Distribution and Abundance of the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus indica) off Sri Lanka during the Southwest Monsoon 2018

Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus are the most abundant and widely distributed cetacean species in Sri Lankan waters. A vessel-based opportunistic line transect survey focusing on marine mammals was conducted in Sri Lankan waters between 24 June to 12 July 2018, while an ecosystem survey was performed by the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen. The entire transect length was 2090 km within an area of 3895 km2. Overall, 72% (n = 57) of blue whale observations were group assemblages ranging between 1 and 5 individuals out of a total of 79 sightings. The largest aggregations of blue whales were recorded at the intersection of the submarine canyon off the coastline of Mirissa and busy shipping lanes between Dondra Head and Galle, where previous ship strikes were recorded. Overall, the average observed group size was 2.64 (CV, 12.34%; 95% CI, 2.07–3.38), the average group density was 0.0029 km−2 (CV, 35.96%; 95% CI, 0.00145–0.00610), and the total blue whale abundance within the survey area was 513 individuals (CV, 38.02%; 95% CI, 243–1083). These survey results fill vital knowledge gaps regarding the abundance and distribution of blue whales in Sri Lanka, which is essential for the establishment of management and conservation strategies.publishedVersio

Spatial distribution of main clupeid species in relation to acoustic assessment surveys in the continental shelves of Senegal and The Gambia

This work compiles hydroacoustic recordings and catch data over Senegambia (Senegal and The Gambia) from assessment surveys on the major clupeid species to identify sources of bias in abundance estimates caused by their horizontal distribution. The latitudinal distribution of small pelagic fish is often well known, while their “across shelf” distribution on the continental shelf is less understood. The southern part of the Senegambian shelf has a wide shallow water (<10 m) area that makes up 20% (1500 NM2) of the total shelf surface, while the northern part accounts for 3% (200 NM2). These areas are not assessed by conventional fisheries acoustics surveys and therefore increase the uncertainty of the assessment of these species. Our findings show that this likely introduces a bias in the assessment of Sardinella maderensis, while for S. aurita no major estimation-error is caused by their horizontal distribution. The data confirm that Ethmalosa fimbriata and Ilisha africana are challenging to assess by conventional surveys, due to their mostly inshore distribution. We emphasise the usefulness of assessing S. aurita through fisheries independent hydroacoustic surveys, and propose alternative methods to survey shallow water areas to reduce biases in biomass estimates and distribution mapping

Overlap in utilization of juvenile Cape Horse Mackerel by Cape Fur Seals and the purse-seine fishery in Namibia

The Cape horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus capensisis one of Namibia's most valuable fish stocks, and an important component to the diet of Cape fur seals, Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus, off northern Namibia. The level of overlap in the utilization of this resource between seals and the purse-seine fishery was investigated using two overlap indices. For high overlap measures, seals and the purse-seine fishery utilized age-2 horse mackerel. For low overlap measures, seals mainly consumed age-0 fish whereas the fishery caught age-2 fish. Both indices were adjusted by the proportion of horse mackerel in the seal diet, with the assumption that the proportion consumed by the seals reflects the abundance of horse mackerel in the coastal waters of Cape Cross, Namibia. Both unadjusted and adjusted overlap indices showed that overlap between seals and the fishery in their utilization of juvenile horse mackerel was high only at times when horse mackerel abundance was high, and low when abundance was small. Confidence intervals and significance testing were included. Overall, there was little overlap between seals and the purse-seine fishery. This study provides important information that should be taken into account in the management of the horse mackerel resource

Asynchronized spawning responses of small pelaigic fish to a short-term enviromental change

We provide substantial evidence on how short-term changes in environmental conditions activate and deactivate spawning activities in small pelagic fishes. An ichthyoplankton survey was conducted along the southernmost part of the Canary Current upwelling ecosystem in May 2013, covering the area twice within 20 d. This period coincided with a strong environmental change from a cold productive upwelling regime to a warmer and less productive upwelling relaxation event. This change triggered a shift in spawning activity from European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus to round/flat sardinella Sardinella spp. We used zero-altered negative binomial regression models with a generalized additive structure based on integrated nested Laplace approximations to link early larval distribution patterns to the 2 different regimes. The models confirmed 2 species-specific temperature spawning windows, suggesting a spawning pause of anchovy during upwelling relaxation while simultaneously activating spawning in sardinella. Observing immediate spawning responses to the 2 environmental regimes underlines the assumption that windows of spawning opportunity are the main drivers of small pelagic fish fluctuations in upwelling regions. The duration of a specific environmental condition can, therefore, increase or decrease the chances for reproductive success. The observations of this study may explain why certain small pelagic fish species can dominate over others during a particular period and might also apply to other upwelling regions of the world oceans where upwelling and relaxation events alternate.publishedVersio

Survey of the fish resources of Angola. Survey of the demersal recources 01 - 31 March 2010

2016-01-0

Surveys of the fish resources of Mauritius. Survey of the demersal resources on the western slopes of St. Brandon and Nazareth Bank, Mauritius 16 - 25 September 2010

2016-01-0