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Periodically harvested closures (PHCs) have become the most common form of spatial management in Melanesia. Despite their popularity, their effectiveness to sustain local fish stocks remains largely unknown. Here we test the ability of non-destructive sampling techniques to detect the impacts of fishing in a PHC where harvest catch data provide an impact of known magnitude. We compared the ability of three commonly used techniques (underwater visual census, UVC; diver operated stereo-video, stereo-DOV; and baited remote underwater stereo-video, stereo-BRUV) to detect the impact of a harvest on fish assemblages within a PHC in Fiji. The technique stereo-DOV recorded a significant decrease in harvested individuals at both the assemblage and species level (primarily herbivorous species). The technique stereo-BRUV also recorded an impact at the assemblage level, but only for carnivorous fishes …