Multi years catch composition and abundance of Parrotfish landed at Makassar Fisheries Port

Abstract

Abstract Parrotfishes have an important ecological role in the coral reef ecosystem of the Spermonde Islands. The Spermonde Islands is located in the Makassar Strait, who was Wallace’s line trajectory. The Spermonde Islands consist of 120 islands, which have an area of around 2,500 km2, consisting of 50 vegetated islands and 70 non-vegetated sand dunes. Vegetated islandswere inhabited around 50,000 people. The ecological role and economic value of Parrotfishes place Parrotfishes in a paradoxical situation. Economically, Parrotfishes are an important protein resource for coastal and highlands communities. The Socio-economic contribution of Parrotfish can be overlooked, especially after the call not to eat Parrotfishes. For this reason, it necessary to overview the species composition and abundance of the Parrotfishes catch in Spermonde Islands by a monthly sampling of Parrotfish landed at Makassar Fisheries Port. The study aims to analyze the species composition and abundance for two different sampling periods (20014 and 2018) and to analyze their annual similarities. The study was expected to provide a preliminary description of the Parrotfishes. The number of species found in 2014 was 31, and in 2018 was 34. The similarity index between 2014 and 2015 was 0.912. The similarities indexes for monthly catches were lower. It was between 0.423 (May) and 0.680 (December). The catch was randomly distributed; this result shows that there were no target species in the catch of Parrotfish; the fishermen caught whatever Parrotfish they found. The sample conditions prove that large-sized Parrotfish were captured using the spear, whereas the medium and small size of Parrotfish seems to be captured using the net. The net use was quite worrying because the net was generally not selective. In order to maintain a balance between Parrotfish’s ecological role and socio-economic functions, regulations should be made regarding the prohibition on parrotfish catch with nets. It is recommended that Parrotfish should only be caught using the spear regularly and orderly so as not to damage the coral reefs.