Residency and movement patterns of juvenile yellowfin bream Acanthopagrus australis, stocked on estuarine artificial reefs

Alistair Becker; Symon A. Dworjanyn; Benjamin Mos; Yuri V. Niella; James A. Smith; Michael B. Lowry; Matthew D. Taylor

doi:10.1071/MF24041

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Residency and movement patterns of juvenile yellowfin bream Acanthopagrus australis, stocked on estuarine artificial reefs

Alistair Becker

^A ^* , Symon A. Dworjanyn ^B , Benjamin Mos

^C ^D , Yuri V. Niella ^E ^F , James A. Smith ^A , Michael B. Lowry ^A and Matthew D. Taylor

^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Port Stephens Fisheries Institute, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Taylors Beach Road, Taylors Beach, NSW 2316, Australia.

^B National Marine Science Centre, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450, Australia.

^C Moreton Bay Research Station, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, Dunwich, Minjerribah, Qld 4183, Australia.

^D Centre for Marine Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia.

^E School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

^F Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), Animal Tracking Facility, Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, NSW 2088, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: alistair.becker@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Handling Editor: Jacob Johansen

Marine and Freshwater Research 75, MF24041 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF24041

Submitted: 22 February 2024 Accepted: 31 August 2024 Published: 25 September 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Successful fish stocking relies upon releasing cohorts directly into habitat containing suitable supporting resources. To facilitate this, an emerging trend has seen fish released onto artificial reefs.

Aims

We compared the residency and movement patterns of juvenile sparids (yellowfin bream – Acanthopagrus australis), stocked on artificial reefs and natural habitat, to determine the suitability of incorporating artificial structures as release sites in future stocking programs.

Methods

Forty hatchery-reared yellowfin bream were evenly divided and stocked on either artificial reef or natural habitat within an east-Australian estuary, and tracked using acoustic telemetry.

Key results

Artificial reefs provided greater habitat complexity than the natural habitat and fish stocked onto these structures showed greater fidelity to their release site and were detected for longer periods of time than those stocked into less complex natural habitat.

Conclusions

The high residency levels of fish around artificial reef sites indicate they contain resources to support stocked juvenile sparids.

Implications

Stocked yellowfin bream can tolerate a range of salinity and temperatures, allowing flexibility in stocking programs. Future stocking of bream or other sparids should consider releasing fish onto artificial reefs where available. Additionally, the deployment of reefs could aid existing stocking programs.

Keywords: acoustic telemetry, estuary, fish stocking, habitat use, home range, movement ecology, residency, stock enhancement.

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