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.

Fish assemblages: Underwater visual censuses (UVC) were used to assess fish assemblages in MPAs and non-MPAs at the three village sites. Underwater visibility at all study sites (> 15 m) was appropriate for the use of UVC, but due to the visual limitations of this method, we did not consider cryptic species or species with a maximum total length < 5 cm. During our surveys, we categorized species into two major categories (Herbivores and Non-herbivores) that were subdivided into ten sub-categories. Herbivores include the main roving nominally herbivorous fish clades, which play an important role in the control of benthic algae, and these species were further divided into four sub-categories (browsers, grazers, scrapers, and excavators) according to diet, feeding mode, and impact on the benthos. The category of Non-herbivores includes all species that feed on other, non-algal resources.

Separate 30m x 4m belt transects were performed for Herbivores and Non-herbivores. While simultaneously deploying the transect line, a snorkeler recorded all non-cryptic fishes (either Herbivores or Non-herbivores) within 2 m of either side of the transect. Individual fish were identified to species and placed into 5-cm (total length) size classes, and the lengths were converted to biomass using established length-weight relationships. 

Transects were conducted in each area within 2 h of high tide (approx. 1.5 m depth) and were equally distributed between the two sampling periods (Dec 2010–Jan 2011 and Dec 2011–Jan 2012), the months within each sampled year (December and January of each year). On each sampling day, four to six transects were deployed on the reef parallel to the shoreline, with a minimum of 10m between adjacent transects. To ensure that transects were independent and non-overlapping, small numbered surface floats were placed at the start and end of each transect, and were left in position during all sampling. Care was taken to avoid re-counting fishes that left and subsequently re-entered the transect areas. The initial starting point of the transects for each day was selected based on a map of the study sites with two constraints: (1) as to a minimum distance from shore (at least 30 m), and a minimum distance from the MPA boundaries (150 m).