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- What’s for dinner? Assessing the value of an edible invasive species and outreach actions to promote its consumptionPublication . Cerveira, Inês; Baptista, Vânia; Teodosio, Maria; Morais, PedroThe consumption of edible aquatic inva sive species has gained popularity as a means to minimize their impacts while easing pressure on native resources and ecosystems. Weakfish Cynoscion regalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) is one of the most recent invasive fish species in the Iberian Peninsula (Europe) which once sustained an important fishery in the native range (Northwest Atlantic Ocean). Portugal ranks third in the list of the world’s fish consumers, so promoting a weakfish fishery could at least minimize the impacts upon native species, since weakfish have innate traits that are appreciated by Portuguese fish consumers. However, introducing a new species to consumers is challenging owing to consumers’ habits and unfamiliarity with the species. So, we aimed to (i) evaluate the acceptance of weakfish by a panel of Portuguese fish consumers and (ii) create outreach actions—partnerships with local Chefs and press releases—to explain to a broader audience what invasive species are and promote the consumption of edible aquatic invasive species. We conducted a consumers survey that showed that weakfish has great chances of being well accepted by Portuguese fish consumers– 90% would buy weakfish because they appreciated its appearance, flavor, and texture, besides being a wild fish. The outreach actions reached a few million people because 46 online articles were pub lished, and three news pieces were broadcasted on national television. Our strategy increased the public’s awareness about weakfish as an invasive species, which could be adapted for other non-indigenous marine species elsewhere in the world.
- Invasive fish keeps native feeding strategy despite high niche overlap with a congener speciesPublication . Cerveira, Inês; Dias, Ester; Baptista, Vânia; Teodosio, Maria; Morais, PedroWeakfish Cynoscion regalis (Bloch and Schneider, 1801) is one of the most recent invasive fish in the Iberian Peninsula (Europe). Weakfish has established in the Sado estuary (Portugal) since the early 2010s, and fishers and anglers have expressed concern about its impacts on native prize fish. However, almost a decade later, there is no information on the ecology of weakfish in the non-native area. So, we aimed to assess weakfish feeding strategy and feeding plasticity through stomach content analysis to evaluate if these factors may contribute to its invasiveness, as well as to determine the ecological overlap between weakfish and three native prize fish - European bass, white seabream, and particularly meagre (since they are taxonomically closer), through carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. Our results demonstrate that Sado's weakfish has a generalist feeding strategy and preys the same functional groups it targets in the native area, therefore feeding strategy may weigh on invasiveness but not feeding plasticity. Weakfish, meagre, and European bass were in the same trophic level and weakfish exhibited higher trophic overlap with meagre, suggesting that weakfish could directly impact meagre if food and habitat become limiting. This study is the first assessment about weakfish ecology in the non-native area and our findings are an excellent starting point to understand this invasion. It can also be useful for management programmes that promote weakfish consumption to minimize its impacts, alleviate fishing pressure on native species, and raise public awareness.
- An update on the invasion of weakfish cynoscion regalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Actinopterygii: Sciaenidae) into europePublication . Morais, Pedro; Ferreira de Morais Cerveira, Inês Maria; Teodosio, MariaNew information on weakfish introduction vectors, its invasive status, distribution, and use as a fishing resource arose after the publication of “The transatlantic introduction of weakfish Cynoscion regalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Sciaenidae, Pisces) into Europe” by Morais and Teodósio (2016). Currently, the first known report of weakfish in Europe dates back to September 2009, with a specimen captured in the Schelde estuary (Belgium/The Netherlands). This fact suggests that weakfish could have been introduced into Europe via multiple and independent ballast water introduction events, and not through a point-source introduction event with subsequent dispersion as previously hypothesized. It is also unlikely that Schelde weakfish migrated southwards to colonize Iberian aquatic ecosystems. Weakfish have established a population in the Gulf of Cádiz region and have already reached an invasive status in the Sado estuary (Portugal). Weakfish were also captured in several other locations along the Portuguese coast, including the Tagus and Mira estuaries at least since 2013 or 2014, and the Ria Formosa lagoon in 2017. Tagus anglers caught weakfish specimens of ~1 kg and ~40 cm in November 2016, which corresponds to fish of 3+ years of age in the native range. The presence of weakfish in the Tagus estuary is still fairly unknown to local anglers. Sado weakfish has already been sold in local fish markets in southern Portugal for 3 to 10 € kg−1 . However, we consider that the weakfish sale price is underrated in comparison with other wild species (e.g., meagre, seabass, gilthead seabream). Increasing sale price will convince fishers to use weakfish as a new fishing resource; however, it is necessary to promote the species among consumers and evaluate consumers’ preference in respect to other species. A putative biological threat might turn into a new valuable fishing resource by implementing adequate management solutions.