Population structure, distribution and relative abundance of the blue shark (Prionace glauca) in the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters of the North Atlantic

Tavares, Rafael; Ortiz, Mauricio; Arocha, Freddy

doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2012.06.018

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(76 reference statements)

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“…Female blue sharks are thought to move offshore from coastal areas in the north-western NA after mating and to migrate towards the eastern NA to mature and deliver pups [18], [25]. However, our results also show that a proportion of mature females move South towards the south-western NA, where their arrival in early summer coincides with the increasing seasonal catch rates of mature and pregnant females [27]. This finding supports the hypothesis of a southbound movement of mature blue sharks into the south-western NA as inferred from conventional tagging data [12], [29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Movements of Blue Sharks (Prionace glauca) across Their Life History

et al. 2014

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Spatial structuring and segregation by sex and size is considered to be an intrinsic attribute of shark populations. These spatial patterns remain poorly understood, particularly for oceanic species such as blue shark (Prionace glauca), despite its importance for the management and conservation of this highly migratory species. This study presents the results of a long-term electronic tagging experiment to investigate the migratory patterns of blue shark, to elucidate how these patterns change across its life history and to assess the existence of a nursery area in the central North Atlantic. Blue sharks belonging to different life stages (n = 34) were tracked for periods up to 952 days during which they moved extensively (up to an estimated 28.139 km), occupying large parts of the oceanic basin. Notwithstanding a large individual variability, there were pronounced differences in movements and space use across the species' life history. The study provides strong evidence for the existence of a discrete central North Atlantic nursery, where juveniles can reside for up to at least 2 years. In contrast with previously described nurseries of coastal and semi-pelagic sharks, this oceanic nursery is comparatively vast and open suggesting that shelter from predators is not its main function. Subsequently, male and female blue sharks spatially segregate. Females engage in seasonal latitudinal migrations until approaching maturity, when they undergo an ontogenic habitat shift towards tropical latitudes. In contrast, juvenile males generally expanded their range southward and apparently displayed a higher degree of behavioural polymorphism. These results provide important insights into the spatial ecology of pelagic sharks, with implications for the sustainable management of this heavily exploited shark, especially in the central North Atlantic where the presence of a nursery and the seasonal overlap and alternation of different life stages coincides with a high fishing mortality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Movements of Blue Sharks (Prionace glauca) across Their Life History

et al. 2014

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“…(), Mejuto and García‐Cortés (), Domingo, Mora, and Cornes (), Montealegre‐Quijano and Vooren () and Carvalho et al. () in the south‐west Atlantic; Cortés, Brown, and Beerkircher () and Tavares, Ortiz, and Arocha () in the western North Atlantic; Megalofonou, Damalas, and DeMetrio () in the Mediterranean; and Vandeperre, Aires‐da‐Silva, Santos et al. (), Vandeperre, Aires‐da‐Silva, Fontes et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution patterns and population structure of the blue shark (Prionace glauca) in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Coelho

Mejuto

Domingo³

et al. 2017

Fish and Fisheries

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The blue shark (Prionace glauca) is the most frequently captured shark in pelagic oceanic fisheries, especially pelagic longlines targeting swordfish and/or tunas. As part of cooperative scientific efforts for fisheries and biological data collection, information from fishery observers, scientific projects and surveys, and from recreational fisheries from several nations in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans was compiled. Data sets included information on location, size and sex, in a total of 478,220 blue shark records collected between 1966 and 2014. Sizes ranged from 36 to 394 cm fork length.Considerable variability was observed in the size distribution by region and season in both oceans. Larger blue sharks tend to occur in equatorial and tropical regions, and

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“…The scale, duration and periodicity of movements of individual tiger sharks likely influence the inter-annual variability observed in local catch rates, particularly at higher-latitude locations (Holmes et al 2012). Therefore, identifying the extent of resident versus migratory behaviour in these areas is imperative, particularly as catch rates are often used as a proxy for population abundance (Maunder and Punt 2004;Lynch et al 2012;Tavares et al 2012). Further, collection of biological and environmental data may identify the intrinsic (i.e.…”

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confidence: 99%