Temporal genetic variability of landed Siganus sutor reveals a mixed stock fishery in coastal Kenya

• Artisanal fisheries in Kenya have been in decline since the 1980’s and are currently managed by gear restriction and no take zones. The fishery is a mixed species fishery but the Shoemaker spinefoot (Siganus sutor) comprise a large portion of the total catches. The sustainable use of these resources is dependent on informed assessment and management of the harvested species. In Kenya there is a lack of critical information about landings, fish stock productivity and genetic stock structure, and there is no knowledge of populations size or genetic variation of S. sutor. In this study we used the molecular marker, AFLP to investigate the genetic variation within and between sites of S. sutor landed along the 200 km coast of Kenya. We compared the spatial genetic variation among sites with the within site temporal genetic variation from a single site, adjacent to a number of spawning aggregations. Our results show that the there is genetic variation among the sites (spatial variation) and that the temporal genetic variation with in a six week period was about 1/5 of the spatial genetic variation. We believe these findings to be an important aspect to considered for both future scientific research as well as management.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Zoologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Zoology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

siganus

sutor

aflp

east africa

zoologisk ekologi

Animal Ecology

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

ovr (subject category)