Distribution models of deep-sea elasmobranchs in the Azores, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, to inform spatial planning

Elasmobranchs inhabiting depths beyond 200 m are extremely susceptible to overexploitation but are extracted by fisheries around the world either as target species or as bycatch. There is little information available to formulate management strategies to reduce elasmobranch-fishery interactions in the deep sea. In European Union waters, prohibiting the catches of deep-sea elasmobranchs has provided the necessary impetus to study by-catch avoidance of these threatened species. We used over 20 years of fisheries-independent and fisheries-dependent data to model the spatial distribution of 15 species of deep-sea elasmobranchs (12 sharks and 3 rays) captured frequently in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Azores Archipelago (Mid-Atlantic Ridge) to explore spatial management to reduce unwanted catches of these species. We applied Generalised Additive Models to predict the probability of presence of 15 species, as well as the abundance of 6 of those species, within the Azores EEZ and neighbouring seamounts (up to 2000 m depth), using environmental and operational variables as predictors. Our results identified that depth is most influential in determining the distribution of these sharks and rays, in addition to seafloor topography. Distinctive bathymetric features such as seamounts and ridges were highlighted as areas where the probability of presence of the greatest number of species overlapped. Although not related to habitat, gear type influenced the capture probability of certain species, with the artisanal handline, gorazeira, having lower captures than bottom longline. Our results support using depth-based, area-based, and gear-based tactics to design management measures to reduce elasmobranch bycatch, for more sustainable deep-sea fisheries.Postprint2,42

Predicting the distribution and abundance of abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) in the deep sea of the Azores (North Atlantic)

Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), represents a significant percentage of the global plastic pollution, currently considered one of the major sources from sea-based activities. However, there is still limited understanding of the quantities of ALDFG present on the seafloor and their impacts. In this study, data on the presence of ALDFG was obtained from a large archive of seafloor video footage (351 dives) collected by different imaging platforms in the Azores region over 15 years (2006-2020). Most ALDFG items observed in the images relate to the local bottom longline fishery operating in the region, and include longlines but also anchors, weights, cables and buoys. A generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) was used to predict the distribution and abundance of ALDFG over the seafloor within the limits of the Azores Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) using a suite of environmental and anthropogenic variables. We estimated an average of 113 ± 310 items km-2 (597 ± 756 per km-2 above 1000 m depth), which could imply that over 20 million ALDFG items are present on the deep seafloor of the Azores EEZ. The resulting model identified potential hotspots of ALDFG along the seabed, some of them located over sensitive benthic habitats, such as specific seamounts. In addition, the interactions between ALDFG and benthic organisms were also analysed. Numerous entanglements were observed with several species of large anthozoans and sponges. The use of predictive distribution modelling for ALDFG should be regarded as a useful tool to support ecosystem-based management, which can provide indirect information about fishing pressure and allow the identification of potential high-risk areas. Additional knowledge about the sources, amounts, fates and impacts of ALDFG will be key to address the global issue of plastic pollution and the effects of fishing on marine ecosystems.This work contributes to the PO2020 PLASTDEEP (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000125) and MapGES (Acores-01-0145-FEDER-000056) research projects and to the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and innovation programme under grant agreements No 678760 (ATLAS) and No 818123 (iAtlantic). This output reflects only the authors' views and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. We acknowledge all projects and programs that collected images by multiple ROV, submersible and towed video surveys, including those conducted within the MapGES, Estrutura de Missão para Extensão da Plataforma Continental (EMEPC; Cruzeiro Científico EMEPC/LUSO/Açores/2009), MEDWAVES (ATLAS No 678760, with logistic and technical assistance from the UTM –CSIC– and the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitivity), Blue Azores 2018 (National Geographic Pristine Seas program, Oceano Azul Foundation, and Waitt Institute), NICO 12 Expedition, Pelagia Rainbow and Terceira 2019 (cruises 64PE441, 64PE454, and 64PE456; Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research NWO for funding and Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research NIOZ for organising the Netherlands Initiative Changing Oceans NICO expedition in 2018). The EXPLOSEA2 cruise was funded by the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation as part of the project EXPLOSEA (grant CTM201675947-R). We deeply thank all PIs, crews and scientists that participated in all these surveys. CD-C was supported by the PO2020 projects MapGES and DeepWalls (Acores-01-0145-FEDER-000056 and Acores-01-0145-FEDER-000124) and by the FCT-IP Project UIDP/05634/2020. TM was supported by Program Investigador FCT (IF/01194/2013), and the IFCT Exploratory Project (IF/01194/2013/CP1199/CT0002) from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (POPH and QREN). TM and MCS were also supported by the FCT-IP Program Stimulus of Scientific Employment (CCCIND/03345/2020 and CCCIND/03346/2020, respectively) and the H2020 programme No 689518 (MERCES) and No 818123 (iAtlantic). LR was supported by the H2020 programme No 818123 (iAtlantic) and Horizon Europe No 101059407 (MarinePlan). J.M.P. was funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) Doctoral Grant 2021.04875.BD. CKP received support from the Operational Program Azores 2020, through the Fund 01-0145-FEDER-000140 “MarAZ Researchers: Consolidate a body of researchers in Marine Sciences in the Azores” of the European Union. We also acknowledge funds through the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the project OKEANOS UIDB/05634/2020 and through the FCT Regional Government of the Azores under the project M1.1. A/REEQ.CIENTÍFICO UI&D/2021/010.Peer reviewe

Exemption cabillaud, restitution des données OBSMER (2010)

En 2009, plusieurs marées ont été observées sur des bateaux pratiquant le chalutage du lieu noir en Ouest Ecosse, le chalutage du lieu noir en Mer du Nord et le chalutage d’espèces profondes en Ouest Ecosse. La proportion du cabillaud dans les captures a été calculée ainsi que le taux de rejet, toute espèce confondue

Caractérisation empirique et détaillée des captures : Contribution à l'approche écosystémique des pêches

The ecosystem approach of sheries requires to rethink sheries management at integrated scales. Knowledge on shing pressure at the community level remains limited while pressure is the lever by which management operates. This work aims at characterizing in detail catches, that is indirectly shing pressure, and to link its components to different management objectives. For doing so, this work relies on analyses of at-sea observer data. The ecosystem approach of sheries requires to rethink sheries management at integrated scales. Knowledge on shing pressure at the community level remains limited while pressure is the lever by which management operates. This work aims at characterizing in detail catches, that is indirectly shing pressure, and to link its components to dierent management objectives. For doing so, this work relies on analyses of at-sea observer data. In an ecological perspective, catch diversity is compared between dierent shing gears deployed on two sites in the Southern Bay of Biscay. It mainly diers by the mean length and piscivore proportion. The state of those two communities diers ; however dierences in community states cannot be explained by the dierences in catches that were extracted from them. At the scale of the English Channel, the combination of catches from dierent gears deployed by English and French shers constitutes another step towards the chacterization of the total pressures exerted on those communities. In an exploitation perspective, catches are characterized by estimating discarded fractions, studying reasons for discarding and eciency of shers to catch their target species. A strong heterogeneity is evidenced at all levels. This work contributes to the ecosystem approach of sheries with metrics and methods to describe catch characteristics in both ecological and exploitation perspectives. It provides inputs for discussion about the distribution of the catch and its utilization among marine community components, and the main factors inuencing them. Limits and potentials of observer data to study those questions are also discussed.L'approche ecosystemique des peches necessite de repenser la gestion a des echelles integrees. Les connaissances sur la pression de peche a l'echelle des communautes restent limitees alors que la pression est le levier par lequel s'opere la gestion. Ce travail de these vise a caracteriser de maniere detaillee les captures, soit indirectement la pression, et a lier ses composantes a dierents objectifs de gestion. Pour ce faire, ce travail repose sur des analyses des donnees d'observation a la mer. Dans une perspective ecologique, la diversite des captures est comparee entre dierents engins de p^eche deployes sur deux sites du Sud Gascogne. Elle diere principalement par la taille moyenne et la proportion de piscivores. L'etat de ces deux communautes diere ; cependant les donnees ne permettent pas d'expliquer cette dierence par les dierences entre les captures qui en sont extraites. A l'echelle de la Manche, la combinaison des captures des dierents engins deployes par les p^echeurs anglais et francais constitue une etape supplementaire vers la caracterisation des pressions totales exercees sur ces communautes. Dans une perspective d'exploitation, les captures sont caracterisees par l'estimation des fractions rejetees, l'etude des causes de rejet et de l'ecacite de capture de l'espece cible. Une forte heterogeneite est mise en evidence a tous les niveaux. Ce travail contribue a l'approche ecosystemique avec des metriques et des methodes pour decrire les caracteristiques des captures dans des perspectives ecologique et d'exploitation. Il apporte des elements de discussion sur la repartition des captures et de leur utilisation parmi les composantes de la communaute et sur les principaux facteurs qui les inuencent. Les limites et potentiels des donnees d'observation a la mer pour l'etude de ces questions sont egalement discutes

Synthèse des données OBSMER dans quatre secteurs de la zone CIEM VII d, relatives aux captures de 10 espèces d'intérêt

Composition des captures (structure des tailles des individus notamment) de la fraction non rejetée pour les 10 espèces d'intérêt suivantes: bar, sole, calmar, rouget-barbet, seiche, étrille, tourteau, maquereau, hareng, sardine

Fishing selectivity as an instrument to reach management objectives in an ecosystem approach to fisheries

With the development of the ecosystem approach to fisheries, improving fishing selectivity has increasingly been put forward as an objective for management. The aim of this paper is to clarify the limits of fishing selectivity and its use in fisheries management. Fishing selectivity would be better apprehended if restricted to the catching process only, not to the utilisation that is made of the catch once onboard, which falls under catch utilisation. Confusion would be further limited if fishing selectivity is restricted to the fishing operation scale, while exploitation pattern, i.e. the distribution of fishing mortality at the population or community level, applies to larger scales. Fishing selectively is minimizing bycatch – catching primarily the fishing trip targets. Since the ecological consequences of maximising the target catch relative to bycatch remain unknown at integrated scales, fishing selectivity cannot be used as an objective in itself. However, its small scale, high manageability and good understanding make it a convenient instrument to reach management objectives at large scales. Selectivity can serve to manage what is extracted from the ecosystem and thus what can be used, and/or to manage what is left in the ecosystem and how fishing impacts it. Different factors affect fishing selectivity, catch utilisation and exploitation patterns, some of them are manageable and thus can be used to move towards these objectives. Management tools are diverse, but need to be integrated to meet large-scale objectives. The complexity of dealing with large scales incurs a need to develop the available knowledge on exploitation patterns and catch utilisation to be able to adequately manage and monitor progress toward selectivity-related objectives

Small-scale fishers’ perception of the implementation of the EU Landing Obligation regulation in the outermost region of the Azores

The archipelago of the Azores (mid-north Atlantic Ocean) is an outermost region of the European Union (EU) in which small-scale fisheries are a strong component of the local economy. Bottom longlining and handlining are the most important Azorean fisheries in landing values, fishing vessels and fishers. Despite their high selectivity and low discards, these fisheries can be highly impacted by the implementation of the Landing Obligation (LO). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Azorean small-scale fishers to document their perceptions about discards and the LO, and to ascertain the mitigation measures they already implement or could further implement to avoid unwanted catch. Results suggest that most fishers strongly oppose the LO, perceiving it as inadequate to their fisheries. Several discard avoidance measures are already commonly used by most fishers, of which hook size and changing areas where there are too many undersized or over-quota individuals, are believed to be the most efficient. Additional measures to further improve selectivity and avoid unwanted catch appear limited. The recent conversion of many bottom longliners to handlining and the exemptions foreseen as part of the LO for the region might help Azorean fishers to mitigate the potential impacts of the LO

Rejets de cabillaud en Manche- Est / Mer du Nord

Synthèse des connaissances disponibles sur la nature, la composition et la proportion de rejets de cabillaud par les chalutiers pêchant au 80mm en Manche Est / Mer du Nord et avis d’Ifremer sur les discussions en cours sur la mise en place de quotas de captures dans le cadre de la réforme de la PCP, comme outil permettant une réduction des rejets

Why do fishermen discard? Distribution and quantification of the causes of discards in the Southern Bay of Biscay passive gear fisheries.

In the context of the Common Fisheries Policy reform, the need for decreasing discards has been highlighted in discussions on the implementation of a discard ban. While most of the research has focused on the quantification of discards by species and métier, identification and quantification of the causes of discards have received little attention. This study presents the results of on-board surveys conducted in the Southern Bay of Biscay fleets of netters and longliners. A large variability of discards was observed. It is also shown that in these passive gear fisheries the main reasons for discarding put forward by fishermen are, firstly, market-related and, secondly, quality-related; discards related to the application of regulations are minor. The results therefore illustrate that decisions to discard can also occur in highly selective fisheries because of economic constraint and the results also show that a part is discarded alive.Dans le cadre de la réforme de la politique commune de la pêche, la nécessité de diminuer les rejets a été mis en évidence dans les discussions sur la mise en œuvre d'une interdiction des rejets. Alors que la plupart des recherches ont porté sur la quantification des rejets par espèce et par métier, l'identification et la quantification des causes des rejets ont reçu peu d'attention. Cette étude présente les résultats d'observations et d'interviews menés à bord de flottilles de fileyeurs et de palangriers, dans le sud du Golfe de Gascogne. Une grande variabilité des rejets a été observée. Il est également montré que, dans ces pêches aux engins passifs, les principales raisons des rejets mis en avant par les pêcheurs sont liées au marché et à la mauvaise qualité des poissons; les rejets liés à l'application de la réglementation sont mineures. Les résultats montrent donc que les décisions de rejeter peuvent également se produire dans une pêche très sélective, en raison de contraintes économiques. Les résultats montrent également qu'une partie est jetée vivante