Changes in population parameters and behaviour of blue cod (Parapercis colias; Pinguipedidae) in Long Island—Kokomohua Marine Reserve, Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand

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Abstract
With the establishment of the 619‐ha Long Island—Kokomohua Marine Reserve in April 1993, a biological monitoring programme designed to investigate changes due to the total no‐take legislation applied to the reserve was initiated. Size, distribution and behaviour of blue cod (Parapercis colias; Pinguipedidae) were investigated using baited hooks at reserve and control rubble bottom habitats annually from 1993 to 2000. Blue cod abundance was estimated using visual diver strip transects annually for a period of 9 years from 1992 to 2001. A total of 5628 blue cod (2436 reserve and 3192 control specimens) were captured, measured and released. Two years after the reserve was established, the average size of blue cod was 22.4 mm larger inside the reserve compared with control sites outside it. Over the duration of the study, the mean length of blue cod captured using baited hooks increased in the no‐take reserve, but declined at the control sites. By the end of the study, in April 2000, the proportion of large blue cod >330 mm in length in the reserve was 35% compared with 300 mm length in the reserve and a corresponding small decline in the density of these larger fish at the control sites. It is concluded that the cessation of recreational fishing in the reserve had resulted in an increase in blue cod size, catch rate and abundance and also in a change to blue cod behaviour. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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