87 research outputs found
Genetic validation of the unexpected presence of a tropical tuna, bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), in the Mediterranean
Bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus, Lowe, 1839) is one of the eight recognized species of the genus Thunnus. It is considered a tropical species distributed in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. To date, no validated presence of this species has been reported inside the Mediterranean Sea. This study, however, confirms, for the first time, the presence of three young individuals of this species within the Mediterranean Sea.Versión del editor1,83
ASSESSING THE APPLICABILITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS FOR IMPROVING THE FISHERIES ASSESSMENT OF THE ALBACORE (Thunnus alalunga) UNDER THE A4A APPROACH
In this study we explore the potential for improving the stock assessment of Mediterranean
Albacore by integrating environmental indicators. For this purpose we developed a catch at age
model within the A4A stock assessment approach. The input data was similar to that used in the
official SCRS stock assessment in 2017 but with an updated larval index. The environmental
indicator provides information on the interannual variability of the sea surface temperature in
the Balearic Sea during the spawning season, and it is included in the “Environmental pressure”
component of the Ecosystem Report Card. The indicator is included in the assessment model in
different ways, as index of the class age 0, as vector for the Stock/recruitment model, and as
productivity value in other stock recruitment models (Ricker, Beverton-Holt). The results showed
that incorporating the environmental variability indicators provide a better stock assessment fits
(AIC, BIC), and also show the need for more advanced techniques to test stock assessment
performance when testing the inclusion of environmental variability
Stereological comparison of oocyte recruitment and batch fecundity estimates from paraffin and resin sections using spawning albacore (Thunnus alalunga) ovaries as a case study.
Traditional histological protocols in marine
fi
sh reproductive laboratories using paraf
fi
n as the embedding
medium are now increasingly being replaced with protocols using resin instead. These procedures entail differ-
ent degrees of tissue shrinkage complicating direct comparisons of measurement results across laboratories or
articles. In this work we selected ovaries of spawning Mediterranean albacore (
Thunnus alalunga
) as the subject
of our study to address the issue of structural changes, by contrasting values on oocyte recruitment and
fi
nal
batch fecundity given from the same tissue samples in both paraf
fi
nandresin.Amodernstereologicalmethod,
the oocyte packing density (OPD) theory, was used supported by initial studies on ovarian tissue sampling and
measurement design. Examples of differences in the volume fraction of oocyte stages, free space and connective
tissue were found between the embedding media. Mean oocyte diameters were smaller in paraf
fi
nthaninresin
with differences ranging between 0.5% in primary growth and 24.3% in hydration (HYD) stage oocytes. Fresh
oocyte measurements showed that oocytes shrank as a consequence of the embedding process, reaching the
maximaldegreeofshrinkageforoocytesintheHYDstage(45.8%inparaf
fi
nand26.5%inresin).Inordertoassess
the effect of oocyte shrinkage on the OPD result, and thereby on relative batch fecundity (F
r
), oocyte diameters
corrected and uncorrected for shrinkage, were used for estimations. Statistical signi
fi
cant differences were
found (
P
b
0.05) between these two approaches in both embedding media. The average F
r
was numerically
smaller in paraf
fi
n compared to resin (86 ± 61 vs. 106 ± 54 oocytes per gram of body mass (mean ± SD)).
For both embedding media statistical signi
fi
cant differences (
P
b
0.05) were seen between F
r
results based on
either oocytes in the germinal vesicle migration stage or HYD stage. As a valuable adjunct, the present use of
the OPD theory made it possible to document that the oocyte recruitment of spawning ovaries of Mediterranean
albacore followed the typical pattern of an asynchronous oocyte development and indeterminate fecundityPostprint2,444
Implications for fishery management in small tunas the case of genetic population structure of bullet tuna in the west Mediterranean
Knowledge of population structure of species is needed to establish appropriate management
regulations. Of particular concern are those commercial species; these exploited fish populations
can undergo loss of genetic variability that ultimately may lead the loss of regional small
populations. This situation could occur in the small tuna species, which in some cases are heavily
targeted by artisanal fisheries. Here, we focused on the Bullet tuna (Auxis rochei) with an
extensive sampling (n = 431) along the north and south coast of the west Mediterranean and one
location on the east Atlantic. The analysis of the mtDNA control region revealed that seven (about
1.6%) individuals were not identified as Bullet tuna suggesting a species misidentification with
possible implications in stock assessment. Population genetics results showed clear genetic
differentiation between the Iberian Peninsula and North African locations. These results have a
clear impact on the conservation and management strategies, and if it is confirmed in other small
pelagic species, the pattern of population structure in the Mediterranean is more complex than
initially expected
ASSESSING THE APPLICABILITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS FOR IMPROVING THE FISHERIES ASSESSMENT OF THE ALBACORE (THUNNUS ALALUNGA) UNDER THE A4A APPROACH
In this study we explore the potential for improving the stock assessment of Mediterranean
Albacore by integrating environmental indicators. For this purpose we developed a catch at age
model within the A4A stock assessment approach. The input data was similar to that used in the
official SCRS stock assessment in 2017 but with an updated larval index. The environmental
indicator provides information on the interannual variability of the sea surface temperature in
the Balearic Sea during the spawning season, and it is included in the “Environmental pressure”
component of the Ecosystem Report Card. The indicator is included in the assessment model in
different ways, as index of the class age 0, as vector for the Stock/recruitment model, and as
productivity value in other stock recruitment models (Ricker, Beverton-Holt). The results showed
that incorporating the environmental variability indicators provide a better stock assessment fits
(AIC, BIC), and also show the need for more advanced techniques to test stock assessment
performance when testing the inclusion of environmental variabilityEn prens
REPORT OF THE 2019 ICCAT WORKSHOP ON SWORDFISH BIOLOGY STUDIES FOR GROWTH, REPRODUCTION AND GENETICS
This report describes the June, 2019 ICCAT workshop on swordfish biology studies for growth,
reproduction and genetics, hosted by the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Olhão,
Portugal . The major objectives of the workshop were to 1) refine sampling and biological data
collection protocols, 2) develop protocols and start the sample processing and analysis, and 3)
plan for the project future steps. The biological sampling program was established by ICCAT’s
Swordfish Species Group in 2018, aiming to improve knowledge of the stock distribution, age and
gender of the catch, growth rate, age at maturation, maturation rate, spawning season and
location and diet. This work will contribute to the next major advance in the assessment of
swordfish status, by permitting the development of more spatially and biologically realistic
population models used in both Atlantic and Mediterranean populations assessments and within
the ICCAT Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) for North Atlantic swordfish.En prens
Preliminary management strategy evaluation for blue shark in the Indian Ocean using a data-limited approach
In tuna-RFMOs there has been an effort to move to quantitative stock
assessments for pelagic sharks, especially for the main species such as
blue shark Prionace glauca. In IOTC, blue shark was last assessed in
2017 with the use of an integrated length-based age-structured model
(SS3). This paper now presents a preliminary exercise with data-limited
Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) to test options for different
potential management procedures (MPs), using the data-limited methods
toolkit (DLMtool). Reference points have not yet been adopted for sharks
in IOTC, so for this exercise we set some tentative reference points noting
that those can be updated in the future as needed. Eighty-nine MPs were
evaluated with 9 considered potentially acceptable. Options and tradeoffs between those MPs are shown and described in the paper. We have
focused mainly on trade-offs between biomass and yield, but according
to the management objectives agreed other performance metrics can be
applied. Even thought this is a preliminary exercise at this point, we hope
that it provides initial thoughts and opens the discussion for the
advancement of the blue shark management and conservation in the
Indian Ocean
Environmental variablity in three major Mediterranean tuna spawning grounds.
We propose four different environmental indicators, three related to temperature variability in
three major spawning grounds of tuna species in the Mediterranean, and one related to the sea
surface salinity variability in the Balearic Sea. These oceanographic indicators show the
annual variability of environmental parameters affecting growth and survival of tuna eggs and
larval. The indicators are intended to provide quick access to assessment working groups and
fisheries scientist to identify potentially anomalous year
UPDATED STANDARDIZED CATCH RATES IN NUMBER FOR SWORDFISH (Xiphias gladius L.) CAUGHT BY THE SPANISH LONGLINE FLEET IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, 1988- 2013
A General Linear Modeling (GLM)approach to analysis of variance was used to
analyze swordfish logged catch rates in number of fish from
24
,
239
trips carried out by
the Spanish surface longline fleet addressed to this species in the Western
Mediterranean f
or the period 1988
-
2013.Postprin
EFFECTS OF ICCAT Rec [2016-05] SIZE REGULATION ON THE DISCARDS OF THE SPANISH LONGLINE FISHERY TARGETING SWORDFISH (Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758) IN THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEA
The ICCAT Commission, at its meeting on November 2016, approved a multi-annual recovery
plan for the Mediterranean swordfish starting in 2017 and continuing through 2031 (ICCAT Rec
[2016-05]). Among other provisions, the recovery plan proscribed a minimum landing size (MLS)
of 100 cm (lower-jaw fork length- LJFL), which is 10 cm higher than the previously implemented
(ICCAT Rec [2013-04]). The aim of this study is to assess the effect of the recently implemented
MLS on the swordfish discarding activities by the Spanish surface longline fishery operating in
the western Mediterranean for the period 2015-2017. Our results show that: i) as compared to
the former MLS (ICCAT Rec [2013-04]), a higher percentage of undersized dead fish is now
discarded at sea, with the additional risk that does not be reported and taken into consideration
during the assessment of the stock; ii) the amount of fishing effort (number of hooks) for fulfilling
the allocated quota has increased; iii) the fishing season must be longer to achieve the allocated
quota. Both the increase in fishing effort and the lengthening of the fishing season have an
adverse effect on the economic profitability of the surface longline fleet without achieving the
intended reduction in the fishing mortality exerted on the juvenile fraction of the Mediterranean
swordfish stock
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