Does a Trawl Ban Benefit Commercially Important Decapoda and Stomatopoda in Hong Kong?

Crustaceans were among the most valuable fishery resources in Hong Kong. However, the unrestricted and intensive use of different fishing gears, especially bottom trawling, has led to the depletion of commercially important crustaceans in Hong Kong since the 1980s. This study investigated whether commercial crustaceans recovered after the implementation of a permanent Hong Kong-wide trawl ban that began on December 31, 2012. Standardized field surveys were conducted using a commercial shrimp trawler at two sites in eastern and western waters of Hong Kong before (2004) and after the trawl ban (2013–2014 and 2015–2016) and two sites in southern waters after the trawl ban. Diversity, mean size, abundance, biomass and level of disturbance of commercial crustaceans from the three periods were investigated. The eastern waters exhibited an increased diversity of crustacean assemblages in Inner Tolo, and a higher abundance and biomass of crabs were detected in Outer Tolo after the trawl ban. Reduced disturbance, higher diversity in crustacean assemblages and greater abundance and biomass of predatory crabs were observed after the trawl ban in the outer estuary of western waters, and increased abundance and biomass of shrimp were detected in the inner estuary of western waters. No temporal or negative changes were detected in the southeast and southern waters of Lamma Island. The various responses of crustacean assemblages in Hong Kong waters revealed the critical role of complex interactions among multiple stresses, such as ongoing reclamation works, illegal trawling activities and increased fishing efforts using other (legal) fishing methods.