1. An ecologically representative, well-connected, and effectively managed system of marine protected areas (MPAs) has positive ecological and environmental effects as well as social and economic benefits. Although progress in expanding the coverage of MPAs has been made, the application of management tools has not yet been implemented in most of these areas.2. In this work, distribution models were applied to nine benthic habitats on a Mediterranean seamount within an MPA for conservation purposes. Benthic habitat occurrences were identified from 55 remotely operated vehicle (ROV) transects, at depths from 76 to 700 m, and data derived from multibeam bathymetry. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were applied to link the presence of each benthic habitat to local environmental proxies (depth, slope, backscatter, aspect, and bathymetric position index, BPI).3. The main environmental drivers of habitat distribution were depth, slope, and BPI.Based on this result, five different geomorphological areas were distinguished. A full coverage map indicating the potential benthic habitat distribution on the seamount was obtained to inform spatial management.
The distribution of those habitats identified as vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs)was used to make recommendations on zonation for developing the management plan of the MPA. This process reveals itself as an appropriate methodological approach that can be developed in other areas of the Natura 2000 marine network.
de la Torriente, A., Quiñones, R. A., Miranda-Urbina, D. A., and Echevarría, F. 2010. South American sea lion and spiny dogfish predation on artisanal catches of southern hake in fjords of Chilean Patagonia. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 294–303. The South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) is a pinniped known to interact with fisheries, potentially damaging gear and lowering catches. Predation by O. flavescens and spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) on artisanal southern hake (Merluccius australis) catches in fjords of Chilean Patagonia is estimated and compared. Observations were made in the Gulf of Ancud and Comau Fjord in southern Chile from October 2005 to September 2006. Losses of southern hake catches to O. flavescens predation were 1.6% of the total catch of the species, and to spiny dogfish predation were slightly higher, at 3.3%. The predation of both species on southern hake catches varied throughout the year, but was lower in summer. Both predators showed a preference for adult southern hake over juveniles. There was no significant relationship between predation on southern hake catches by the sea lion and the availability of adult and juvenile southern hake on longlines (AHCL). However, there was a significant relationship (p < 0.05) between AHCL and spiny dogfish predation. Most O. flavescens interaction events (81.4%) were during longline retrieval. Our results showed minimal interactions between O. flavescens and the artisanal southern hake fishery in the area, so with the present abundance of O. flavescens, there is no justification for reducing the sea lion population by hunting.
The carnivorous sponge Asbestopluma hypogea, was known only from shallow submarine caves (-15 to -26 m) in the Western Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic. Herein A. hypogea is reported from outside of caves, on seamounts in the Alboran Sea (-167 m), off the Balearics (-100 m) and north off Sicily (-660 m), and along steep bathyal escarpments in the Strait of Sicily (~700 m). These deeper ROV-based findings of A. hypogea are conform to the typical deep-sea occurrence of the Cladorhizidae.
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