[en] In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a reduction in human activities and restriction of all but essential movement for much of the world's population. A large, but temporary, increase in air and water quality followed, and there have been several reports of animal populations moving into new areas. Extending on long-term monitoring efforts, we examined how coral reef fish populations were affected by the government-mandated lockdown across a series of Marine Protected Area (MPA) and non-Marine Protected Area (nMPA) sites around Moorea, French Polynesia. During the first six-week lockdown that Moorea experienced between March and May 2020, increases (approx. two-fold) in both harvested and non-harvested fishes were observed across the MPA and nMPA inner barrier reef sites, while no differences were observed across the outer barrier sites. Interviews with local amateur and professional fishers indicated that while rules regarding MPA boundaries were generally followed, some subsistence fishing continued in spite of the lockdown, including within MPAs. As most recreational activities occur along the inner reef, our data suggest that the lockdown-induced reduction in recreational activities resulted in the recolonization of these areas by fishes, highlighting how fish behaviour and space use can rapidly change in our absence.
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Feeney, William E ; Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK ; Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute of Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany ; Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security, Griffith University, Nathan 4111, Australia ; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, People's Republic of China
Cowan, Zara-Louise ; Department of Zoology, The David Attenborough Building, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK
Bertucci, Frédéric ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Morphologie fonctionnelle et évolutive ; PSL Université Paris, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR3278 CRIOBE, 98729 Moorea, French Polynesia
Brooker, Rohan M ; Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Queenscliff 3225, Australia
Siu, Gilles; PSL Université Paris, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR3278 CRIOBE, 98729 Moorea, French Polynesia ; Laboratoire d'Excellence 'CORAIL', 66100 Perpignan, France
Jossinet, Frédérique; PSL Université Paris, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR3278 CRIOBE, 98729 Moorea, French Polynesia ; Laboratoire d'Excellence 'CORAIL', 66100 Perpignan, France
Bambridge, Tamatoa; PSL Université Paris, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR3278 CRIOBE, 98729 Moorea, French Polynesia ; Laboratoire d'Excellence 'CORAIL', 66100 Perpignan, France
Galzin, René; PSL Université Paris, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR3278 CRIOBE, 98729 Moorea, French Polynesia ; Laboratoire d'Excellence 'CORAIL', 66100 Perpignan, France
Lecchini, David; PSL Université Paris, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR3278 CRIOBE, 98729 Moorea, French Polynesia ; Laboratoire d'Excellence 'CORAIL', 66100 Perpignan, France
Language :
English
Title :
COVID-19 lockdown highlights impact of recreational activities on the behaviour of coral reef fishes.
Bloomberg Philanthropies ANR - Agence Nationale de la Recherche Fondation de France AvH - Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
Funding text :
This work was supported by several grants: French Polynesia government (DRM & DIREN), Fondation de France (grant no. 2019-08602), LabEx CORAIL (project 2018 Emul), ANR-19-CE34-0006-Manini, ANR-19-CE14-0010-SENSO, the Rāhui Forum and Resource Center supported by Bloomberg's Philanthropy, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Acknowledgements
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