A paper by Ofer Gon et al, “Re-description of two species of the cardinalfish genus Archamia (Teleostei: Apogonidae) from the Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean” was recently published in the Zootaxa. Its abstract is attached below:

The cardinalfishes Archamia bilineata and A. pallida were originally described from a small number of specimens collected in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea and Oman, respectively. Both species are re-described using specimens collected recently in Yemen and Kenya, including the first known adult of A. pallida. These new collections increased the geographical range of both species considerably. Differences between the two populations now known for each of the species are discussed.

Full citation: Ofer Gon, Gavin Gouws, James Mwaluma & Monica Mwale. 2013. Re-description of two species of the cardinalfish genus Archamia (Teleostei: Apogonidae) from the Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean. Zootaxa 3608 (7): 587–594

The latest Issue of the Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science, Volume 11 No. 1 is out. The Issue consists of ten papers, which are:

i) New observations on the crustacean fauna of Europa Island, Mozambique Channel (Crustacea, Decapoda) – Joseph Poupin, Mayalen Zubia, Nicole Gravier-Bonnet, Pascale Chabanet, Machel Malay

ii) Pseudione elongata africana (Bopyridae, Isopoda) population structure and reproduction parameters – Gil Penha-Lopes, Joana F. Marques, Miguel C. Leal, Ana F. Carvalho, José Paula

iii) AFLP assisted DNA-Barcoding of mullets (Mugilidae) used in East African aquaculture – Oskar Henriksson, Augustine Mwandya, Martin Gullström, Marika Thorberg, Mats Grahn

iv) Sexual Reproduction in Pocillopora damicornis at High Latitude off South Africa – Lola Melody Masse, Mathieu G. Séré, Albertus J. Smit, Michael H. Schleyer

v) Diversity of symbiotic algae in the genus Symbiodinium in Scleractinian corals of Tanzania – Leonard Jones Chauka

vi) Using an ecosystem model to evaluate fisheries management options to mitigate climate change impacts in western Indian Ocean coral reefs – Carlos Ruiz Sebastián, Tim R. McClanahan

vii) The role of community-based coastal conservation and development initiatives in building social-ecological resilience to climate change: experiences from southern Madagascar – Kame Westerman, Kirsten L.L. Oleson, Alasdair Harris

viii) Climate Change Adaptation in Mauritius: Considering the Role of Institutions – Matthew Gray, Bhanooduth Lalljee

ix) Coral bleaching and associated mortality in Mayotte, Western Indian Ocean – Hampus Eriksson, Julien Wickel, Alban Jamon

x) Hydrolithon sp. (Rhodophyta, Corallinales): A new threat to massive coral Porites lutea at Reunion Island, Western Indian Ocean – Mathieu Sere, M. H. Schlyer, P. Chabanet, J. P. Quod

The livelihood opportunity that sea cucumber fisheries provide to many coastal fishers in the Indian Ocean is threatened by widespread overfishing. The five-day SCEAM Indian Ocean workshop was held in November 2012 and brought together fishery managers from 13 countries to provide a forum for sharing knowledge and improving management plans in Indian Ocean sea cucumber fisheries. It followed the format of a similar workshop that was held in the Pacific in 2011. Workshop facilitators first presented background seminars on up-to-date research on fisheries management. The workshop then focused on interactive sessions with workgroup exercises and plenary discussions that helped participants diagnose their fisheries before deciding on appropriate objectives, regulatory measures and management actions. A field day was also included in the agenda to provide hands-on experience in species identification and product processing. The workshop outputs given in this report detail current management practices and constraints in Indian Ocean sea cucumber fisheries and the proposed strategies and research priorities of the participating fishery managers.

Citation: FAO, 2013. Report on the FAO Workshop on Sea Cucumber Fisheries: An Ecosystem Approach to Management in the Indian Ocean (SCEAM Indian Ocean), Mazizini, Zanzibar, the United Republic of Tanzania, 12-16 November 2012. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Report. No. 1038. Rome. 92 pp.

The PDF publication can be downloaded from the following url:  http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3223e/i3223e.pdf

The March Issue of the WIOMSA Newsbrief (Volume 18 No 1) is out and comprises of thirteen articles as follows:

1. Election of the Board members: Call for nominations
2. Chwaka Bay Book launched!
3. Marine Mammal Research initiative in Kenya joins researchers, fishermen, tourists, local tour operators and national authorities.
4. In our hands – the building of a Community Coastal Network in Tanzania
5. WIO Mangrove Status and Management Book Commissioned
6. WIOMSA IOC-Africa Capacity Building Workshop For Oceanographers in Greater Horn of Africa- Pre Climate Outlook Forum (Pre-GHACOF33)
7. The Thirty Third Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF 33) and Sector Specific Workshop on Marine and Coastal Zones
8. Sustainable Seafood in Zanzibar
9. Workshop on Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation into Coastal and Marine Development
10.  8^th WIOMSA Symposium: Call for Abstracts
11. New Publication: People, Nature and Research in Chwaka Bay, Zanzibar, Tanzania
12. WIOMSA News
13. The Chaza cooperative society Resource of Fumba officially opened

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A recently released study concluded that it takes more than 40 years for fish communities to recover once coral reef marine parks are created and fishing is stopped.

The study looked at Kenyan marine parks that were established in the mid 1970s and have received steady protection from fishing and high levels of tourism. The authors, who work for the Wildlife Conservation Society, have been counting and identifying fishes in these parks for over 20 years before coming to this unexpected conclusion.

The authors examined the size, growth and reproduction characteristics of the fishes and found that for growth and reproduction patterns there was no indication that they had stabilized – even after 40 years. The body sizes of the fish species showed more evidence for stabilizing but were still increasing up to the full length of the study.

The study has a number of implications for fisheries management and among them is that light fishing changes the ecology of fish communities and temporarily stopping fishing will have a minimal effect in promoting species recovery.  “While fish may grow larger over this stopping period, the community of fish may not change greatly when fishing is stopped for just a few years”, says the lead author Dr. Tim McClanahan. The authors argue that permanent fisheries closures are therefore a critical part of national marine conservation programs.

The authors found that herbivorous fishes, such as parrotfish and surgeonfish (see photo), have among the slowest recovery rates and may need special protection from fishing.  These herbivores have been the focus of a number of field studies showing their importance in preventing the demise corals from disturbances, such as coral bleaching. Given their slow recovery and the rapidly increasing rate of seawater warming, the study implies a need for immediate action in restricting fishing of these species.

Findings were published in the November 26^th issues of Marine Ecology Progress Series.

McClanahan, T. R., and A. Humphries. 2012. Differential and slow life-histories responses of fishes to coral reef closures. Marine Ecology Progress Series 469:121-131.

The main focus of the latest Issue of theWIOMSA Magazine is Community Based Marine Conservation and Management Initiatives and includes some interesting articles on experiences in setting up community-based marine conservation initiatives in different countries in the WIO region.

Read or download the latest Issue

A new study co-authored by the Wildlife Conservation Society identifies countries most vulnerable to declining coral reef fisheries from a food-security perspective while providing a framework to plan for alternative protein sources needed to replace declining fisheries.

The study looked at 27 countries around the world and found two common characteristics: nations with low incomes that lack the ability to adapt to alternative protein sources; and middle-income nations with higher adaptive capacity but higher sensitivity to climate change. According to the analysis, Indonesia and Liberia were the most vulnerable countries to fisheries declines from a food security perspective, while Malaysia and Sri Lanka were the least vulnerable.

The study, which appears in the November issue of the journal Environmental Science and Policy, is authored by Sara Hughes, Annie Yau, Lisa Max, Nada Petrovic, Frank Davenport, and Michael Marshall of the University of California; Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society; Edward Allison of WorldFish Center; and Josh Cinner of James Cook University.

The authors say the results of the study should be a wake-up call for nations to begin enacting policies to promote alternative protein sources, either through land-based means such as growing beans and poultry farming, or increased aquaculture. Coral reef fisheries are expected to decline with climate change and other human caused disturbances.

“The study identifies countries where climate change is likely to be felt first by threatening people that depend on fisheries,” said the study’s co-author Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “These countries are priorities for developing adaptation actions before the effects of climate change undermine their ability to feed themselves. Some countries will be stressed by climate yet have enough capacity to make the adaptation, while others will not. Making them realize this early will save considerable human suffering in the future.”

The latest Issue of the Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science, Volume 10 No. 2 is out. The Issue consists of nine papers, which are:

i) Wind Patterns of Coastal Tanzania: Their Variability and Trends – S.B. Mahongo, J. Francis and S.E. Osima

ii) Dissolved Nutrients from Submarine Groundwater Discharge in Flic en Flac Lagoon, Mauritius – Roshan T. Ramessur, Kishore Boodhoo,  Janita Balgobin, Pavel Povinec2 and W.C Burnett

iii) Effect of the Presence of Seagrass and Nutrients on Growth Rates of Farmed Kappaphycus alvarezii and Eucheuma denticulatum (Rhodophyta) – Flower E. Msuya and Dotto Salum

iv) The Ophiocoma species (Ophiurida: Ophiocomidae) of South Africa – Jennifer M. Olbers1 and Yves Samyn

v)  Adapting Coral Culture to Climate Change: The Mauritian Experience – R. Moothien Pillay, S. Bacha Gian, V. Bhoyroo and S. Curpen

vi) Status of Coral Reef Fish Communities within the Mombasa Marine Protected Area, Kenya, more than a Decade after Establishment – Cosmas N. Munga, Mohamed O.S. Mohamed, Nassir Amiyo, Farid Dahdouh-Guebas3, David O. Obura and Ann Vanreusel

vii) Behaviour of the Recently-described Rodrigues Damselfish, Pomacentrus rodriguesensis – E.R. Hardman, R. Jhangeer-Khan, J.S.J. Raffin, M.S. Meunier, S. Perrine and R. Raffaut

viii) Bird Density and Distribution Patterns in Relation to Anthropogenic Habitat Modification around an East African estuary – Nickson E. Otieno, Helida Oyieke, Maurice Ogoma and John Kochey

ix) Abundance and Distribution of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins (Sousa Chinensis) in the Shimoni Archipelago, Kenya – Samuel V. Meyler, Hugo Felix and Rachel Crouthers

A team of international scientists, including a researcher from The University of Western Australia, has found that soil erosion, land degradation and climate change pose a mounting threat to coastal reefs and their ecosystems in the western Indian Ocean.The study examined sediment and freshwater discharge over recent decades in two catchments in Madagascar’s Antongil Bay and the island nation’s Great Barrier Reef of Tulear, and the climatic processes that drive them.

The unique study incorporated hydrological catchment modeling as well as coral data over the past 60 years.

This was possible because Madagascar’s giant Porites corals have grown continuously over several centuries at 1-2cm annually and record the changes in their environment by absorbing trace elements into their skeleton.

Deforestation is often linked with degradation of terrestrial ecosystems but until now no study has revealed its impact on adjacent coral reefs.

“Results from the study suggest that changes in land use – primarily the removal of forests – and Madagascar’s increased population density are the key drivers of long-term reef sedimentation trends but that these are slow processes,” said study co-leader Dr Jens Zinke, of UWA’s Oceans Institute.

Dr Zinke said those factors combined with climate changes – including hinterland rainfall, temperature and El Niño-Southern Oscillation – to influence the amount of sediment transported through river run-off, which is subsequently deposited in coastal waters and reflected in elevated geochemical indicators in corals.

Read the full article from: http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201208034880/research/ancient-coral-reefs-risk-deforestation-and-land-use-practices

The June issue of the WIOMSA Newsbrief (Volume 17 No 2) is out with some interesting articles, including:

1. The New WIOMSA Programme: Consolidating the gains!

2. WIO-COMPAS Certifies first Policy and Planning Professionals

3. Linking mangrove conservation and climate change adaptation to the global carbon markets

4. IOC Launches Sub Commission for Africa and the adjacent Island States

5. Tourism Carrying Capacity Study Underway for Zanzibar Marine Conservation Areas

6. New Publications

7. New Institutional Members

8. Fond Farewell for Oceanographic Research Institute Director

9. WIO Scientist Awarded Prestigious Marie-Curie Fellowship

10. Upcoming Events

Download the Issue from:

http://www.wiomsa.net/index.php?option=com_jdownloads&Itemid=53&view=viewdownload&catid=91&cid=1009