1 Impacts of coastal development on nearshore fishes and fisheries habitats: Case study of marina rankings for Great Exuma, The Bahamas Impactos del desarrollo costero en los peces y los hábitats pesqueros cercanos a la costa: estudio de caso de clasificación de puertos deportivos para Great Exuma, Bahamas Impact du développement côtier sur les poissons côtiers et les habitats de pêche : étude de cas de la construction d'une marina sur Great Exuma TAFARI J. SMITH a * and KATHLEEN SULLIVAN SEALEY b a Small Island Sustainability Programme, University of The Bahamas, Nassau, The Bahamas tafari.j.smith@gmail.com b Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA. ksealey@miami.edu * corresponding author KEYWORDS: The Bahamas, Coastal Fish, Nursery habitats, Marinas, Water Quality ABSTRACT Marinas are a critical component of The Bahamas tourism economy, and the size and services of marinas are expanding throughout the archipelago. Of the 7.2 million visitors who travelled to The Bahamas in 2019, over 5.5 million came by sea, including cruise ships and boaters who paid for cruising and fishing permits to enter the country or chartered vessels. With the proliferation of marinas, this study outlines “Best Management Practices” (BMP) for marina construction and operations that will allow coastal ecosystem functioning that supports healthy fish populations. Our study examines four marinas on the island of Great Exuma of varying size and age since construction to understand the impacts on coastal fish habitats and fish assemblage diversity. The construction (acute) and operational (chronic) impacts were ranked for each marina site. We predicted that marinas with high ecological impacts would have low fish diversity and abundance. Roving Diver Fish Surveys at a low-ecological impact marina and a high ecological impact marina showed large differences in fish diversity and abundance, indicating that fish surveys would be a good measure of success for remediation and management improvements. We present BMPs for the four marinas on Great Exuma, The Bahamas as viable options to improve the functioning nearshore ecosystems, and by extension, improve the tourism product and increase climate resilience of the marinas. INTRODUCTION Marinas are constructed harbours designed for vessel dockage and provide public access points to recreational waters (Gail & Neil 1978). Throughout The Bahamas, marinas for recreational vessels are a critical component of the tourism market for charter boats as well as for locally and foreign-owned vessels. Marinas offer an access point for other economic activities such as restaurants, fuel sales, boat repairs and boating supplies. Private marinas provide services to visiting yachts and sailboats that expand the economic benefits of tourism to more islands throughout the Bahamian archipelago, impacting communities beyond the island of New Providence, where Nassau, the capital city, is located. The spatial extent of the Bahamian archipelago makes marinas a critical transportation component needed to sustain island communities and their tourism markets (Sealey & Logan 2019) Marinas are a growing component of the vacation home market, where recreational vessels up to 45 feet in length can be docked during the winter then stored safely during hurricane season. Information provided by the Executive Director for the Association of Bahamas Marinas states that boating activity in the Bahamas is "the third leg of the stool on which the Bahamas economy sits” (Association of Bahamas Marinas 2023). As an island archipelago, The Bahamas has been heavily reliant on water transport, cruising, and sportfishing by tourists renting or owning boats within the country. The number of cruising visitors arriving by private boat is between 60,000 and 90,000 annually. These vessels need marina space and services throughout the country. Additionally, cruising visitors are often repeat visitors. 72 % of marina boaters are repeat visitors in comparison to 33 % of hotel visitors (Bahamas Local News 2017). The activities offered by the marinas result in tourists spending more money during their visit. According to a survey in 2017, boaters spend more on activities and purchases than any other visitor types. (Bahamas Local News 2017). Marinas require fuel, electricity, water, and other services that help employment in local communities. The Government of The Bahamas (GoB) receives money from cruising permits and VAT/tax from those local purchases. There are approximately 50 marinas in the Bahamas and the Association of Bahamas Marinas represents 43 private marinas. At least three new marinas have been planned for Great Exuma and adjacent cays this year. Marinas can be destructive to the local ecology of the island. Ecological impacts of marinas are characterized by the construction phase (largely acute impacts) and the operation phase (largely chronic impacts) (FIGURE 1). There are six