Effects of fishing on a protogynous hermaphrodite

Population dynamic models and simulations are analysed for a harvested reef fish species that is a monandric, protogynous hermaphrodite. The models are applied to data for the coral trout Plectropomus leopardus (Pisces: Serranidae) on the Great Barrier Reef. One model examines the situation where sexual transition is induced by some exogenous behavioural mechanism, and another considers the case where transition is determined by some endogenous developmental schedule. The conclusions regarding the effects of fishing are common to both models, and the implementation of more efficient harvesting practices may not require a precise understanding of the mechanisms governing sexual transition.