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- Identifying habitats of conservation priority in the São Vicente submarine Canyon in Southwestern PortugalPublication . Nestorowicz, Iga-Maria; Oliveira, Frederico; Monteiro, Pedro; Bentes, Luis; Sales Henriques, Nuno; Aguilar, Ricardo; Horta E Costa, Barbara; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel SantosIdentifying vulnerable marine habitats is fundamental to promote evidence-based management and a sustainable use of our oceans. Although progress in the mapping of marine benthic habitats has been made, complex ecosystems such as submarine canyons remain largely unexplored, hampering evidence-based management from taking place in these ubiquitous features worldwide. Data from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) survey in the upper São Vicente Submarine Canyon in southwestern Portugal from 2011, was analysed to carry out a comprehensive assessment of megabenthic habitats, particularly those of conservation concern occuring between 90 and 560 m. Underwater videos from three exploratory dives, covering a total of 8.8 kilometers, were analyzed through multivariate and visual assessments, and the identified habitats were assessed against a set of criteria derived from current definitions of priority habitats. Thirteen potential priority habitats were characterized, out of which four distinct “coral gardens” and one “deep-sea sponge aggregation” are aligned with OSPAR definitions of priority habitats, and one corresponds to the habitat of a strictly protected sea urchin listed in the Habitats Directive. Three circalittoral sponge aggregations were also suggested based on the abundance of indicator species. The specific composition and diversity of priority habitats as described here, has not yet been described in any other canyon in the NE Atlantic region. Depth was revealed to be particularly important for the distribution of habitats, followed by relief and substratum. The approach presented in this study contributes to improve the understanding about submarine canyons, which is paramount to implement knowledge-based protection measures. Furthermore, it can be used to support future mapping efforts of deep-sea environments such as submarine canyons.
- Ecossistemas de corais em águas continentais profundas portuguesasPublication . Oliveira, Frederico; Coelho, Márcio; Serrao, Ester; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel SantosOs fundos marinhos de todo o planeta permanecem largamente inexplorados. Este livro aborda os ecossistemas de coral em águas profundas portuguesas.
- Influence of seagrass meadows on nursery and fish provisioning ecosystem services delivered by Ria Formosa, a coastal lagoon in PortugalPublication . Erzini, Karim; Parreira, Filipe; Sadat, Zineb; Castro, Margarida; Bentes, Luis; Coelho, Rui; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Lino, Pedro G.; Martínez-Crego, Begoña; Monteiro, Pedro; Oliveira, Frederico; Ribeiro, Joaquim; de los Santos, Carmen B.; Santos, RuiThis study is the first to evaluate the fish provisioning services of a whole transitional landscape (Ria Formosa lagoon, Portugal), in parallel with the enhancement of growth, survival and production of single cohorts of the most important commercial fish species by vegetated and unvegetated sub-tidal habitats. Based on monthly beach seine samples, total density and biomass of 96 species of fishes were 1.89 and 3.03 times greater in vegetated habitats than unvegetated habitats, respectively. Vegetated habitat enhanced survival in six of eight commercial species for which survival could be estimated in both habitats. The total production of all 12 commercially important species within vegetated habitat was approximately double that of unvegetated habitat, with production enhancement in 7 of 12 species ranging from 1.8 to 169-fold for the vegetated habitats. Within the lagoon, vegetated sub-tidal habitat covers an area 5-fold smaller than unvegetated habitat, yet it accounts for 27.1 % of fish production. Estimated total lifetime economic values of the single cohorts of the 12 commercial species were between 30 million and 59 million EUR. An exceptionally strong year class of the European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax), a species with higher density and biomass in unvegetated habitat, accounts for the higher overall values per hectare for unvegetated habitat (Low natural mortality (M): EUR 32,844 ha-1; High M: EUR 16,751 ha-1) than for vegetated habitat (Low M: EUR 22,028 ha-1; High M: EUR 10,700 ha-1). These results highlight the enormous importance of temperate coastal lagoons as a nursery and source of recruits for coastal fisheries. Our evaluation of fish provisioning services based on data for individual cohorts of fish for a whole transitional landscape is a stronger and more valid approach for estimating future biomass and value than previous studies based on mean densities and biomasses of fish that did not distinguish between cohorts.
- Co-design of a marine protected area zoning and the lessons learned from itPublication . e Costa, Horta; Guimarães, M. Helena; Rangel, Mafalda; Ressurreição, Adriana; Monteiro, Pedro; Oliveira, Frederico; Bentes, Luis; Sales Henriques, Nuno; Sousa, Inês; Alexandre, Sofia; Pontes, João; Afonso, Carlos; Belackova, Adela; Marçalo, Ana; Cardoso-Andrade, Mariana; Correia, António José; Lobo, Vanda; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.; Pitta e Cunha, Tiago; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel SantosMarine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a tool to safeguard marine natural systems, yet their effectiveness depends on how well they are integrated into the existing socioeconomic context. Stakeholder engagement in MPA design can contribute to increasing integration. This study focuses on the co-design of an MPA between researchers, public administration, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations. The proposed MPA is in Portugal and includes an area that is a hotspot for biodiversity and economic activities. This is the first MPA proposal in mainland Portugal co-designed using a participatory approach. This study highlights the steps of the zoning process and synthesizes the eight main lessons learned, useful for other cases, particularly for relatively small coastal MPAs with multiple socioeconomic activities. Three zoning proposals were developed and discussed within the participatory process. The proposals considered the best scientific and local knowledge available and were defined using ecological, socioeconomic, and shape-area guiding principles. In an iterative manner and following a participatory approach, compromises with stakeholders were achieved, and a final proposal, scientifically sound and socially accepted by most stakeholders, was delivered to the government. The final zoning plan will achieve ambitious conservation goals, including the largest fully protected area to be declared in mainland Portugal, while minimizing the impacts on the existing economic activities and promoting its sustainability. This process resulted in valuable lessons that may be applied elsewhere and guide future MPA implementation or rezoning of existing ones. These transdisciplinary and participatory processes can be time and resource-consuming but are vital for ensuring MPA effectiveness.
- High coral bycatch in bottom-set Gillnet Coastal fisheries reveals rich coral habitats in Southern PortugalPublication . Dias, Vítor; Oliveira, Frederico; Boavida, Joana; Serrao, Ester; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Coelho, MárcioBottom-contact fisheries are unquestionably one of the main threats to the ecological integrity and functioning of deep-sea and circalittoral ecosystems, notably cold-water corals (CWC) and coral gardens. Lessons from the destructive impact of bottom trawling highlight the urgent need to understand how fisheries affect these vulnerable marine ecosystems. At the same time, the impact of other fishing gear and small-scale fisheries remains sparsely known despite anecdotal evidence suggesting their impact may be significant. This study aims to provide baseline information on coral bycatch by bottom-set gillnets used by artisanal fisheries in Sagres (Algarve, southwestern Portugal), thereby contributing to understand the impact of the activity but also the diversity and abundance of corals in this region. Coral bycatch frequency and species composition were quantified over two fishing seasons (summer-autumn and spring) for 42 days. The relationship with fishing effort was characterized according to metiers (n = 6). The results showed that 85% of the gillnet deployments caught corals. The maximum number of coral specimens per net was observed in a deployment targeting Lophius budegassa (n = 144). In total, 4,326 coral fragments and colonies of 22 different species were captured (fishing depth range of 57-510 m, mean 139 +/- 8 m). The most affected species were Eunicella verrucosa (32%), Paramuricea grayi (29%), Dendrophyllia cornigera (12%), and Dendrophyllia ramea (6%). The variables found to significantly influence the amount of corals caught were the target species, net length, depth, and mesh size. The 22 species of corals caught as bycatch belong to Orders Alcyonacea (80%), Scleractinia (18%), Zoantharia (1%), and Antipatharia (1%), corresponding to around 13% of the coral species known for the Portuguese mainland coast. These results show that the impact of artisanal fisheries on circalittoral coral gardens and CWC is potentially greater than previously appreciated, which underscores the need for new conservation measures and alternative fishing practices. Measures such as closure of fishing areas, frequent monitoring onboard of fishing vessels, or the development of encounter protocols in national waters are a good course of action. This study highlights the rich coral gardens of Sagres and how artisanal fisheries can pose significant threat to corals habitats in certain areas.
- Setting performance indicators for coastal marine protected areas: an expert-based methodologyPublication . Cardoso-Andrade, Mariana; Queiroga, Henrique; Rangel, Mafalda; Sousa, Inês; Belackova, Adela; Bentes, Luis; Oliveira, Frederico; Monteiro, Pedro; Sales Henriques, Nuno; Afonso, Carlos; Silva, Ana F.; Quintella, Bernardo R.; Costa, José L.; Pais, Miguel P.; Henriques, Sofia; Batista, Marisa I.; Franco, Gustavo; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.; Henriques, Miguel; Leonardo, Teresa; Coelho, Paula; Comas-González, Robert; Fernández, Laura P.; Quiles-Pons, Carla; Costa, André; Espírito-Santo, Cristina; Castro, João J.; Arenas, Francisco; Ramos, Sandra; Ferreira, Vasco; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Horta E Costa, BarbaraMarine Protected Areas (MPAs) require effective indicators to assess their performance, in compliance with the goals of relevant national and international commitments. Achieving and prioritizing shortlists of multidisciplinary indicators demands a significant effort from specialists to depict the multiple conservation and socioeconomic interests, and the large complexity of natural systems. The present paper describes a structured expert-based methodology (process and outputs) to co-define a list of multidisciplinary MPA performance indicators. This work was promoted by the management authority of coastal MPAs in mainland Portugal to gather a consensual and feasible list of indicators that would guide the design of a future national monitoring program. Hence, Portuguese coastal MPAs served as a case study to develop such a process between 2019 and 2020. In the end, participants (1) agreed on a shortlist of prioritized indicators (i.e., environmental, governance, and socioeconomic indicators) and (2) defined minimum monitoring frequencies for the indicators in this list, compatible with the potential replicability of the associated survey methods. The present approach recommends that management plans incorporate monitoring procedures and survey methods, with a validated list of indicators and associated monitoring periodicity, agreed among researchers, MPA managers and governance experts. The proposed methodology, and the lessons learned from it, can support future processes aiming to define and prioritize MPA performance indicators.
- Biodiversity consequences of Caulerpa prolifera takeover of a coastal lagoonPublication . Parreira, Filipe; Martínez-Crego, Begoña; Lourenço Afonso, Carlos Manuel; Machado, Margarida; Oliveira, Frederico; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Santos, RuiThe genus Caulerpa has attracted much attention because many of its species were introduced into non-native regions and became notoriously invasive. This is the case of Caulerpa prolifera that has been rapidly expanding in Ria Formosa lagoon, taking over the deeper unvegetated soft bottoms and competing with seagrass meadows in the shallower areas. Here we address how C. prolifera invasion may affect the support of biodiversity, and specifically, the provision of habitat and nursery for commercial species by the native habitats of this coastal lagoon. Even though no significant differences in total species richness, diversity and evenness were found between C. prolifera and the native unvegetated habitat, the dissimilarity between these two habitats was highest, mostly driven by the extreme reduction of the gastropod Bittium reticulatum and of the tanaid Apseudopsis formosus. This may implicate changes in the trophic interactions of the ecosystem, for example decreasing the tanaid food source for seahorses, which are presently endangered in the lagoon. On the other hand, the fauna species richness, diversity and evenness were significantly higher in the native seagrass habitat than in C. prolifera. Juveniles of valuable flat and sparid fish were only observed in unvegetated sediments and seagrass meadows, respectively. The aggressive spread of C. prolifera in Ria Formosa may alter the structure of native faunal communities, with likely negative implications on fisheries. Nevertheless, the global biodiversity of the lagoon will not be likely drastically affected unless the seaweed takes over the seagrass meadows.
- An approach to map and quantify the fishing effort of polyvalent passive gear fishing fleets using geospatial dataPublication . Sales Henriques, Nuno; Russo, Tommaso; Bentes, Luis; Monteiro, Pedro; Parisi, Antonio; Magno, Ramiro; Oliveira, Frederico; Erzini, Karim; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel SantosThe use of tracking devices, such as vessel monitoring systems or automatic identification system, enabled us to expand our knowledge on the distribution and quantification of fishing activities. However, methods and models based on vessel tracking data are mostly devised to be applied to towed gears, whereas applications to multi-gear and passive fisheries have been underrepresented. Here, we propose a methodology to deal with geospatial data to map and quantify the fishing effort, as soak time, of passive fishing gears used by a multi-gear fishing fleet. This approach can be adapted to other passive multi-or single-gear fisheries, since it requires only three variables that can be extracted from a pre-classified dataset, to identify the beginning (gear deployment) and the end (hauling) of passive fishing events. As far as we are aware, this is the first time a methodology that allows quantifying the soak time of static passive fishing events, within a polyvalent fishery context, is presented. We argue that the information that can be extracted from such approaches could contribute to improved management of multi-gear and static-gear fisheries and the ecosystem-based approach.
- INOVPESCA - Redução de capturas acidentais de espécies marinhas protegidas em pescarias costeiras algarvias: inovação de procedimentos e técnicas de mitigaçãoPublication . Marçalo, Ana; Carvalho, Flávia; Frade, Magda; Pires, Alexandra; Alexandre, Sofia; Bentes, Luis; Soares, Cristiano; Zabel, Friedrich; Rangel, Mafalda; Oliveira, Frederico; Monteiro, Pedro; Ressurreição, Adriana; Erzini, Karim; M. S. Gonçalves, JorgeO presente relatório é uma iniciativa do Projecto iNOVPESCA, com o objetivo de documentar o trabalho desenvolvido ao longo do projeto (2018-2021) e incentivar a implementação voluntária de medidas que contribuam para uma melhoria da relação entre as pescas e as espécies marinhas protegidas, especialmente de cetáceos, contribuindo para a sustentabilidade ambiental com a redução de capturas acidentais e sustentabilidade económica do sector das pescarias costeiras Algarvias, podendo servir de exemplo a nível nacional. Este trabalho pretende ser um documento de referência sobre o nível de interação que existe entre pescarias costeiras ao longo da costa algarvia com espécies marinhas protegidas (cetáceos, aves marinhas e tartarugas), e por outro lado, pode servir como aconselhamento para todas as entidades que beneficiam das pescas e que necessitam desta atividade para o seu desenvolvimento económico e social. Para isso foi desenvolvida uma linha de orientação sobre boas práticas assente em dois aspetos chave: - Contribuir para a consciencialização, informação e treino de todas as partes interessadas, no que se refere a medidas de mitigação de conflitos entre pescas e espécies marinhas protegidas; - Promover o uso de práticas responsáveis de pesca e otimizar, em cooperação com o sector pesqueiro, soluções que ajudem a diminuir a mortalidade acidental de cetáceos ou outras espécies protegidas (ex. aves marinhas e tartarugas marinhas) e evitar situações que contribuam para perdas económicas para o pescador (como por exemplo, danos nas artes e perda ou danos no pescado por predação). As interações entre espécies marinhas protegidas e as pescas são um problema mundial com duas componentes importantes, a da conservação, quando os animais como captura não intencional ficam presos nas artes de pesca acabando por morrer, e a socioeconómica quando os animais causam danos nas artes de pesca e na captura alvo dos pescadores.