Loading...
2 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
- Reserve effect of a small North-East Atlantic marine protected area (Arrabida, Portugal) on soft-sediment fish speciesPublication . Martínez Ramírez, Lucas; Priester, Carl Robert; Sousa, Inês; Erzini, Karim; Abecasis, DavidThe implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs) has been widely used as a tool to manage and conserve marine resources and services. Yet, to date, the reserve effect is still weakly evaluated, particularly for soft-sediment habitats. The Arrabida MPA, considered as a biodiversity hotspot, was fully established in 2009 on the west coast of Portugal and is characterized by large expanses of soft-sediment habitats. This MPA was established to protect biodiversity and to ensure the livelihood of the local small-scale fisheries community. Beyond before-after-control-impact (BACI) analyses were carried out on catch data (abundance and biomass) of 351 trammel net sets from experimental fishing campaigns (2007-2019) to study the reserve effect on demersal fish populations. The results show a declining trend in abundance inside and outside the protected area, with significant positive effects only found for undersize commercial species and Solea senegalensis, and a general increase in fish species total length. Despite the lack of any obvious reserve effect, the increase in fish length can be considered as a first sign. Anthropogenic pressures are generalized around the area, and transgressions of the restrictions are frequently observed inside the no-take zone. These can, among other aspects, delay or prevent the expected reserve effects. Therefore, enforcement and/or modification of the spatial plan must be incentivized to achieve the goals of the MPA.
- 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.