Status and assessment of humphead wrase, Cheilinus undulates stock in Kenya.

Abstract

The humphead wrasse, commonly known as Maori or Napoleon wrasse is increasingly getting vulnerable due to its high market value especially in Asia. Despite listing by IUCN as vulnerable and by CITES as endangered, little data existed or exits in the Western Indian Ocean Region to support these listings. For the first time, a study carried out along the South Coast of Kenya from January 2008 to April 2009 revealed that the fish could be less rare than previously thought. The study involved length and effort data collection with fishers and volunteer divers. Fishing areas were geo-referenced and visualised in GIS software. A total number of 201 questionnaires were also done in 16 landing sites spread across the entire southern coastline. Overall mean length landed was 30.1 cm ranging from 6 to 138 cm. The largest fish were caught by fishing line and smallest by basket trap. Divers sited one to five four (15-70 cm) in protected areas and diving sites. Majority (87%) of fishers interviewed were specialised using only one. Fishing line was the most popular gear used to catch the fish, although they did not target the fish for trade or direct consumption. Social economic surveys indicated a general decreasing trend for the last four decades although this could not be deduced from length monitoring. Fishers were also found to possess a lot of knowledge on behaviour, biology and ecology that almost complied with scientific knowledge. Collection of wide area catch data and underwater surveys were some of the recommendations made.