Support Equipment 



Baits included crushed sea urchin, fish meal, conch, chopped fish and 

 a local cactus commonly used by Virgin Island fishermen. The fish 

 meal bait is sold commercially in the United States and the cactus 

 was collected and frozen prior to our entering the habitat. Bait was 

 placed in a plastic container perforated with holes and hung near the 

 center of the pot. Bait was changed at the conclusion of designated 

 fishing periods, and all fish were enumerated by species and then 

 released. 



During the 13- day experiment the pot parameters which were changed 

 included: triggers on tunnel openings, size of tunnel openings, 

 type of bait, length of time pots were fished, covering on pots, and 

 location of the pot relative to the reef. Burlap was used in the pot 

 covering experiments. Pots were transported near the bottom by divers 

 using inflatable lift bags. 



RESULTS 



Species Composition and Number of Fish Caught 



During comparative fishing experiments on the coral reef, the three 

 pot types exhibited distinct differences in their rate of fish capture 

 and in species composition of the catch. The black plastic pots 

 rarely caught fish, so catch records for these pots have not been 

 included. In general, the Virgin Island-style pots caught greater 

 numbers of fish than the experimental collapsible pots (Figure 5), but 

 the fish were smaller in size. Only in the experimental collapsible 

 pots were the larger 4- to 5- pound Nassau groupers caught. This 

 selectivity by size of fish can be attributed to the larger tunnel and 

 overall pot size. Spiny lobsters entered only the experimental col- 

 lapsible pots with as many as four caught during a 24-hour period. 



It was possible to make many valuable observations of the behavior of 

 fishes, both undisturbed on the reef and in the vicinity of pots. The 

 behavior of an individual fish species appeared to be as characteristic 

 of that species as body morphometry or color. For example, some 

 species were found consistently as solitary individuals and approached 

 the pot with caution (groupers) ; other schooling species either would 

 enter the pot readily as a group (squirrelf ishes, goatfishes) or 

 independently (parrotf ishes, bigeyes) ; paired fish would follow their 

 mates readily into the pots (butterflyf ishes and some parrotfishes) . 



Effect of Pot Location on Catch 



We found that the location of the pot on the reef is an important factor 

 in determining the number and species of fish caught. Although 

 squirrelfish were numerous on all reef areas surrounding the habitat, 

 they tended to congregate in localized areas, including a soft coral 



VI -8 



