1. Reef fish biomass is increasingly recognized as a key indicator of fishery and biodiversity status linked to ecosystem integrity on coral reefs, and yet the evaluation of appropriate baselines for biomass, and what drives variation in potential baselines, is sparse.
2. Variability in reef fishable biomass was assessed to test for the existence of baselines or benchmarks (B&Bs), based on field studies of 223 reef sites in remote uninhabited reefs, in high‐compliance closures of >5 km², and among the increasing number of small and recent closures.
3. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of human habitation, travel time and distance to cities, habitat, depth, benthic cover, and environmental variables on fish B&Bs.
4. There were large differences in the three categories of ‘no fishing’, with human habitation being the single best predictor of biomass. In remote areas without people (>9 hours of travel time), fish biomass had a mean of 2,450 kg ha^–1 (95% confidence interval, 95% CI, 2,130–2,770 kg ha^–1; median = 1,885 kg ha^–1).
5. In these remote areas, biomass was weakly associated with human travel time to the site and, to a lesser extent, wave energy. In high‐compliance closures, fish biomass peaked at 20 years and 5–10 km², and levelled at 910 kg ha^–1 (95% CI 823–989 kg ha^–1) for both closure age and size. There was little evidence that human travel time and environmental factors influenced biomass greatly in these established closures. In small and recent closures (<15 years), habitat, depth and closure age were the best predictors of fish biomass.
6. Based on the weakness of environmental factors, country or site‐specific B&Bs are not required in these two provinces. However, human habitation in the seascape as well as the size and age of closures set limits to the maximum achievable biomass. The importance of environmental factors increases as the no‐fishing areas and closure times decline. Reef wilderness is not widespread in these provinces, but provides key services and therefore needs to be included in conservation and fisheries policy and management goals.

中文翻译：

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印度洋中部和西部各省珊瑚礁鱼基线和基准生物量的变异性

1. 珊瑚礁鱼生物量日益被认为是与珊瑚礁生态系统完整性有关的渔业和生物多样性状况的关键指标，然而，对生物量适当基准的评估以及驱动潜在基准变化的因素很少。
2. 根据对偏远无人礁的223个礁石地点，> 5 km ^2的高合规性封闭以及越来越多的珊瑚礁的可捕捞生物量的变化进行评估，以测试是否存在基准或基准（B＆B）。近期关闭的情况很小。
3. 该研究的目的是检验人类栖息地，行进时间和到城市的距离，栖息地，深度，底栖生物覆盖率以及环境变量对鱼类B＆B的影响。
4. 在“不捕鱼”的三类中有很大的差异，人类居住是生物量的唯一最佳预测因子。在没有人的偏远地区（旅行时间> 9小时），鱼类生物量平均为2,450 kg ha ^–1（95％置信区间，95％CI，2,130–2,770 kg ha ^–1；中位数= 1,885 kg ha ^–1）。
5. 在这些偏远地区，生物量与人类到该地点的旅行时间以及波浪能的程度较小。在高遵从性封鱼中，对于封鱼年龄和大小，鱼类生物量在20年和5-10 km ²达到峰值，并达到910 kg ha ^–1（95％CI 823–989 kg ha ^–1）。几乎没有证据表明人类的旅行时间和环境因素在这些既定的封锁中对生物量有很大影响。在小型和近期的封网（<15年）中，栖息地，深度和封网年龄是鱼类生物量的最佳预测指标。
6. 由于环境因素的薄弱，在这两个省中不需要国家或特定地点的住宿加早餐旅馆。但是，人类在海景中的栖息地以及封盖的大小和年龄限制了可达到的最大生物量。环境因素的重要性随着禁渔区和禁渔时间的减少而增加。珊瑚礁荒野在这些省并不普遍，但提供关键服务，因此需要纳入保护和渔业政策与管理目标中。