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Usefulness

Usefulness

Most parrotfish surveyed were also in the 11-20 cm

size class, with none greater than 40 cm, indicating

Measuring fish size is easy, rapid and inexpensive.

relatively high fishing pressure for these traditionally

Methods have been carefully standardized to ensure

non-targeted species9.

high data quality and to minimize artifacts associated

with methodology.

Data Needs

Data

Separating out carnivore density (using length classes

The MBRS Synoptic Monitoring Program has recently

or converting to biomass estimates) is considered to

made data available online, including fish size data17.

be a more sensitive indicator of the type of fishing

Data from a large-scale regional AGRRA assessment

pressure than is a measure of total fish size or biomass.

in 2006 should be accessible by summer 2007.

Measures of total fish density (and biomass) tend to

be more effective than looking only at carnivores in

Fish size data representative of all reef types are

areas with very intensive overfishing.

needed across the region to establish a baseline from

which to track change. The summer 2006 AGRRA

Status

Status

region-wide survey complements local and MBRS

SMP data.

According to the AGRRA database, the size of most

groupers in Belize and Mexico were in the 11-20

cm size class. No groupers larger than 30 cm were

observed in the surveys9.

F4

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