Washington: Restricting the use of certain types of fishing gear could help protect the world's reefs and their fish populations from climate change, a new study has revealed.
An international team, led by Dr Josh Cinner of James Cook University has proposed that bans on fishing gear -- like spear guns, fish traps, beach seine nets, and gill nets -- can aid in the recovery of reefs and fish populations hard hit by coral bleaching events.
Around the world corals have been dying at alarming rates, due to unusually warm water events resulting from what people claim is global warming.
In fact, the study carried out in Kenya and Papua New Guinea has shown that certain types of gear are more damaging to corals, to coral-dependent fish and to the key species of fish that are needed to help reefs recover from bleaching or storm damage, the 'Journal of Applied Ecology' reported.
"This is creating a double jeopardy for both corals and certain types of reef fish. They are already on the edge because of the overfishing and the additional impact caused by a bleaching even can push them over," Dr Cinner said.
The result can be an accelerated decline of the reef, its fish populations and the ability to sustain local people.
"From an ecological perspective, the best response to bleaching is to close reefs to fishing entirely. But that is not feasible everywhere and is a particularly hard sell among the impoverished fishers in developing countries," co-author Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society said.
Added Dr Cinner: "Selective gear restrictions offer reef managers and fishers alike some middle ground, reducing pressure on the reef and its fish while it is in the recovery phase, while also providing fishers with some options for their livelihood."
The team investigated the effects of five main types of gear on different types of fish: spear guns, traps, hook and line, beach seine nets and gill nets.
They found that spear guns were the most damaging of all -- to corals themselves, to susceptible fish species and to the fish needed to help reefs recover, such as parrot, surgeon and trigger fish, which keep seaweeds and urchins in check while the coral re-grows.
"Spear guns target a high proportion of species that help maintain the resilience of coral reefs, but also can result in a surprising amount of damage to the corals themselves. When a fish is shot with a spear gun, it often hides in the reef, so some fishermen break the corals in their attempts to get it," Dr Cinner said.