Impact of mass coral bleaching on reef fish community and fishermen catches at Sabang, Aceh Province, Indonesia

Mass coral bleaching was observed at Sabang, Aceh in early 2010, and approximately 60% ofhard coral in waters surrounding Sabang died post-event. Coral mortality was expected to affect thecomposition of reef fish due to decrease its function such as providing a shelter, feeding and spawninggrounds for fish and other marine organisms. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the impactof coral bleaching on coral reef fish community and to compare the composition of fishermen catchesbefore and after the coral bleaching. The data were collected before (in 2008) and after (in 2010) themass coral bleaching event in Sabang waters by using a photographic method and the data on theaverage catch of fishermen (catch per fishing effort) was calculated in kg/hour. The data of theknowledge of fishermen on climate change was collected by questionnaire method. The results showedthat 259 species of coral reef fishes were caught by fishermen in 2008 and 2010. There was nosignificantly difference between the fish catches before and after the mass coral bleaching. However,species richness decreased up to 50% after the mass coral bleaching. The knowledge of fishermen onclimate change issue was very low.