COMPARISON OF CATCH AND RECREATIONAL ANGLERS FISHING ON ARTIFICIAL REEFS AND NATURAL SEABED IN GULF-ST-VINCENT, SOUTH-AUSTRALIA

The ability of artificial reefs to enhance fishing success was evaluat ed in Gulf St. Vincent, South Australia. A 12-month creel survey provi ded data on the utilization, catch composition and catch rates of angl ers fishing over artificial tire reefs and adjacent natural seabed sit es. A low percentage of anglers (6.4%) fished on the artificial reefs, although the fishing intensity (angler-hours per unit area) was 92-17 1 times higher than for surrounding natural seabed areas. Effort was s easonably variable and significantly higher on weekends than weekdays. Catch rates of abundant taxa were compared between artificial and nat ural sites. Of 27 comparisons, 5 yielded significantly higher catch ra tes on artificial habitats and 9 on natural sites; the remainder were not significantly different. Artificial habitats showed enhanced catch rates of pelagic species while natural seabed favored demersal taxa. The artificial reefs yielded 7.5% of the total catch of the study area . Higher taxon richness was recorded for natural seabed areas than for artificial reefs (47 and 29 taxa respectively), with 18 taxa recorded as being unique to natural seabed areas. Shannon-Wiener diversity was significantly higher for all natural habitats when compared to artifi cial habitats, for both individual and pooled data, and showed a signi ficant positive correlation with species richness.