Local Knowledge of Reef Fish Spawning Aggregations in Kimbe Bay, West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea

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Coastal fisheries

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has worked in Kimbe Bay, West New Britain, Papua New Guinea since 1992. This region is the major focus point for TNC’s Papua New Guinea Marine Conservation Program, and TNC is currently working with various partners and stakeholders to establish a resilient, fully functional, network of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Kimbe Bay by 2008 (Green and Lokani, 2004). In early 2004 at a scientific workshop in Townsville it was recognized that one of the key information gaps that needed to be addressed prior to designing the network of MPAs in Kimbe Bay was the location of reef fish spawning aggregations sites.