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Since 2012, there has been a surge in the numbers of marine science publications that use the term ‘best practice’, yet the term is not often defined, nor is the process behind the best practice development described. Importantly a ‘best practice’ is more than a documented practice that an individual or institution uses and considers good. This article describes a rigorous process to develop an ocean best practice using examples from a case study from Australia in which a suite of nine standard operating procedures were released in 2018 and have since become national best practices. The process to develop a best practice includes three phases 1) scope and recruit, 2) develop and release, 3) revise and ratify. Each phase includes 2-3 steps and associated actions that are supported by the Ocean Best Practices System (www.oceanbestpractices.org). The Australian case study differs from many other practices, which only use the second phase (develop and release). In this article, we emphasize the value of the other phases to ensure a practice is truly a ‘best practice’. These phases also have other benefits, including higher uptake of a practice stemming from a sense of shared ownership (from scope and recruit phase) and currency and accuracy (from revise and ratify phase). Although the process described in this paper may be challenging and time-consuming, it optimizes the chance to develop a true best practice that is a) fit-for-purpose with clearly defined scope; b) representative and inclusive of potential users; c) accurate and effective, reflecting emerging technologies and programs; and d) supported and adopted by users.

The effects of fishing have been documented across coral reefs worldwide. No-take marine reserves do not only act as a conservation tool but also allow an opportunity to study impacts of fishing, by acting as control sites. In addition, well-planned and well-managed no-take marine reserves (NTRs) provide conservation benefits that are essential to marine biodiversity and ecosystem-based management. The Abrolhos Marine National Park, off the tropical Brazilian coast, protects part of the largest coral reef system in the South Atlantic. To investigate the effects of fishing on reef fish richness, abundance, biomass, and functional diversity of the fish assemblage, we compared sites across two protection levels considering the variation in habitats (Fringing Reefs—Protected; Pinnacles Reefs—Protected; and Coastal Reefs—Open Access), using Baited Remote Underwater Stereo-Video systems (stereo-BRUVs). We adjusted generalized additive mixed models of fish assemblage characteristics with protection levels and environmental variables, such as topographic complexity (mean relief and relief variation), visibility, and benthic cover percentage. Inside NTRs, we found higher total biomass and biomass of fishery target species and carnivores, specifically for the Carcharhinidae (sharks) and Epinephelidae (groupers) families, indicating direct fisheries effects on these groups. In contrast, the ecological parameters of non-target fish were positively correlated with habitat characteristics, including mean relief and variance of relief. Moreover, fish functional diversity was higher within NTRs, demonstrating an even distribution of functional entities. The presence of large mobile predators and the overall higher biomass of carnivores inside the NTR indicate the effect of fishing exclusion. Our results point to the value of NTRs to study the effects of fishing and achieve biodiversity conservation and suggest the importance of using remote sampling methods to assess large mobile predators.

No-take marine reserves are often located in remote locations far away from human activity, limiting perceived impact on extractive users but also reducing their use for investigating impacts of fishing. This study aimed to establish a benchmark in the distribution of fished species across the Ningaloo Marine Park – Commonwealth (NMP-Commonwealth), and adjacent comparable habitats within the Ningaloo Marine Park - State (NMP-State), in Western Australia to test if there was evidence of an effect of recreational fishing, as no commercial fishing is allowed within either marine park. We also examined whether the remote location of the newly established (2018) No-take Zone (NTZ), in NMP-Commonwealth, limits its use for studying the effects of fishing. Throughout the NMP-Commonwealth and NMP-State, where recreational fishing is permitted, we expected the abundance of recreationally fished fish species to increase with increasing distance to the nearest boat ramp, as a proxy of recreational fishing effort. Conversely, we did not expect the abundance of non-fished species and overall species richness to vary in response to the proxy for human activity. Distance to the nearest boat ramp was found to be a strong predictor of fished species abundance, indicating that the effect of recreational fishing can be detected across the NMP-Commonwealth. The effect of the NTZ on fished species abundance was weakly positive, but this difference across the NTZ is expected to increase over time. Habitat composition predictors were only found to influence species richness and non-fished species abundance. This study suggests a clear footprint of recreational fishing across the NMP-Commonwealth and as a result the new NTZ, despite its remote location, can act as a control in future studies of recreational fishing effects.

One of the main challenges in assessing marine biodiversity is the lack of consistent approaches to monitor it. This threatens to undermine ocean best practice in marine monitoring, as it impedes a reduction in the bias and variance of sampled data and restricts the confidence in the advice that can be given. In particular, there is potential for confounding between the monitoring methods, their measured ecological properties, and the questions they seek to answer. Australia has developed significant long-term marine monitoring and observing programs and has one of the largest marine estates, including the world’s largest representative network of marine parks. This new network will require ongoing monitoring and evaluation, beyond what direct funding can support, which needs to be integrated in a standardized way with other national programs to develop sufficient monitoring capacity. The aim of this paper is to describe the process undertaken in developing a suite of field manuals that provide Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for marine sampling in Australian waters so that data are comparable over time and space, thereby supporting a robust, cost-effective, and objective national monitoring program. We encourage readers to refer to the complete manuals of interest at www.nespmarine.edu.au/field-manuals. We generally limit SOP development to benthic or demersal sampling, (multibeam, autonomous underwater vehicles, baited remoted underwater video (BRUV), towed imagery, grabs and box corers, sleds and trawls), with a few exceptions (e.g., pelagic BRUVs). Collaboration was a key characteristic of our approach so rather than single groups trying to impose their standards, more than 70 individuals from over 30 organizations contributed to the first version of this field manual package. We also discuss the challenges that arose while developing these national SOPs, the associated solutions that were implemented, and the plans for ensuring their long-term maintenance and national and international uptake. We anticipate that this paper will contribute to international collaborations by evoking valuable suggestions and sharing of lessons learnt from other national initiatives so that we might work toward a global ocean best practice for biological and geoscientific monitoring of the marine environment. Publisher PDF