ABSTRACT
Direct harvesting of fi shes and other coral reef organisms represents the most signifi cant and pervasive anthropogenic impact on coral reef ecosystems (e.g., Roberts, 1995; Jackson et al., 2001; Myers and Worm, 2003), causing a range of direct and indirect effects on populations, communities, and ecosystems. Extensive harvesting of very large and previously abundant reef-associated organisms has caused massive changes in coral reef ecosystems throughout the last two centuries (Jackson et al., 2001), and contemporary fi sheries continue to overexploit many reef species (e.g., Morris et al., 2000). Coral reef fi sheries account for a relatively small proportion of global fi sheries yield (<1%), but are fundamental in providing food and livelihoods in many tropical nations (e.g., Bell et al., 2009). Also, coral reef fi shes are probably more vulnerable to exploitation compared
1School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. E-mail: rebecca.lawton@jcu.edu.au 2ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. E-mail: morgan.pratchett@jcu.edu.au 3SteinhardAquarium, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA. E-mail: CDelbeek@calacademy.org *Corresponding author
to many other fi sheries stocks (Russ, 1991), and overfi shing of reef fi shes with critical functional roles, such as herbivorous fi shes, has contributed to extensive and accelerating degradation of coral reef habitats (e.g., Hughes, 1994, 1996) and greatly increases vulnerability to subsequent disturbances (Bellwood et al., 2003; Hughes et al., 2007).
