Survey of reef invertebrate resources in the Republic of Nauru

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Survey of reef invertebrate resources in Nauru

Six survey methods were applied to suit the different coastal habitats of Nauru. These were reef benthos
transects, reef front timed walks at night, manta tow, reef front timed swims in the daytime, lobster night
searches (reef front timed swims at night) and deep-water timed scuba searches. Where possible, information
from this assessment was compared with that collected during the PROCFish survey in 2005, to explore
changes in resource status over time.

The results of this survey and previous surveys on Nauru provide evidence of significant overexploitation
of Nauru’s coastal invertebrate resources, indicating a dire need to put management policies and practices
in place. To promote recovery and long-term sustainability of harvest of Nauru’s invertebrate resources we
recommend the following management actions:
• Prohibit exports of all invertebrate resources
• Introduce a total ban on harvesting of giant clams
• Establish marine managed areas
• Impose restrictions on fishing gear
• Implement minimum harvest size limits
• Establish a monitoring programme and undertake regular monitoring of coastal resources
• Improve education and awareness.