Towards a productivity-based management of tropical reefs in the Anthropocene

Tropical reefs provide livelihood and food security to millions of people. However, tropical reefs are entering new configurations requiring management strategies to incorporate process-oriented measures such as biomass production to determine their dynamics and resilience. We proposed a new framework, comprising three management strategies based on fish standing biomass and productivity which were calculated on 2,027 reef sites over 39 countries. We found that 3.5% of the sites have low fish biomass and productivity, where alternative fisheries like seaweed and bivalve aquaculture are recommended. We identified 24% of high productivity sites where we suggest adaptive management: establishment of partially protected areas sustaining local fisheries when needed, or full protection when possible given their capacity for recovery. For the 5% high biomass sites, we urgently need full protection to maintain high reproductive capacity through large individuals. Our framework can thus guide management strategies by incorporating both static and process-oriented measures, tailoring each strategy to local priorities based on biodiversity and socio-economic objectives.