Browsing by Author "Joyce, Warren"
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- Beyond post-release mortality: inferences on recovery periods and natural mortality from electronic tagging data for discarded lamnid sharksPublication . Bowlby, Heather D.; Benoît, Hugues P.; Joyce, Warren; Sulikowski, James; Coelho, Rui; Domingo, Andrés; Cortés, Enric; Hazin, Fabio; Macias, David; Biais, Gérard; Casaca Santos, Catarina; Anderson, BrookeAccurately characterizing the biology of a pelagic shark species is critical when assessing its status and resilience to fishing pressure. Natural mortality (M) is well known to be a key parameter determining productivity and resilience, but also one for which estimates are most uncertain. While M can be inferred from life history, validated direct estimates are extremely rare for sharks. Porbeagle (Lamna nasus) and shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) are presently overfished in the North Atlantic, but there are no directed fisheries and successful live release of bycatch is believed to have increased. Understanding M, post-release mortality (PRM), and variables that affect mortality are necessary for management and effective bycatch mitigation. From 177 deployments of archival satellite tags, we inferred mortality events, characterized physiological recovery periods following release, and applied survival mixture models to assess M and PRM. We also evaluated covariate effects on the duration of any recovery period and PRM to inform mitigation. Although large sample sizes involving extended monitoring periods (>90 days) would be optimal to directly estimate M from survival data, it was possible to constrain estimates and infer probable values for both species. Furthermore, the consistency of M estimates with values derived from longevity information suggests that age determination is relatively accurate for these species. Regarding bycatch mitigation, our analyses suggest that juvenile porbeagle are more susceptible to harm during capture and handling, that keeping lamnid sharks in the water during release is optimal, and that circle hooks are associated with longer recovery periods for shortfin mako.
- Updated reproductive parameters for the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) in the North Atlantic Ocean with inferences of distribution by sex and reproductive stagePublication . Natanson, Lisa J.; Winton, Megan; Bowlby, Heather; Joyce, Warren; Deacy, Bethany; Coelho, Rui; Rosa, DanielaPrompted by recent concern about the stock status of the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) in the North Atlantic Ocean, we examined reproductive data from 731 individuals (351 females and 380 males) collected by 3 scientific organizations to improve estimates of size and age at maturity. Males ranged in size from 70 to 283 cm fork length (FL) and females from 71 to 338 cm FL. Females matured between 263 and 291 cm FL, with an estimated median length at maturity (L50) of 280 cm FL and a median weight at maturity (WT50) of 275 kg. Males matured between 173 and 187 cm FL, with an L50 of 182 cm FL and WT50 of 64 kg. Catch records from 4 international programs were also examined to investigate spatiotemporal variation in the distribution of life history stages based on updated size-at-maturity estimates and to identify potential parturition and nursery grounds. These records identified the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern North Atlantic Ocean off Portugal as birthing and nursery areas, with the most important nursery area occurring in the western North Atlantic Ocean.