Ecosystem scenarios shape fishermen spatial behavior. The case of the Peruvian anchovy fishery in the Northern Humboldt Current System

Abstract

et al.. Ecosystem scenarios shape fishermen spatial behavior. The case of the Peruvian anchovy fishery in the Northern Humboldt Current system. Progress in Oceanography, Elsevier, 2014, 128 (11), pp.60 -73. Abstract 64 A major goal in marine ecology is the understanding of the interactions between the dynamics of 65 the different ecosystem components, from physics to top predators. While fishermen are among 66 the main top predators at sea, almost none of the existing studies on ecology from physics to top 67 predators contemplate fishermen as part of the system. The present work focuses on the coastal 68 processes in the Northern Humboldt Current System, which encompasses both an intense climatic 69 variability and the largest monospecific fishery of the world. From concomitant satellite, acoustic 70 survey and Vessel Monitoring System data (~90000 fishing trips) for a ten-year period (2000-2009), 71 we quantify the associations between the dynamics of the spatial behavior of fishermen, 72 environmental conditions and anchovy (Engraulis ringens) biomass and spatial distribution. Using 73 multivariate statistical analyses we show that environmental and anchovy conditions do 74 significantly shape fishermen spatial behavior and present evidences that environmental 75 fluctuations smoothed out along trophic levels. We propose a retrospective analysis of the study 76 period in the light of the ecosystem scenarios evidenced and we finally discuss the potential use of 77 fishermen spatial behavior as ecosystem indicator. 78 79 80 81 Highlights 82 Relationships between the environment, fish and fishermen were quantified in the Northern 83 Humboldt Current System. 84Ecosystem scenarios do shape fishing spatial behavior. 85Environmental fluctuations are smoothed out along trophic levels 86We propose ecosystem scenarios and fishermen response to each of them. 87 88 Keywords 89 Environmental conditions; fish distribution; coastal processes; anchoveta Engraulis ringens; 90 oxygen minimum zone; vessel monitoring system; fishers. 91 92 93

Fish debris in sediments from the last 25 kyr in the Humboldt Current reveal the role of productivity and oxygen on small pelagic fishes

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Vessel monitoring systems (VMS) reveal an increase in fishing efficiency following regulatory changes in a demersal longline fishery

“…While our study focused specifically on quantifying impacts from regulatory change, our approach also has broad applicability to understanding the spatial responses of fleets to environmental changes (e.g., Pinsky and Fogarty, 2012;Joo et al, 2014Joo et al, , 2015. A contemporary paradigm is that as waters warm, movement of fish to higher latitudes will be accompanied by similar shifts of fishing fleets (Pinsky and Fogarty, 2012).…”

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