Abstract
Spatially discrete stocks that vary in life history traits on a reef-to-reef scale present a challenge for fisheries managers. Nationally or regionally applied one-size-fits-all approaches to management fail to account for this variability, and when coupled with fishing pressure this can result in serial depletion and localized extinction. Where mechanisms for local management exist, as they do in New Zealand via customary protection areas (Taiapure Local Fisheries, Mataitai Reserves), managers have the opportunity to trial tools on scales relevant to the stocks managed. This study assesses the effect of bag limits and a rahui (temporary closure) in managing the spatially discrete, and culturally important, blackfoot abalone (Haliotis iris, paua) in the East Otago Taiapure, in southern New Zealand. Using surveys spanning 8 years and 26 sites, the rahui was found to have had mixed results: halting the decline in paua density at 0 m but not 0.5 m depths. The rahui did, however, result in an increase in the percentage of individuals above the minimum legal size at both depths. Where bag limits alone had been applied, paua densities and the percentage of legal-sized individuals continued to decline over the 8-year period, with the loss of large individuals, translating into a decline in estimated egg production. Growth estimates from mark-recapture and surveys of juvenile abundance at sites inside and outside the rahui highlight the fine-scale variability in paua life history even within this local area. This suggests there may be biological impediments to paua management using bag limits alone. Though paua restoration efforts have had mixed results to date, this study highlights the potential for legally empowered local managers and communities to respond to fisheries declines in their own local area in an action-driven, adaptable, and timely way.