MAKO-WIDE: A wide scale inter-hemispheric and inter-disciplinary study aiming the conservation of the shortfin mako shark in the Atlantic Ocean.

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Publications

Habitat use and migrations of shortfin mako in the atlantic using satellite telemetry

Publication . Santos, Catarina C.; Domingo, Andrés; Carlson, John; Natanson, Lisa J.; Cortés, Enric; Miller, Philip; Hazin, Fábio H. V.; Travassos, Paulo; Mas, Federico; Coelho, Rui

This paper provides an update of the study on habitat use for shortfin mako, developed within the ICCAT Shark Research and Data Collection Program (SRDCP). Currently, all phase 1 (2015-2016) tags (23 tags: 9 miniPATs and 14 sPAT) and 11 tags from phase 2 (2016-2018) have been deployed by observers on Portuguese, Uruguayan, Brazilian and US vessels in the temperate NE and NW, Equatorial and SW Atlantic. Data from 32 tags/specimens is available and a total of 1260 tracking days have been recorded. Results showed shortfin makos moved in multiple directions, travelling considerable distances. Shortfin mako sharks spent most of their time above the thermocline (0-90 m), between 18 and 22 °C. The main plan for the next phase of the project is to continue the tag deployment during 2018 in several regions of the Atlantic.

2018Journal article

Open Access

An updated revision of shortfin mako size distributions in the Atlantic

Publication . Coelho, Rui; Domingo, A.; Courtney, D.; Cortés, E.; Arocha, F.; Liu, K-M; Yokawa, K.; Yasuko, S.; Hazin, Fábio H. V.; Bowlby, H.; Abid, N.; Rosa, D.; Lino, Pedro

As part of an ongoing cooperative program for fisheries and biological data collection within the ICCAT Sharks Working Group, information collected by fishery observers and scientific projects from several fishing nations in the Atlantic were analyzed. Datasets included information on geographic location, size and sex. A total of 42,979 shortfin mako records collected between 1989 and 2017 were compiled. Sizes considered ranged between 60 and 353 cm FL (fork length). Of those, sex information was available for 24,316 specimens. Considerable variability was observed in the size distribution by region and season, with larger sizes tending to occur in equatorial and tropical regions and smaller sizes in higher latitudes. Variability between coastal and more oceanic waters is also likely. Most fleets showed unimodal distributions, but in some cases there were bimodal patterns. The distributional patterns presented in this study provide an advance in the understanding of shortfin mako size distribution in the Atlantic, and can be used in the next update of the ICCAT shortfin mako stock assessment.

2018Journal article

Open Access

Satellite tagging of shortfin mako for habitat use and post-release survival: progress report for SRDCP

Publication . Coelho, Rui; Domingo, Andrés; Carlson, John; Natanson, Lisa; Cortés, Enric; Miller, Philip

This paper provides an update of two projects developed within the ICCAT Shark Research and Data Collection Program (SRDCP) using satellite telemetry, specifically a study on habitat use and another on post-release survival. Currently, all phase 1 (2015-2016) tags (23 tags: 9 miniPATs and 14 sPAT) have been deployed by observers on Portuguese, Uruguayan and US vessels in the temperate NE, temperate NW and SW Atlantic. A total of 668 tracking days have been recorded. In terms of post-release survivorship, data from 19 tags/specimens is available. From those, 6 specimens died (31.6%) while the remaining 13 (68.4%) survived the first 30 days after tagging. All planned project milestones and deliverables have been achieved and delivered in due time. For the 2nd phase of the project (2016-2017) 12 miniPATS were acquired and will be deployed during 2017 in various regions of the Atlantic, including temperate, tropical and equatorial waters.

2017Journal article

Open Access

Standardized CPUE and size distribution of the shortfin mako shark in the portuguese pelagic longline fishery in the Atlantic

Publication . Coelho, Rui; Rosa, Daniela; Lino, Pedro

This document provides fishery indicators for the shortfin mako shark captured by the Portuguese pelagic longline fishery in the Atlantic (standardized CPUEs and size distribution). The analysis was based on data collected from fishery observers, port sampling and skippers logbooks (self sampling), between 1995 and 2015. The mean sizes were compared between years, seasons (quarters), stocks (north and south) and sampling areas. The CPUEs were analyzed for the North Atlantic and compared between years, and were standardized with Tweedie and Delta GLM approaches. In general, there was a large variability in the nominal CPUE trends in the North Atlantic, and the final standardized series was flatter than the nominal. For the size distribution there were no major trends in the time series, with the sizes tending to be larger in the South Atlantic. The data presented in this document can be considered for use in the upcoming 2017 shortfin mako stock assessment, specifically the standardized CPUE for the North Atlantic and the size distribution for both hemispheres.

2017Journal article

Open Access

Shark Research and Data Collection Program: progress on the age and growth of the shortfin mako in the Atlantic Ocean

Publication . Coelho, Rui; Carlson, John; Natanson, Lisa; Rosa, Daniela; Mas, Federico; Mathers, Alyssa; Domingo, Andrés; Santos, Miguel N.

This paper presents an update of the age and growth study within the ICCAT Shark Research and Data Collection Program (SRDCP), including the current development status and plans for the 2nd phase of the project. There are currently 469 vertebrae samples (205 females, 257 males and 7 specimens with unidentified sex) collected and processed from both the North and Southern hemispheres. The sample distribution is much more complete in the north, while in the south at this stage there are only samples from the equatorial region. The size range of the samples varies from 52 cm to 366 cm FL. The next steps of this projects is proposing a workshop on age reading and growth in order to prepare a reference set of vertebrae that can be used as a guideline for the readings of the remaining sample, and also discuss aspects of age validation and band deposition periodicity. The final results will be presented to the SCRS sharks working group in 2017, in order to contribute to the 2017 shortfin mako stock assessment.

2017Journal article

Open Access