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types coincide with respect to sampling effort or lo- 
cations within the Florida Keys. Fifth, employ new 
sampling technologies, such as hydroacoustics, green 
band lasers, and stereo video cameras to improve the 
accuracy and cost effectiveness of biomass and abun- 
dance estimates. Sixth, improve basic biological in- 
formation on growth, reproduction, mortality, feed- 
ing, and recruitment, which are fundamental ele- 
ments of stock assessment. The models and conclu- 
sions presented here are strongly influenced by the 
accuracy of the parameter estimates and the source 
for these estimates is not always reliable. 
Conclusions 
We used a new approach involving fishery-indepen- 
dent data to conduct a quantitative retrospective 
multispecies assessment of changes in the Florida 
Keys multispecies reef fish community. Our results 
show that fishing effort and mortality levels are very 
intense, that many stocks are “overfished,” and that 
exploitation has likely altered the structure and dy- 
namics of the reef fish community. Inevitable in- 
creases in fishing effort, particularly by recreational 
anglers, combined with habitat degradation by rapid 
growth of human populations in the region, if un- 
abated, will increase the potential for overfishing and 
ecosystem changes. Without effective intervention by 
regional fishery management to bring fishing effort 
under control, reef fish stocks will likely continue to 
decline. A spatial network of “no take” marine re- 
serves, combined with traditional management mea- 
sures, have the potential to reverse these trends for 
many species and to allow the long-term goals of 
building sustainable fisheries and protecting biodi- 
versity to be achieved. 
Acknowledgments 
We thank Guillermo Diaz, Doug Harper, Ken Linde- 
man, Jiangang Luo, Elizabeth Maddox, and Dave Mc- 
Clellan for technical assistance, and John Caddy, 
