The study was conducted from November 2010 through February 2011 and between November 2011 and January 2012 on shallow (~1 m below the surface at low tide, equal or shallower than 2 m at high tide), intertidal fringing reefs platforms (up to 800-m wide) along the Coral Coast (18º 13.05’S, 177º 42.97’E) of Viti Levu, Fiji’s main island. Many of the owners of traditional fishing rights along the Coral Coast have established small, customary no-take MPAs to improve and sustain their adjacent fishing grounds. The MPAs in this region are delimited by surface markings and enforced by local villagers, and they have been closed to all fishing activities since their inception (about 10 years). The only exception to this closure was a small experimental hook and line fishing research project that was conducted in the MPAs of Votua and Namada. In the non-MPAs, the main fishing targets are species of Acanthuridae (Nasinae), Epinephelidae, Labridae, Mullidae, and Lutjanidae. Permission for the research was granted by the Fijian Ministry of Education, National Heritage, Culture & Arts, Youth & Sports, which is authorized to approve field studies in Fijian waters. No animal collection or experimental procedures involving animals were conducted during the study, and no endangered species were recorded during our assessments. 

To assess the effects of MPAs on fish assemblages, fish feeding group composition, herbivory rates, benthic cover, and coral recruit density, we compared three spatially paired MPA and adjacent, fished, areas (non-MPAs) associated with the villages of Votua, Vatu-o-lalai and Namada.  Comparisons of fish assemblages inside and outside of closures are widely used for determining the effects of reserves, but it should be acknowledged that this approach does not reveal the state of an MPA relative to an undisturbed baseline. 

The studied MPAs were established in 2002 (Vatu-o-lalai, Namada) and 2003 (Votua), and shortly after establishment, coral cover was low (~7%), and macroalgal cover was high (~35–45%) in both the MPAs and non-MPAs. All surveys and assays were conducted during the same season (austral summer) to minimize seasonal variation in sampling. The reef extends approx. 1 km from shore within each MPA and non-MPA, and all data were collected between 30 and 700 m of the shore (i.e., shoreward of the reef crest) parallel to the shoreline.

Benthic cover: The benthic cover of the six study sites was surveyed along 30-m long transects running parallel to the shore in each MPA and non-MPA. Along each transect, photographs were taken from 0.5 m above the bottom every 2 m along each transect (i.e., 16 photos per transect), so that consecutive photographs did not overlap. The area of each photograph was about 25 cm x 30 cm, therefore sampled area per transect was about 1.2m2. Photos were analyzed for percentage cover of corals and macrophytes using CPC with Excel extensions; the program randomly placed 20 points on each photo, and we identified the organism beneath each point. Organisms were further classified into four main categories: scleractinian corals, macroalgae, epilithic algal matrix [the EAM sensu 64], and others.

A total of 273 transects were conducted: 87 in Votua (48 in the MPA and 39 in the non-MPA), 94 in Vatu-o-lalai (44 in the MPA and 50 in the non-MPA), and 87 in Namada (41 in the MPA and 51 in the non-MPA). Transects were conducted from December 2010 to January 2011 and from December 2011 to January 2012, and there was no spatial overlap between transects even between different sampled year periods. On each sampling day, four to six transects were deployed on the reef parallel to the shoreline. To ensure that transects were independent and non-overlapping, they were separated by a minimum of 15 m, and the ends of each transect were marked with small surface buoys. Additionally, after conducting every 4–6 transects, the snorkeler swam approx. 25 m towards the reef crest to start a new set of transects, so sampling was widespread within each area.