Spatio-temporal patterns and environmental controls of small pelagic fish body condition from contrasted Mediterranean areas

Brosset, Pablo; Fromentin, Jean‐Marc; Beveren, Elisabeth Van; Lloret, Josep; Marques, Virginie; Basilone, Gualtiero; Bonanno, A.; Carpi, Piera; Donato, Fortunata; Keč, Vanja Čikeš; Felice, Andrea De; Ferreri, Rosalia; Gašparević, Denis; Giráldez, Ana María Chocrón; Gücü, Ali Cemal; Iglesias, M.; Leonori, Iole; Palomera, Isabel; Somarakis, Stylianos; Tičina, Vjekoslav; Torres, Pedro; Ventero, Ana; Zorica, Barbara; Ménard, Frédéric; Saraux, Claire

doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2016.12.002

Cited by 99 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…Therefore, it can be deduced that the environmental variables are more favourable for anchovy in GSA01. Indeed, anchovy belonging to GSA01 show better condition than those from other Mediterranean or Black Sea areas, possibly because of the influence of the Atlantic Ocean (Brosset et al 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Anchovy (<em>Engraulis encrasicolus</em>) otoliths reveal growth differences between two areas of the Spanish Mediterranean Sea

2017

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Summary:Anchovy is a commercial species that supports large fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, anchovy is an essential element of the pelagic food web, playing a considerable role in connecting the lower and upper trophic levels. Comparisons made regarding length frequency distribution, demographic structure, growth during the first year inferred from otoliths, and the condition factor of anchovy inhabiting the Spanish Mediterranean Sea (General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean management units, GSA06-Ebro Delta and 01-Alboran Sea), based on five-year data, clearly showed significant growth differences between areas and evidenced the existence of two independent anchovy stocks in the Spanish Mediterranean Sea. The anchovies inhabiting the Alboran Sea had higher growth than the anchovies inhabiting the Ebro Delta for the same age (one year old). The dramatic decline of the Alboran Sea anchovy could be related to the current management legislation in the Spanish Mediterranean Sea, based mainly on a common minimum catch size (9 cm), which should be revised given that sustainable anchovy exploitation is crucial for the pelagic food web equilibrium.Keywords: anchovy growth; length-frequency distribution; otolith first radius; anchovy stocks; condition factor; fisheries management; Spanish Mediterranean Sea. Otolitos de anchoa (Engraulis encrasicolus) revelan diferencias de crecimiento entre dos áreas del Mediterráneo españolResumen: La anchoa es una especie de interés comercial sometida a gran explotación pesquera en el mar Mediterráneo. Asimismo, esta especie es un elemento esencial de la cadena trófica pelágica dado que actúa como nexo entre los niveles más altos y más bajos de ésta. En este trabajo se han llevado a cabo comparaciones, basadas en un conjunto de datos de 5 años, entre las distribuciones de frecuencias de tallas; la estructura demográfica; el crecimiento durante el primer año, inferido empleando otolitos y el factor de condición de individuos de anchoa recogidos en el Mediterráneo español (unidades de gestión de la General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, GSA06-Delta del Ebro y GSA01-Mar de Alborán), mostrando diferencias significativas entre áreas y evidenciando la existencia de dos stocks de anchoa independientes en el Mediterráneo español. Las anchoas procedentes del mar de Alborán presentaron un mayor crecimiento que aquellas procedentes del Delta de Ebro para la misma edad (1 año). La dramática disminución de la población de anchoa del mar de Alborán podría estar relacionada con la aplicación de una única legislación para todo el Mediterráneo español basada, principalmente, en una misma talla de primera captura (9 cm), que debería ser revisada puesto que la explotación sostenible de la anchoa es de crucial importancia para el equilibrio de la cadena trófica pelágica.Palabras clave: crecimiento de anchoa; distribución de frecuencias de tallas; primer radio del otolito; stocks de anchoa; factor de condición; gestión de pesquerías; mar Mediterráneo español.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Anchovy (<em>Engraulis encrasicolus</em>) otoliths reveal growth differences between two areas of the Spanish Mediterranean Sea

2017

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“…The populations of small pelagics are naturally subject to strong abundance fluctuations (Checkley, Asch, & Rykaczewski, ) which may be more pronounced in those species under heavy fisheries exploitation, where age class structure is usually truncated with very low individuals in age classes beyond 1‐ or 2‐year‐olds. Changes in the location and extent of spawning habitat for species of commercial interest have received a lot of research attention (inter alia, Brosset et al, ; Giannoulaki et al, ; Saraux et al, ). Results have shown that these changes depend on a complex interaction of environmental factors, both physical (temperature, salinity, currents, or other oceanographic structures) and biological (productivity, usually estimated with the proxy of satellite‐derived chlorophyll).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the spawning habitat of two small pelagic fish in the Northwestern Mediterranean

Maynou

Sabatés

Raya

2020

Fisheries Oceanography

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We investigated the effects of three sea surface oceanographic variables (temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll a) on the abundance of eggs and larvae of two summer‐spawning species in the NW Mediterranean Sea, the anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus and the round sardinella Sardinella aurita, based on data from ichthyoplankton surveys carried out in the 1980s, 2000s, and 2010s. The environmental data showed an increase in seawater temperature and salinity along time, coupled with a decrease in chlorophyll a (proxy for primary production). These long‐term directional changes in environmental conditions helped explain the important reduction observed in the abundance of eggs and larvae of anchovy, as well as shrinking of spawning habitat in this species. At the same time, the probability of occurrence of round sardinella has increased from practically zero in the 1980s to probabilities near 1 along the coastal area of the study region in the two decades of the 21st century. Given that the trends observed in the environmental variables along the three decades of study are expected to continue during the 21st century, as a consequence of climate change, the spawning habitat of anchovy is expected to continue decreasing, while round sardinella habitat can expand. Considering that anchovy is of high commercial importance in NW Mediterranean fisheries, while round sardinella has very low commercial interest, our results show that the viability of small pelagic fisheries in the area may be compromised.

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“…This hypothesis should be tested in future works with the present model, but also putting more focus on the recruitment level each year. A recent study by Brosset et al (2017) found that global environmental indices (such as NAO, Mediterranean indices) could not explain the observed changes in fish landings and the general decline in the condition of small pelagic fish populations in the Mediterranean Sea. According to this study, the observed changes might be rather due to a combination of more local environmental processes and/or combined with anthropogenic factors such as fishing or pollution.…”

Section: Seasonal and Interannual Bottom-up And Top-down Effects Betwmentioning

confidence: 94%

Implementation of an end-to-end model of the Gulf of Lions ecosystem (NW Mediterranean Sea). II. Investigating the effects of high trophic levels on nutrients and plankton dynamics and associated feedbacks

Diaz

Bănaru

Verley³

et al. 2019

Ecological Modelling

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The end-to-end OSMOSE-GoL model parameterized, calibrated and evaluated for the Gulf of Lions ecosystem (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea) has been used to investigate the effects of introducing two-ways coupling between the dynamics of Low and High Trophic Level groups. The use of a fully dynamic two-ways coupling between the models of Low and High Trophic Levels organisms provided some insights in the functioning of the food web in the Gulf of Lions. On the whole microphytoplankton and mesozooplankton were found to be preyed upon by High Trophic Levels planktivorous groups at rates lower than 10% and 25% of their respective natural mortality rates, but these relatively low rates involved some important alterations in the infra-seasonal and annual cycles of both High and Low Trophic Levels groups. They induced significant changes in biomass, fisheries landings and food web interactions by cascading effects. Spatial differential impacts of High Trophic Levels predation on plankton are less clear except in areas in which primary productivity is high. Higher predation rates on plankton groups were encountered within the area of the Rhone river's influence and in areas associated to the presence of mesoscale eddies in the Northwestern part of the Gulf of Lions, especially. Generally, the pressure of the High Trophic Levels predation was the highest in areas of highest biomass whatever the plankton group considered. The two-ways coupling between Low and High Trophic Levels models revealed both bottom-up and top-down controls in the ecosystem with effects on planktivorous species similar to those observed in the field. The use of the end-to-end model enabled to propose a set of potential mechanisms that may explain the observed decrease in small pelagic catches by the French Mediterranean artisanal fisheries over the last decade.

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Spatio-temporal patterns and environmental controls of small pelagic fish body condition from contrasted Mediterranean areas

Abstract: International audienc

Cited by 99 publications

References 99 publications

Anchovy (<em>Engraulis encrasicolus</em>) otoliths reveal growth differences between two areas of the Spanish Mediterranean Sea

Anchovy (<em>Engraulis encrasicolus</em>) otoliths reveal growth differences between two areas of the Spanish Mediterranean Sea

Changes in the spawning habitat of two small pelagic fish in the Northwestern Mediterranean

Implementation of an end-to-end model of the Gulf of Lions ecosystem (NW Mediterranean Sea). II. Investigating the effects of high trophic levels on nutrients and plankton dynamics and associated feedbacks

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