SARDINHA2020: An ecosystem approach to sardine fisheries management
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1
Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Portugal
Pelagic fish are the main target of Iberian fisheries, in particular sardines (Sardina pilchardus), but also horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus), anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), Spanish mackerel (Scomber colias) and mackerel (Scomber scombrus). Fishery management of these species is generally complicated due to the large temporal fluctuations of population size, which is mainly attributed to the variability of recruitment (e.g., the number of young sardines that join each year the stock). The abundance of sardines has declined drastically in recent years due to recruitments as low as the historical lows which, coupled with the currently small number of large fish, are alarming signs for the present and future of the species. This decline is of particular great concern in the context of the vulnerability of these resources to the above mentioned fluctuations in abundance, with several global collapses having occurred over time, and the consequent dramatic impact of these collapses not only on fisheries but also on the entire marine food chain, since these species are the main prey of a high number of predators, such as birds and marine mammals. The Project SARDINHA2020 was developed by IPMA to address this issue aiming at improving the understanding of the decline in the recruitment strength of sardine Iberian stock and our ability to forecast the response of sardine population and the other components of the pelagic ecosystem in face of different scenarios (climate change, levels of exploitation, predation, etc.), coupling the dynamics of the social and economical components of the purse-seine fishery. Although the distribution and dynamics of sardine populations and many aspects of its biology in European waters are generally well studied, the relationships between sardines and environmental conditions are poorly understood, in particular the reasons that led to the decline in recruitment of the southern stock in the last 15 years. Likewise, the knowledge on the trophic interactions between sardines and other components of the pelagic ecosystem, the biology and abundance of these other species, and the social and economic components of the purse seine fishery is still limited. Since sardine stock productivity has been changing, it is essential to develop multidisciplinary scientific research to assess how the physical environment, interactions with other species, and fisheries affect the biology and abundance of sardines. This knowledge will be incorporated into the development of a model that intends to describe and predict how the population will respond in the future to different scenarios and, in collaboration with the industry and management, develop a purse-seine management plan, which focus on the key aspects to be taken into account in terms of the biology of all exploited species and the social and economic components, enhancing the protection and revitalization of biodiversity through the restoration of the coastal pelagic habitat. SARDINHA2020 is a multidisciplinary and knowledge integrator project that involves researchers and stakeholders, from IPMA, Universities, the purse-seine Industry, and the Administration. It is also an innovative project in terms of methodologies, actions and analyses of the results which are intended to be unconventional and "out of the box“. This project aimed at answering the subsisting questions regarding the drivers of the Iberian sardine population dynamics, given the pressures imposed by fishing, climate change and other environmental, biological and anthropogenic factors and build the basis for a more effective fishery management, following an ecosystem approach to the pelagic habitat and its living resources. SARDINHA2020 is coordinated by IPMA, bringing together a team of scientists with extensive experience in the biology, ecology and fisheries management of coastal pelagic resources and other experts in complementary areas essential to the tasks to be developed in the project (eg., electrical and naval engineering, mathematics and statistics, ecology, physical, chemical and biological oceanography, ecotoxicology, veterinary medicine, chemistry and aquaculture). The Project also involves scientists, experts in bio-economics, sociology and oceanographic modelling from Research Centres and Universities. In addition, the project involves the entire purse-seine industry and the administration (DGRM) in specific tasks. SARDINHA2020 is organized in 4 main components: 1. Coordination and Dissemination, 2. Habitat and Life Cycle, 3. Population Dynamics and Fisheries and 4. Modeling and Management Plan of the purse-seine fishery; and include 7 work packages (WP). The WP “Physical environment and Productivity” will identify the environmental variables that are mostly responsible for the dynamics of the pelagic fish species inhabiting Portuguese continental waters, and will produce temporal series of environmental data that allow to modelling and predicting those relationships. The WP “Natural mortality” aims to obtain mortality rates of each developmental stage (from the eggs to the adults) of pelagic fish species as a function of the variability of oceanographic conditions, the feeding availability, predation and exposure to contaminants. The WP “Growth and Reproduction” is studying the effect of the variability of the environmental conditions and biological factors that are considered most relevant for the growth and reproduction of pelagic fish species. The WP “Abundance, Distribution and Connectivity” aims to improve the estimates of abundance and distribution of pelagic fish species in the monitoring scientific surveys in a multispecific and ecosystem approach, to determine the influence of the environmental factors in the distribution, abundance and structure of the pelagic community as well as the assessment of sardine populations connectivity to re-evaluate the structure and identity of the population units in the Atlantic. The WP “Fishing activity and Production” is improving the knowledge of the social, economical, technological and biological components of the purse-seine fishery and the canning industry in collaboration with stakeholders. WP “Dynamic of Populations and Ecosystems” is evaluating the stocks of the main species of the pelagic community in Portuguese continental waters, using models and approaches that are appropriate to the biology of each species and the availability of data, integrating the environmental effects and the spatial dynamics of the populations and the fishery. Finally, the WP “Modelling and Management Plans” will develop a Management Plan for the purse-seine fishery to improve the assessment and recommendations for the management of the main target species captured by this fishery, particularly those for which there is no knowledge on the current exploitation status. The management Plan will allow incorporating the biological interactions between the main species of the purse-seine fishery, as well as the economic and technological issues. The expected outcome of SARDINHA2020 will be the development of a Management Plan for the purse-seine fishery, aligned with the Common Fisheries Policy and Marine Strategy Framework Directive, based on the principles of sustainability of fisheries resources, recovery of the pelagic habitat biodiversity and the fisheries industry profitability. SARDINHA2020 will be running until the end of year 2020 and its findings already started to be published in the scientific international journals (e.g. Garcia-Seoane et al. 2019; Silva et al. 2018).
Acknowledgements
SARDINHA2020 is a multidisciplinary project that involves researchers and stakeholders. In addition to the authors, which have a coordination role in the project, the following researchers are involved: P Amorim, MM Angélico, N Bandarra, M Caetano, AM Costa, D Feijó, E Henriques, PB Oliveira, J Parente, J. Pastor, A Peliz, C Pita, P Pousão, A Marçalo, V Marques, H Mendes, J Raimundo, P Ramos, R Rosa, AV Silva, A Teodósio, L Wise. We also thank the collaboration of ANOPCERCO.
References
García-Seoane E, Marques V, Silva A, Angélico MM. 2019. Spatial and temporal variation in pelagic community of the western and southern Iberian Atlantic waters. Estuarine, coastal and shelf. 221: 147-155.
Silva A, Garrido S, Ibaibarriaga L, Pawlowski L, Riveiro I, Marques V, Ramos F, Duhamel E, Iglesias M, Bryère P, Mangin A, Citores L, Carrera P, Uriarte A, (2018). Adult-mediated connectivity and spatial population structure of sardine in the Bay of Biscay and Iberian coast, Deep-Sea Research Part II, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2018.10.010
Keywords:
Iberian sardine,
Ecosystem modelling approach,
Natural mortality,
Population Dynamics,
Fisheries management advice,
Multidisciplinary research
Conference:
XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) , Braga, Portugal, 9 Sep - 12 Sep, 2019.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Fisheries, Aquaculture and Biotechnology
Citation:
Nunes
C,
Moreno
A,
Garrido
S,
Silva
AA and
Azevedo
M
(2019). SARDINHA2020: An ecosystem approach to sardine fisheries management.
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) .
doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2019.08.00128
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Received:
31 May 2019;
Published Online:
27 Sep 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Ana Moreno, Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Lisbon, Portugal, amoreno@ipma.pt
Dr. Manuela Azevedo, Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Lisbon, Portugal, mazevedo@ipma.pt