The novel use of pop‐off satellite tags (PSATs) to investigate the migratory behaviour of European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax

Abstract

A total of 12 adult European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax were tagged with pop-off satellite archival tags (PSAT) in Irish coastal waters and in offshore waters in the north-east Celtic Sea between 2015 and 2016. Archived data were successfully recovered from five of the 12 tags deployed, three from fish released in inshore Irish waters and two from fish released offshore in the eastern Celtic Sea. All three fish tagged in inshore waters were found to undertake migrations into the open ocean coinciding with the spawning period. These fish also exhibited fidelity to inshore sites post-migration, returning to the same general location (within c. 73 km, which is roughly the predicted mean accuracy of the method) of their original release site. Although the number of tracks obtained here was limited, some degree of aggregation between inshore and offshore tagged fish in the eastern Celtic Sea was noted during the expected spawning period suggesting PSATs can provide new information on specific spawning locations of European sea bass.

A spatially explicit individual-based model to support management of commercial and recreational fisheries for European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax

“…Without knowledge on the mechanisms informing these largescale migrations, our submodels simulate these hypothesised movements based on a set of empirical rules. Recent studies deploying electronic data storage tags (DSTs) confirm the migratory nature of sea bass and have the potential to further elucidate this behaviour (de Pontual et al, 2019;O'Neill et al, 2018;Quayle et al, 2009). In particular, DSTs record both the temperature and depth experienced by fish at regular intervals, making it possible to geolocate and reconstruct movement trajectories (Woillez et al, 2016) that could inform a statistical movement model within the IBM.…”

Novel use of pop-up satellite archival telemetry in sawsharks: insights into the movement of the common sawshark Pristiophorus cirratus (Pristiophoridae)

“…Future studies could explore muscle-based attachment methods. Two such methods that have seen success in teleosts and small elasmobranchs are a dorsal musculature-based bridle [43] and steel dart anchors implanted into the muscle tissue [44]. We suggest future studies explore musculature-based attachment techniques to ensure long-term retainment.…”

Elucidating the migrations of European seabass from the southern north sea using mark-recapture data, acoustic telemetry and data storage tags

“…Out of 36 seabass tagged offshore (more than 6 nautical miles from the coast), only few were sporadically observed along the coast: Three seabass were observed (two fish detected acoustically and one through its reconstructed trajectory) in coastal waters of the North Sea and another three were detected in coastal waters of the English Channel. Until now, seabass tagging research always involved individuals captured in coastal locations 12,13,15,30 . The generally assumed movement pattern of seabass-spawning in offshore locations during winter, but heading towards the coast in summer-may therefore have been biased by the logistical preference for coastal tagging locations.…”