Micronutrient levels of global tropical reef fish communities differ from fisheries capture

Abstract The exceptional diversity of shallow‐water marine fishes contributes to the nutrition of millions of people worldwide through coastal wild‐capture fisheries, with different species having diverse nutritional profiles. Fishes in ecosystems are reservoirs of micronutrients with benefits to human health. Yet, the amount of micronutrients contained in fish species on coral reefs and in shallow tropical waters is challenging to estimate, and the micronutrients caught by fisheries remain uncertain. To assess whether micronutrient deficiencies could be addressed through specific fisheries management actions, we first require a quantification of the potentially available micronutrients contained in biodiverse reef fish assemblages. Here, we therefore undertake a broad heuristic assessment of available micronutrients on tropical reefs using ensemble species distribution modelling and identify potential mismatches with micronutrients derived from summarising coastal fisheries landings data. We find a mismatch between modelled estimates of micronutrients available in the ecosystem on the one hand and the micronutrients in small‐scale fisheries landings data. Fisheries had lower micronutrients than expected from fishes in the modelled assemblage. Further, fisheries were selective for vitamin A, thus resulting in a trade‐off with other micronutrients. Our results remained unchanged after accounting for the under‐sampling of fish communities and under‐reporting of small‐scale fisheries catches—two major sources of uncertainty. This reported mismatch indicates that current estimates of fished micronutrients are not adequate to fully assess micronutrient inventories. However, small‐scale fisheries in some countries were already selective towards micronutrient mass, indicating policies that target improved access, distribution and consumption of fish could leverage this existing high micronutrient mass. Enhanced taxonomic resolution of catches and biodiversity inventories using localised species consumption surveys could improve understanding of nature‐people linkages. Improving fisheries reporting and monitoring of reef fish assemblages will advance the understanding of micronutrient mismatches, which overall indicate a weak uptake of nutritional goals in fisheries practices. The decoupling between micronutrients in ecosystems and in fisheries catches indicates that social, economic, and biodiversity management goals are not shaped around nutritional targets—but this is key to achieve a sustainable and healthy planet for both people and nature. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Publication Details

Journal
People and Nature
Published
2024-11-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10736
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.92

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article

Micronutrient levels of global tropical reef fish communities differ from fisheries capture

M. Aaron MacNeil, Camille P. Albouy, Vania Andreoli, Camille Mellin et al.
2 citations
People and Nature
Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
0.92
article

Micronutrient levels of global tropical reef fish communities differ from fisheries capture

M. Aaron MacNeil, Camille P. Albouy, Vania Andreoli, Camille Mellin, David A. Feary, Laure Velez, Thomas Claverie, Shaun K. Wilson, Eva Maire, Nicolas Loiseau, Simon Ahouansou Montcho, Conor Waldock, Dirk Zeller, Maria Beger, Andrew S. Hoey, Santiago de la Puente, Katie L. Cramer, Loïc Pellissier, Jessica Zamborain‐Mason, Maria Lourdes D. Palomares, Sebastian C. A. Ferse, Mark Tupper, Matthew McLean, David Mouillot
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Abstract The exceptional diversity of shallow‐water marine fishes contributes to the nutrition of millions of people worldwide through coastal wild‐capture fisheries, with different species having diverse nutritional profiles. Fishes in ecosystems are reservoirs of micronutrients with benefits to human health. Yet, the amount of micronutrients contained in fish species on coral reefs and in shallow tropical waters is challenging to estimate, and the micronutrients caught by fisheries remain uncertain. To assess whether micronutrient deficiencies could be addressed through specific fisheries management actions, we first require a quantification of the potentially available micronutrients contained in biodiverse reef fish assemblages. Here, we therefore undertake a broad heuristic assessment of available micronutrients on tropical reefs using ensemble species distribution modelling and identify potential mismatches with micronutrients derived from summarising coastal fisheries landings data. We find a mismatch between modelled estimates of micronutrients available in the ecosystem on the one hand and the micronutrients in small‐scale fisheries landings data. Fisheries had lower micronutrients than expected from fishes in the modelled assemblage. Further, fisheries were selective for vitamin A, thus resulting in a trade‐off with other micronutrients. Our results remained unchanged after accounting for the under‐sampling of fish communities and under‐reporting of small‐scale fisheries catches—two major sources of uncertainty. This reported mismatch indicates that current estimates of fished micronutrients are not adequate to fully assess micronutrient inventories. However, small‐scale fisheries in some countries were already selective towards micronutrient mass, indicating policies that target improved access, distribution and consumption of fish could leverage this existing high micronutrient mass. Enhanced taxonomic resolution of catches and biodiversity inventories using localised species consumption surveys could improve understanding of nature‐people linkages. Improving fisheries reporting and monitoring of reef fish assemblages will advance the understanding of micronutrient mismatches, which overall indicate a weak uptake of nutritional goals in fisheries practices. The decoupling between micronutrients in ecosystems and in fisheries catches indicates that social, economic, and biodiversity management goals are not shaped around nutritional targets—but this is key to achieve a sustainable and healthy planet for both people and nature. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

People and NatureVol. 7(1)
University of Bern (CH), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Leeds (GB), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (CA), Australian Research Council (AU), Harvard University (US), University of British Columbia (CA), University of North Carolina Wilmington (US), Ifremer (FR), The University of Queensland (AU), The University of Western Australia (AU), University of Bremen (DE), Université de Montpellier (FR), IPB University (ID), Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (DE), Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (CH), Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NO), ETH Zurich (CH), ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (AU), Marine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (FR), Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (AU), Écologie Marine Tropicale des Océans Pacifique et Indien (RE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Arizona State University (US), The University of Adelaide (AU), Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (CH), Lancaster University (GB), James Cook University (AU), University of Cumbria (GB)
National Science Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Oak Foundation, Arizona State University, University of Bern, Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer, MAVA Foundation, Marisla Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Biodiversa+, Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung, Summit Foundation, Leverhulme Trust, University of Leeds, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, James Cook University, Canada Research Chairs, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Universität Bremen, Institut Pertanian Bogor, Ocean Frontier Institute, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Minderoo Foundation, Directorate for Biological Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Australian Research Council, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, Eidgenössische Anstalt für Wasserversorgung Abwasserreinigung und Gewässerschutz
Openalex Percentile: Top 22%
Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
0.92
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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