Browsing by Author "Vandeperre, Frederic"
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- Global habitat predictions to inform spatiotemporal fisheries management: initial steps within the frameworkPublication . Bowlby, Heather D.; Druon, Jean-Noël; Lopez, Jon; Juan-Jordá, Maria José; Carreón-Zapiain, María Teresa; Vandeperre, Frederic; Leone, Agostino; Finucci, Brittany; Sabarros, Philippe S.; Block, Barbara A.; Arrizabalaga, Haritz; Afonso, Pedro; Musyl, Michael K.; Cortés, Enric; Cardoso, Luis Gustavo; Mourato, Bruno; Queiroz, Nuno; Fontes, Jorge; Abascal, Francisco J.; Zanzi, Antonella; Hazin, Humberto Gomes; Bach, Pascal; Sims, David W.; Travassos, Paulo; Coelho, RuiTuna Regional Fishery Management Organizations (tRFMOs) are increasingly interested in spatiotemporal management as a tool to reduce interaction rates with vulnerable species. We use blue shark ( Prionace glauca ) as a case study to demonstrate the critical first steps in the implementation process, highlighting how predictions of global habitat for vulnerable life stages can be transformed into a publicly -accessible spatial bycatch mitigation tool. By providing examples of possible management goals and an associated threshold to identify essential habitats, we show how these key areas can represent a relatively low percentage of oceanic area on a monthly basis (16-24% between 50 degrees S and 60 degrees N), yet can have relatively high potential protection efficiency (similar to 42%) for vulnerable stages if fishing effort is redistributed elsewhere. While spatiotemporal management has demonstrable potential for blue sharks to effectively mitigate fishing mortality on sensitive life stages, we identify inherent challenges and sequential steps that require careful consideration by tRFMOs as work proceeds. We also discuss how our single-species framework could be easily extended to a multispecies approach by assigning relative conservation risk before layering habitat model predictions in an integrated analysis. Such broader application of our approach could address the goals of tRFMOs related to reducing the ecosystem effects of fishing and pave the way for efficient fisheries co-management using an ecosystem-based approach.
- Global-scale environmental niche and habitat of blue shark (Prionace glauca) by size and sex: a pivotal step to improving stock managementPublication . Druon, Jean-Noël; Campana, Steven; Vandeperre, Frederic; Hazin, Fábio H. V.; Bowlby, Heather; Coelho, Rui; Queiroz, Nuno; Serena, Fabrizio; Abascal, Francisco; Damalas, Dimitrios; Musyl, Michael; Lopez, Jon; Block, Barbara; Afonso, Pedro; Dewar, Heidi; Sabarros, Philippe S.; Finucci, Brittany; Zanzi, Antonella; Bach, Pascal; Senina, Inna; Garibaldi, Fulvio; Sims, David W.; Navarro, Joan; Cermeño, Pablo; Leone, Agostino; Diez, Guzmán; Zapiain, María Teresa Carreón; Deflorio, Michele; Romanov, Evgeny V.; Jung, Armelle; Lapinski, Matthieu; Francis, Malcolm P.; Hazin, Humberto; Travassos, PauloBlue shark (Prionace glauca) is amongst the most abundant shark species in international trade, however this highly migratory species has little effective management and the need for spatio-temporal strategies increases, possibly involving the most vulnerable stage or sex classes. We combined 265,595 blue shark observations (capture or satellite tag) with environmental data to present the first global-scale analysis of species' habitat preferences for five size and sex classes (small juveniles, large juvenile males and females, adult males and females). We leveraged the understanding of blue shark biotic environmental associations to develop two indicators of foraging location: productivity fronts in mesotrophic areas and mesopelagic micronekton in oligotrophic environments. Temperature (at surface and mixed layer depth plus 100 m) and sea surface height anomaly were used to exclude unsuitable abiotic environments. To capture the horizontal and vertical extent of thermal habitat for the blue shark, we defined the temperature niche relative to both sea surface temperature (SST) and the temperature 100 m below the mixed layer depth (Tmld+100). We show that the lifetime foraging niche incorporates highly diverse biotic and abiotic conditions: the blue shark tends to shift from mesotrophic and temperate surface waters during juvenile stages to more oligotrophic and warm surface waters for adults. However, low productivity limits all classes of blue shark habitat in the tropical western North Atlantic, and both low productivity and warm temperatures limit habitat in most of the equatorial Indian Ocean (except for the adult males) and tropical eastern Pacific. Large females tend to have greater habitat overlap with small juveniles than large males, more defined by temperature than productivity preferences. In particular, large juvenile females tend to extend their range into higher latitudes than large males, likely due to greater tolerance to relatively cold waters. Large juvenile and adult females also seem to avoid areas with intermediate SST (similar to 21.7-24.0 degrees C), resulting in separation from large males mostly in the tropical and temperate latitudes in the cold and warm seasons, respectively. The habitat requirements of sensitive size- and sex-specific stages to blue shark population dynamics are essential in management to improve conservation of this near-threatened species.
- The multi-annual residency of juvenile smooth hammerhead shark in an oceanic island nurseryPublication . Afonso, Pedro; Gandra, Miguel; Graça, Gonçalo; Macena, Bruno; Vandeperre, Frederic; Fontes, JorgeThe increased risk of local extinction becomes critical for sharks depending on the narrow and isolated coastal habitats of oceanic islands. This includes large pelagic oceanic sharks that use such habitats as nurseries, as previously hypothesized for the smooth hammerhead Sphyrna zygaena, the least known of cosmopolitan large hammerhead sharks. We used a combination of acoustic and satellite telemetry in a juvenile population of Faial and Pico islands, Azores, mid-north Atlantic, to confirm if this isolated archipelago holds nurseries, and to answer questions related to their function and spatial-temporal stability. Our long-term acoustic tracking data showed a cluster of individual core home ranges in specific areas of north shore Faial, and surface positions from five Argos-linked tagged individuals also showed a clustering overlap in those areas for up to 1 year. These patterns seem to reveal a true habitat preference within the Faial-Pico island (sub) population of juvenile smooth hammerhead shark, and thus constitute strong evidence for this area to be considered a nursery. Some individuals remained in this nursery for up to 4 years, especially during summers. Sharks also showed a strong diel behavior, typically using the inshore nurseries during the day and moving further offshore during the night, during which they increased activity and dove deeper, most possibly to feed. We speculate that a combination of increased feeding opportunities, expanded trophic niche, and reduced predatory pressure may be a key evolutionary driver for the existence, prolonged use, and even preference of coastal nurseries at oceanic islands by juvenile smooth hammerhead shark. Given that these nurseries may constitute essential fish habitat for this species, they should be explicitly included in spatial management measures at the local and regional scales, as they may also play a role of greater importance to the north Atlantic population of this oceanic species.