Multi-Decadal Decline of Reef Fish Richness and Abundance in the Southeastern United States Using Standardized Trap Catches

Reef fish species naturally fluctuate in abundance over various temporal and spatial scales, but recent broad-scale reef fish declines have been observed worldwide and attributed to various anthropogenic reasons.  We used 25 years of fishery-independent trapping data (N = 11,237 trap samples) to examine the spatial and temporal variability in temperate reef fish abundance along the southeast coast of the United States (North Carolina to Florida), a relatively understudied region with many economically important reef fish species.  Overall, 441,298 individuals from 118 species were caught in the trap survey.  Mean and median number of species and individuals caught in the trap survey declined over the 25 years, but after standardization (using generalized additive models), declines were much more obvious for non-targeted than targeted reef fish species in the region.  Moreover, the catch of targeted and non-targeted species were each positively related to bottom temperature and negatively related to depth.  These results suggest that changes in the temperate reef fish community in the Southeast United States is influenced by more than just fishing, perhaps including introduced species (e.g., lionfish) or climate change.