139— Detrimental Effects of Fishing on Parrotfish Populations

We tested the hypothesis that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) established in 2015 along the coast of San Salvador Island, The Bahamas have benefitted populations of reef parrotfish that are important herbivores in coral reefs. We predict that conservation practices have increased the abundance of large parrotfishes, whereas size selective fishing in unprotected sites has resulted in the loss of the largest individuals. Our results showed that there were no differences in the relative abundance of larger parrotfishes in MPAs compared to non protected sites or compared to conditions prior to 2015 when the MPAs were established. We believe that the lack of detectable increases in populations may be due to historically low fishing intensity by the small Bahamian population on the island.