Mortality rate of a cohort of the coral trout, Plectropomus leopardus, in zones of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park closed to fishing

From 1990 to 1993, samples of coral trout, Plectropomus leopardus, were collected at two coral reefs closed to fishing since 1987 in the central Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The age structure was dominated by a strong cohort which settled in early 1984 and which accounted for 54%, 45%, 42% and 36% of the experimental hook-and-line catches at Glow and Yankee reefs. Catch rates (fish person-1 hour-1) per age class per reef per year provide the first reliable estimates of the exponential rate of mortality of coral trout in zones of the GBR Marine Park closed to fishing. The annual mortality rate between the ages of 6 and 9 years was 0.115 (s.e. 0.040) at Glow reef and 0.189 (s.e. 0.100) at Yankee reef. The annual mortality rate between ages 6 and 9 years was 0.147 (s.e. 0.028) at the two reefs combined. Age-specific estimates of annual mortality ranged from 0.024 (age 7–8 at Glow) to 0.442 (age 6–7 at Yankee) but were unreliable because of small sample sizes. This is one of the first estimates of mortality rate of an exploited species in an area closed to fishing in the tropics.