Potential relation of groupers populations between protected reef areas and nearby coastal waters using larval dispersal model and genetic method

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a management option for promoting fish stock recovery and supplying recruits. In Indonesia, the significant decline of groupers due to fishing pressure shows the importance of coral reef ecosystems, which is a criterion for determining MPAs. Therefore, this study aimed to project the potential dispersal of groupers larvae from MPAs to nearby areas using a larval dispersal model. This study also investigated the supply of the protected reef inside MPAs to surrounding waters using DNA microsatellite loci. The two species of groupers used in the analysis were Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskål, 1775) and Cephalopholis argus (Schneider, 1801). The hydrodynamic model simulation was used to develop ocean currents driven for the larval dispersal model. Fishermen were interviewed to obtain information on grouper's habitat areas and characteristics to support modeling input data. Four microsatellite primers were selected for DNA amplification. The result of larval dispersal projections showed that larvae are distributed to the areas outside MPAs. This result suggests that MPAs could supply recruits to the surrounding waters. However, there was a low probability of genetic admixture of E. areolatus and C. argus populations between inside and outside MPAs.