Life-history, ecology and fisheries of cephalopods in the western Mediterranean
Abstract: Cephalopods constitute an important faunistic group in marine ecosystems, representing keystone elements in marine food webs. Additionally, they are an important fishing resource, and their contribution to worldwide fishery landings has been rising significantly over the last decades. In t...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2017 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/323464 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/323464 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares Cephalopods Pesquerías Mediterranean Community analysis Decorrelation Analysis Dynamic factor analysis synchrony diversity stock assessment depletion methods cuttlefish fishery bottom trawl survey Stock assessment |
| Sumario: | Abstract: Cephalopods constitute an important faunistic group in marine ecosystems, representing keystone elements in marine food webs. Additionally, they are an important fishing resource, and their contribution to worldwide fishery landings has been rising significantly over the last decades. In the Mediterranean Sea, several local short-term studies on cephalopod abundance and distribution exist, but few integrate longer time scales and larger areas. The present thesis work combines large-scale, long-term studies on cephalopods community composition, diversity and abundance (Part I) with small-scale, local case studies around the Balearic Islands (Part II). First, a community analysis was conducted at the whole Mediterranean scale in order to describe the present status and reveal possible differences between the western and the eastern Mediterranean sub-basins (Chapter 2). The aim was to compare assemblage structures between sub-basins together with the influence of large-scale environmental gradients on species composition. While basins did not differ significantly in cephalopod species composition, relative species contributions varied. Cephalopods are very sensitive to environmental changes, and adapt quickly due to their short life cycle and typically seasonal semelparity impeding generation buffering. Therefore sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll a (Chl a) were hypothesised and documented as important drivers of cephalopod assemblages. While their importance differed between sub-basins, depth was confirmed as the most important factor structuring cephalopod communities. At the same spatial scale, cephalopod diversity was analysed during two decades (Chapter 3). Results revealed the absence of clear longitudinal or latitudinal gradients in cephalopod diversity, combined with no distinct temporal trends over the last twenty years. Besides, temporal changes in diversity varied between various Mediterranean sub-regions. Location, depth, SST and productivity regime resulted to influence diversity. To assess whether environmental variability impacts cephalopod populations at species level, the influence of SST and surface primary production on the spatial structuring and the population dynamics of two commercially important cephalopod species was investigated (Chapter 4). Although Octopus vulgaris and Illex coindetii exhibit contrasting life history traits and inhabit different habitats, long-term abundance trends and synchronic behaviour of their populations was similar, and population sub-structuring across the Mediterranean Sea were revealed. In consistency with former chapters, SST and Chl a regimes were shown to be significant drivers of distribution patterns and inter-annual abundance fluctuations. The motivation for the second part of the thesis was fuelled by the present situation in the Mediterranean Sea, where cephalopod stocks are presumably overexploited, but where their ad- hoc assessment and management is far from being implemented. To contribute to existing knowledge of the current situation in the Balearic Sea, a case study on cuttlefish fishery, life-history and population dynamics was conducted using short-term and intra-annual data (Chapter 5). Possible drivers of cuttlefish abundance fluctuations were analysed, revealing significant influences of SST and local climatic variability. While the study provided a complete view of the intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of cuttlefish population fluctuations in the Balearic Sea, the next step was applying stock assessment techniques to cuttlefish and squid fisheries of this area (Chapter 6). Being the first application of depletion methods to Mediterranean cephalopod stocks, the study combined information of those two fisheries with the evaluation of this stock assessment method for short life cycle species. Results uncovered existing problems and suggested that the current sampling scheme under the EU-Data Collection Framework is inadequate for cephalopods in view of the assessment´s data requirements. Consequently, a modification of the existing scheme was proposed |
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