacts of Reef Degradation on Commercial Fisheries

Abstract

Much uncertainty exists about the long-term effect of coral degradation on reef fishery yields. While previous studies have addressed this issue, empirical examinations of the fish-habitat linkage accounting for the stock dynamics are limited. We develop a bioeconomic model that integrates the fish population dynamics with coral reef habitat effects. We test the linkage between fish yield and live coral habitats and simulate the reductions in maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and maximum economic yield (MEY) due to live coral losses with data from the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Results indicate dependency of fish yield on live coral cover for two GBR commercial fish species, to which substantial yield loss may occur because of live coral damage. Furthermore, results suggest a critical threshold of live coral coverage for these two species, below which maintaining equilibrium MEY becomes challenging.