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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.
- Movements of hatchery-reared dusky groupers released in a northeast atlantic coastal marine protected areaPublication . Silva, Ana Filipa; Horta E Costa, Barbara; Costa, José Lino; Pereira, Esmeralda; Marques, João Pedro; Castro, João J.; Lino, Pedro G.; Candeias-Mendes, Ana; Pousão-Ferreira, Pedro; Sousa, Inês; Bentes, Luis; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; de Almeida, Pedro Raposo; Quintella, Bernardo RuivoNo-take areas are key instruments to promote the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), particularly concerning the protection of endangered species such as the dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus). However, despite the establishment of no-take areas and the prohibition of catching this species in a southwestern Portuguese MPA (SACVMP—‘Sudoeste Alentejano’ and ‘Costa Vicentina’ Marine Park) since 2011, there is still no evidence of population recovery. By using acoustic biotelemetry, this work aimed to evaluate the feasibility of restocking hatchery-reared adult dusky groupers in two no-take areas within the SACVMP. In 2019 and 2021, thirty groupers were tagged with acoustic transmitters and the site attachment and movements of the groupers were assessed in the releasing sites (no-take areas). None of the tagged fish settled down in either of the areas, leaving the no-take areas mainly at dusk and night. Some individuals displayed extended movements of more than a hundred kilometers along the Portuguese coast which was rarely reported for this species. At least in some coastal stretches, those movements were performed close to the shore, which may evidence the importance of coastal MPAs to protect and promote the connectivity of species more associated with rocky reef habitats. Following studies should focus on the conditions that promote site attachment and fidelity by hatchery-reared dusky groupers so that future large-scale restocking programs can be successful in MPAs with appropriate habitats.
- 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.
- Spawning-related fish movement synchrony of white seabream diplodus sargus in a no-take zonePublication . Pedaccini, Marie; Sousa, Inês; Bentes, Luis; de Benito Abelló, Carmela; Lino, Pedro G.; Moland, Even; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Horta E Costa, BarbaraStudies assessing fish spatial behaviour are essential to better understand the performance of marine protected areas. However, few studies have focused on the fine-scale movements related to reproduction, a key feature in a population’s perpetuation. Knowledge of movements modulated by reproduction is particularly important since migrations towards spawning grounds may increase the vulnerability to threats if these occur outside protected areas. Further, reproductive behavioural polymorphism is widely understudied but may affect reproductive success. In this work, we used acoustic telemetry to study a harvested fish, Diplodus sargus, within a small no-take zone in Portugal.
- 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.
- Among-individual variation in white seabream (Diplodus sargus) spatial behaviour and protection in a coastal no-take areaPublication . De Benito Abelló, Carmela; Bentes, Luis; Sousa, Inês; Pedaccini, Marie; Villegas-Ríos, David; Olsen, Esben Moland; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Horta E Costa, BarbaraMarine protected areas (MPAs), and specially no-take areas (NTAs), play an important role in protecting target populations from fisheries. When developing spatial conservation and management tools, the design has mainly focused on population-level measures of fish home ranges, spawning and feeding areas, and migration routes. Intraspecific differences in fish behaviour, however, are often not accounted for, even though they could influence the level of realized protection. In this study, we investigated the intraspecific variation in spatial behaviour of a harvested fish, Diplodus sargus, and how it impacts the degree of protection granted by a NTA in the south of Portugal. We identified four behavioural types according to their spatial behaviour: residents, commuters, seasonal visitors, and single users. Time at risk (i.e. outside the NTA) greatly varied among the four groups, but also over the year for the seasonal and the single users. Our study shows how acoustic telemetry can assist spatial conservation and fisheries management and provides novel insight regarding the role of individual variation in behaviour to understand protection granted by MPAs to harvested species. It also suggests that incorporating such information into all stages of MPA design and implementation can result in increased resilience of the protected populations.
- UN Ocean Conference needs transparent and science-based leadership on ocean conservationPublication . Horta e Costa, Barbara; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.The United Nations Ocean conference convened in June 2022. Heads of state, businesses, and civil society organizations met in Lisbon to discuss how to scale up ocean action to achieve SDG 14 goals. In the face of the existential challenges of the climate emergency and species extinction crisis, bold and decisive action on ocean conservation through a shift in the protection paradigm is needed now. Recognizing existing barriers (e.g., political, organizational, social, economic) that operate at various scales (e.g., international, regional and national) and that are precluding achieving a healthy ocean is key and has to be addressed with strong leadership and sound commitments. A roadmap with clear steps and achievements including metrics assessing protection levels, stages of establishment, management effectiveness and equity is now needed to guarantee the success of marine conservation goals. Portugal can and should help lead the way by adopting such a roadmap and approach, but post-2020 decisions need to incorporate, beyond area goals, both the quality and effectiveness of ocean protection through metrics and standards such as those provided by the MPA Guide, Green List and Blue Parks.
- Categorizing ocean conservation targets to avoid a potential false sense of protection to society: Portugal as a case-studyPublication . Horta E Costa, Barbara; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Franco, Gustavo; Erzini, Karim; Furtado, Ricardo; Mateus, Celia; Cadeireiro, Emilia; Goncalves, Emanuel JoaoCurrent international commitments on ocean protection targets include protecting 10% of the ocean through marine protected areas (MPAs) until 2020, while also complying with efficiency and equity requirements. This has led to a race to designate large MPAs, but despite the valid marine conservation efforts, conferring adequate protection is still at risk. While fully protected areas are considered the most efficient tools to effectively protect the integrity of ecosystems, most existing or proposed MPAs are far from being fully or strongly protected. Portugal, with the 20th largest EEZ of the world is well positioned to lead ocean conservation efforts and provides a suitable case study for analysis of protection conferred by existing MPAs. To this end, Portuguese MPAs were assessed according to different types of classification systems and it was found that most MPAs confer little or no additional protection compared to outside areas. The results differ according to the classification system used, revealing the importance of finding a common system for evaluating progress in ocean conservation. The relevance of adequately labelling and understanding the levels of protection in place is demonstrated. Not differentiating the type of protection conferred by MPA regulations, while rushing towards international targets, may give a potentially false impression to society.
- Evaluation of MPA effects on small-scale fisheries: a long-term landings-based monitoring approachPublication . Belackova, Adela; Bentes, Luis; Buhl-Mortensen, Lene; Horta e Costa, Barbara; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel SantosSmall-scale commercial fisheries represent a significant economic activity that can be affected by coastal Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Official fishery landings data can serve as an effective means of evaluating the effects of MPAs on fisheries and harvested species, as they are available over long periods and do not incur any costs. However, the use of long-term landings as a solid baseline for pre-MPA conditions has been rare. In this study, we applied a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) design to long-term landings time series to assess the economic and ecological effects of a coastal multi-zone MPA in Portugal. We compared the landings and income per unit of effort (LPUE and IPUE) inside and outside the MPA after its implementation, and within the MPA before and after the implementation. Our results showed that the MPA had a positive influence on the LPUE and IPUE of the local fleet (54 landed taxa in the assemblage), based on significant positive trends inside the MPA after imple mentation, but not before or outside. We found significant positive responses to protection in four taxa with the highest LPUE: Octopus vulgaris, Conger conger, Soleidae, and Rajidae. The MPA’s small no-take zones likely enhance species with small home ranges and their spillover, and, together with the controlled number of fishing licenses, contribute to positive MPA outcomes. However, the LPUE of Muraena helena and Diplodus vulgaris declined significantly inside the MPA between before and after MPA implementation, which could be attributed to enhanced inter-species competition. Despite encouraging LPUE trends within the MPA, the study revealed that prices evolved in a more favourable manner outside than inside the MPA, suggesting that future research in this topic may be necessary to ensure the proper valuation of fishing resources within this and other MPAs. Despite the common limitations of landings data, our study demonstrates that comparing long-term landings from pre and post-MPA periods using a BACI design can be an efficient monitoring solution for budget and data-limited coastal MPAs.
- Insights into conservation success: analysing shore angling before implementing a marine protected areaPublication . Jacinto, Gonçalo; Veiga, Pedro; Monteiro, Pedro; Erzini, Karim; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Horta e Costa, Barbara; Pontes, João; Guerreiro da Costa Guerreiro, Pedro Miguel; Rangel, Mafalda; nuñez velazquez, samira; Pilar Fonseca, TerezaIn January 2024, the "Natural Marine Park of the Algarve Reef - Pedra do Valado" (NMPAR-PV; southern Portugal), a community-based Marine Protected Area (MPA) was formally classified, setting the scene for a new paradigm for co-creating Portuguese MPAs. While complying with the best practices for MPA establishment, this area also contributes to national and international conservation targets. Measuring the success of MPAs relies on the availability of the best scientific information, including baseline data on biodiversity, habitat and human activities characterization. Marine recreational fishing is a significantly important human activity within this recently designated MPA. Hence, the systematic collection of quantitative data on this activity is critical for determining its impacts and ensuring the preservation and protection of fisheries resource. This study aims to collect and analyze socioeconomic and ecological data on shore angling fisheries at NMPAR-PV, implementing surveys and instantaneous counting. Data from 325 questionnaires and 27 counting surveys conducted between February 2022 and February 2023 highlighted the importance of shore angling. The activity is primarily conducted by local Portuguese men, over 50, employed and with low formal education. Most recreational fishers supported the MPA's implementation, suggesting community care for conservation efforts. The annual fishing effort was estimated at 52 198 +/- 6 631 angling hours, with peaks in Autumn. Annual catches, dominated by Scombridae and Sparidae species, were estimated at 10.41 +/- 1.96 tonnes of fish. This study provides valuable insights into the evolution of recreational fishing activity within the MPA, addressing important information to assess its effectiveness.