Abstract:
Fishing pressure on Plectropomus leopardus in Cenderawasih Bay National Park (CBNP) becomes intensive due to increasing demand for live groupers for consumption purposes. However, the status of P. leopardus on the potential fishing grounds in the CBNP has not been exposed. As Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), CBNP has not yet maximal in providing protection on threatened species, including protection for no take zone or core zone. Therefore, this study aims to determine the status of P. leopardus, including its growth characteristics, mortality rates and exploitation rate. Result of study showed that P. leopardus had a total length ranged of 33.0-41.0 cm (34.70±17.33 cm) and weight of 500-1.000 g (572.41±105.31 g). This species was able to reach asymptotic length (L∞) of 41.58 cm, growth coefficient (K) of 1.2 per year with age t0 of -0.06 year. Exploitation rate (E) of this species was 0.79 year-1. The high E value indicates that the species has a low endurance on exploitation and is susceptible to excessive fishing. Thus, management strategy is required to perform by reducing the exploitation rate through the control of input, process, and output of fishing activity which consists of the determination of total allowable catch, limitation on the number of fishing fleet and regulation on allowable hook size used, as well as formulating rules and norms (code of conduct) in grouper fishing and strict protection for grouper spawning areas
