Effects of fishi
ng o
n mari
ne commu
nities are becomi
ng i
ncreasi
ngly evide
nt, yet little is k
now
n of the spatial exte
nt of impacts, particularly for multiple impacts distributed over broad scales. We tested the commo
n perceptio
n that commercial a
nd recreatio
nal fishi
ng o
n i
nshore temperate reefs ge
nerate spatial impacts that dimi
nish with dista
nce from fisher access poi
nts. We collected data o
n harvested a
nd
no
n-harvested reef species usi
ng u
nderwater visual ce
nsuses at 133 shallow
rocky reef sites arou
nd Tasma
nia a
nd tested for relatio
nships betwee
n assemblage a
nd species level i
ndices of fishi
ng impacts a
nd dista
nce to the
nearest boat lau
nchi
ng ramp. Slopes of size spectra of fish commu
nities te
nded to decrease with dista
nce from the
nearest boat ramp, with this relatio
nship appare
ntly resulti
ng from low
numbers of large fish (> 30 cm TL) a
nd a greater
number of smaller fish (< 15 cm TL) at sites closest to access poi
nts. At the species level, relatio
nships were evide
nt either i
n the abu
nda
nce of legal i
ndividuals or the mea
n size of harvested species with dista
nce to the
nearest boat ramp, except for
rock lobster. Patter
ns for
rock lobster differed whe
n areas i
n which commercial or recreatio
nal fisheries domi
nated were co
nsidered separately from the statewide a
nalysis. A patter
n of i
ncreasi
ng
numbers of legal lobsters with i
ncreasi
ng dista
nce from boat ramps was observed, but o
nly i
n the areas i
n which the recreatio
nal fishery domi
nated. Observed relatio
nships i
n all species were co
nsiste
nt with greater fishi
ng impacts at sites closest to boat ramps, with the exceptio
n of exploited wrasses. Ba
nded morwo
ng, which are subject to a live export fishery, appeared to be most affected by proximity to boat ramps. Co
nversely,
no relatio
nships were fou
nd betwee
n the abu
nda
nce or size of the most freque
ntly occurri
ng
no
n-harvested species a
nd dista
nce to boat ramps.
These results support the hypothesis that greater fishing impacts occur at more accessible sites over the entire Tasmanian coastline. The variability of results among individual species are likely, at least in part, to be related to differences in fisheries characteristics such as vessel size and range, as well as the suitability of our methods for detecting impacts. The potential of such a pattern in fishing impacts to be evident in other locations will thus likely depend on characteristics of the particular fishes and fisheries.