Does fishery management for groupers (Teleostei: Epinephelidae) protect them effectively? Context from the IUCN's Red list of threatened species

Fennessy, S and Linardich, Christi and Rhodes, K and Barreiros, Joao Pedro and Pollard, D A and Sosa-Cordero, Eloy and Coleman, Felicia and Aguilar-Perera, Alfonso and Malinowski, Christopher R and Brule, Thierry and Afonso, Pedro and Ma, Kayan and Liu, Min and Menon, Muktha and Wen, Colin and Shea, Stanley K H and Porter, Sean N and Craig, Matthew T and Yvonne Sadovy, de Mitcheson (2026) Does fishery management for groupers (Teleostei: Epinephelidae) protect them effectively? Context from the IUCN's Red list of threatened species. Ocean & Coastal Management, 273. pp. 1-11. ISSN 1873-524X

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Abstract

Worldwide, groupers (Epinephelidae) are commercially valued fishes, which also play key ecological roles on tropical and subtropical reefs. In 2007 and 2016, the IUCN's Groupers and Wrasses Specialist Group assessed all 160+ grouper species, with 17 of these being identified as threatened in 2016 and the major threat factor being overexploitation. Our present study aimed to identify whether management measures (MMs) for previously assessed groupers were established, whether these measures aligned with IUCN's Red List categories, and whether they effectively protect grouper populations. Experts in grouper biology and management assigned scores per grouper species based on the extent to which MMs were in place and effective throughout these species' geographic ranges. Simple 4-level scores (0–3) were used to indicate the extent to which a MM was in place and how effective it was considered to be over the global distribution of each species. Of the 50 species scored, which included almost all threatened species, 97 % showed no/extremely limited/limited use of MMs, while only 3 % showed widespread/extensive use of MMs. Only 2 % of species showed highly/very effective scores for management, while 98 % showed limited/extremely limited/ineffective scores or no MMs in place. The MMs and their effectiveness were not commensurate with IUCN extinction risk levels. Overall, fishery management implemented for groupers by governments needs to be substantially improved, basic biological studies on many species are urgently required, fishing effort needs to be reduced, and regular biological and fishery monitoring conducted to evaluate the need for, and outcomes of, management. Although not all grouper species form spawning aggregations, recommendations are given to increase the protection of aggregating grouper species, in combination with well-placed Marine Protected Areas.

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