Catch rates for reef fish in Kotania Bay show a steady decline over the period between the 1990s and 2010s. In total, catch rates for targeted species such as grouper, snapper, trevally and emperor, were 5.4 kg fisher−1 day−1 in 1990s. Since this peak, the volume has decreased steadily, reaching 2.7 kg fisher−1 day−1 in 2010s. Interestingly, this pattern of decline differs slightly with regard to species composition, with different rates of decline demonstrating a lack of synchrony with each other (Fig. 3).