6.3 Reporting and communication
6.3.4 Communication products for government, managers, stakeholders,
Technical reports are an essential component of MPA reporting but they are not a suitable reporting format to communicate the main results, conclusions and recommendations for managers, stakeholders and the community. It is important to summarize the main results, conclusions and recommendations and prepare suitable media for your audiences (e.g., information sheets, presentations, short films, posters). It is especially helpful to use pictures in these products and to present results in map format e.g. relative fish biomass in different size or color circles at each sampling site. This is because MPAs are managed spatially, i.e. zoning, application of regulations, education programs, or enforcement are all planned for certain areas. Therefore if the results are presented so that managers can quickly and easily visualize the location and results from each site, they will be able to see the relevance of the data for their management. Graphs can also be used but should be simple and use site names not site codes and common names of fish that managers or stakeholders would recognize. The messages in these products should ensure that the managers’ questions, which you developed together at the beginning of the monitoring program, are answered.
7 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
This protocol has been written for a team of certain size and skills and reefs of certain
types.However, logistical constraints, limited experience or skills of team members, and field conditions may mean it is not possible to implement this protocol as written above. There are a number of
modifications that can be made so that teams can collect good data within their expertise and without putting themselves at risk. Below we answer a number of frequently asked questions but we welcome additional questions and comments so the protocol can be improved (contact details of authors provided on inside cover).
Q1. What if I can’t find 5 people for a monitoring team?
The protocol can be implemented with a team of two experienced people – one benthic observer and one fish observer. However there are a number of modifications that would need to be made:
Do the fish surveys first, with benthic observer laying out transects behind the fish observer. The fish observer will need to make two passes of the transects – once for big fish and the second time for small- medium size fish. Once fish surveys (transects and long swim) are completed, divers should surface, have an appropriate surface interval and then go back down to collect benthic data at 10 m and retrieve transect tapes; so one site would require 2 dives.
Safety must not be compromised and observers must not dive alone Q2. What if I have extra people – how can they get involved in the monitoring?
Sometimes there are additional people to assist with monitoring and the tasks they are assigned should depend on their experience, skills and the management questions. If the extra observers are trainees,
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this is a good chance for them to practice monitoring techniques they have learned during previous training. If you have two people and they are competent divers and able to record benthic life forms, they could collect data at 3 m depth. A list of some additional suggested tasks is provided in Table 3.
Additional observers and non-divers can also assist with data entry and gear maintenance after dives, as well as study field guides to learn fish and benthic species.
Q3. What if I don’t have any experienced fish observers on my team? What if I can’t identify all the fish on the list?
This protocol is designed to be done by observers who reach the competency levels outlined in Table 2.
If none of your observers can reach that level before the monitoring, then either invite or hire other experienced fish observers from another organization to join the team. Alternatively just use the long swim method for a reduced list of easily identified large fish species. This may still give you information that is useful for managers and of interest to stakeholders. Alternatively, look for another method to estimate fish abundance and biomass for your species of interest such as catch per unit effort.
Q4. Why do we sample at 10 m depth?
In this protocol we recommend undertaking fish and benthic surveys at 10 m depth and if possible. These depths are recommended for a number of reasons:
1) The sampling is designed to sample representative areas of reef crests and reef slopes. This is also a way to have consistent habitat types across sites.
2) a maximum depth of 10 m is recommended to minimize the risks that divers will run out of air before completing the surveys or suffer decompression sickness.
Q5. What should I do at small sites where 5 transects don’t fit?
If you are sampling a short area of reef or a patch reef which is less than 250 m long that is part of your standard monitoring program, first check that this site can really be considered a replicate of the other standard monitoring sites. If yes, or if the site is a special or strategic site, then you should lay as many transects as will fit without overlapping and make a note in your database of the number of transects you were able to complete. If only one transect can be laid, it is recommended that PIT values are taken every 25 cm instead of every 50 cm to give more detail of the benthic community.
42 Q6. What if I can’t survey the same area because the current is going a different direction this time at the site?
When you survey a site, you should record whether the reef was on your left or right the first time you surveyed. If you return to the site and find you cannot survey the same area from the starting point because the current is against you, then simply start at ‘end’ of the transects from the first survey i.e. 250 m upstream of the ‘beginning’ of the transect . Please ensure that there is also enough room once the transects are completed to do the long swim without changing habitat i.e. going around a point or channel or surveying a wall instead of a slope. See diagram to the right.
Q7. What if it is difficult to lay five transects at my sites due to strong currents?
If the team find it impossible after reasonable effort and training to layout and collect 5 transect tapes due to strong currents or other reasons, fish surveys on transects can be done on a minimum of 3 x 50 m transects (same transects as used for coral surveys). However, the accuracy of the counts will be less due to the natural variability of fish numbers on coral reefs and it will be more difficult to detect differences between protected and Use Zones and differences over time.
Q8. What if my site has very strong currents and I can’t deploy any transects?
If the field teams cannot use transects at all due to extreme environmental conditions, we recommend the long swim method specifically designed for rapidly assessing reef fish populations described in Green and Bellwood, 2009. This is the best method for assessing populations of large reef fishes, while the transect method described above is best for small to medium sized fishes. If you also want to survey small to medium fish with the long swim, it should be done over 30 mins making sure to cover a distance of at least 200m for these fishes. One observer counts and measures all fish in Appendix 1 from 10 to
<35 cm length to a distance of 2.5 m either side (total 5 m wide) and the second observer counts and measures all fish in Appendix 2 >35 cm length to a distance of 10 m either side (total 20 m wide). Again, this is not ideal as more accurate fish counts for small to medium sized reef fishes are made using transects and it will be more difficult to demonstrate the effectiveness of the MPA zoning system if less accurate methods are used. Therefore this method should only be used where it is impossible to use transects due to currents or other conditions.
If you are deliberately sampling high current areas such as points or pinnacles where large fish aggregate, fish biomass can be estimated using a modified version of the long swim method (see section 5.3.3).
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Q9. How do I choose my sites if the MPA zoning plan is not in place yet?
It is a good idea to collect data one to three years prior to the implementation of the zoning plan so that a good baseline can be established for comparison after implementation. Choosing the sites so that you have an equal number inside and outside No Take Zones in the future is not easy and it is likely that you will need to modify your sampling plan slightly after implementation of the zoning plan. However, by sampling an adequate number of sites in each of the main reef habitat types, distributing these throughout the MPA, and trying to predict where you think No Take and Use Zones will be allocated, a reasonable sampling plan can be developed. Data collected before zoning can also be incorporated into the planning process to identify the best places for each zone type, or help you identify all the reef types you have in your MPA.
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