Tropical fisheries tend to be multispecies and require management approaches adapted to high dive... more Tropical fisheries tend to be multispecies and require management approaches adapted to high diversity but scarce and poorly informative data. Productivity and Susceptibility Analysis-PSA is particularly useful where catch or biological data are incomplete, aggregated across species or insufficient for quantitative stock assessment. We applied PSA to estimate vulnerability and potential risk to target and non-target species caught by the small-scale shrimp fishery in northeast Brazil, adapting the method to regional conditions and incorporating an assessment of uncertainties caused by its subjective choices. Our findings suggest that non-target species can be more vulnerable than target ones. Bagre marinus, Pseudobatos percellens, Micropogonias furnieri, Hypanus guttatus, Macrodon ancylodon, Polydactylus virginicus, Rhizoprionodon porosus, Cynoscion virescens, Larimus breviceps, and Menticirrhus americanus, were the top 10 species potentially at risk due to their low productivity (long lifespans, low spawning), high capture rates of juveniles and overlap of feeding and breeding grounds with fishing areas. Most species (76%) maintained the same risk category (low, moderate, or high) regardless of the score weighting or productivity and susceptibility attribute boundaries applied. Overall, the target species are not currently the main ones threatened, but bycatch such as elasmobranchs, catfishes and Scianidae should be prioritized for assessment and data collection.
Abstract Global shrimp catches are reported primarily in association with large industrial trawli... more Abstract Global shrimp catches are reported primarily in association with large industrial trawling, but they also occur through small-scale fishing, which plays a substantial role in traditional communities. We developed an Ecopath model in north-eastern Brazil, and applied a temporally dynamic model (Ecosim) to evaluate the potential effects of different fishing effort control policies and environmental changes on marine resources and ecosystem between 2015 to 2030 with a case study for small-scale shrimp fishing, novelty for tropical region. These scenarios included different management options related to fishing controls (changing effort and closed season) and environmental changes (primary production changes). Our findings indicate that it is possible to maintain the same level of landings with a controlled reduction of bottom trawlers activities, for example, close to 10 %, without compromising the ecosystem structure. This scenario provided better results than 3–4 months of closing the fishing season, which led to significant losses in catches of high market-value target species (white shrimp, Penaeus schmitti and pink shrimp, Penaeus subtilis). However, intense negative effects on biomass, catch and biodiversity indicators were reported in scenarios with decreasing primary production, from 2 %, reinforcing the need to simulate and project the possible impacts caused by environmental change. However, the control of bottom trawling activity may help to reduce, even at low levels, the highly adverse effects due to primary production reduction. The impacts of climate change in a near future on organisms and ecosystems is an imminent reality, and therefore the search for measures for mitigating and even minimizing these impacts is crucial.
Potential trophic competition between two sympatric mullet species, Mugil cephalus and Mugil cure... more Potential trophic competition between two sympatric mullet species, Mugil cephalus and Mugil curema, was explored in the hypersaline estuary of the Saloum Delta (Senegal) using δ(13) C and δ(15) N composition of muscle tissues. Between species, δ(15) N compositions were similar, suggesting a similar trophic level, while the difference in δ(13) C compositions indicated that these species did not feed from exactly the same basal production sources or at least not in the same proportions. This result provides the first evidence of isotopic niche segregation between two limno-benthophageous species belonging to the geographically widespread, and often locally abundant, Mugilidae family.
The lesser African threadfin Galeoides decadactylus (family Polynemidae) is one of the most captu... more The lesser African threadfin Galeoides decadactylus (family Polynemidae) is one of the most captured marine fish species in Central Africa. This study examines aspects of the reproductive biology of G. decadactylus in the Libreville area of Gabon. Fish caught with encircling gillnets and bottom gillnets were collected from May 2017 to May 2018 from artisanal fishermen. A total of 776 specimens were studied, comprising 401 females (14–36 cm total length [TL]), 347 males (13–28 cm TL), and 28 individuals of indeterminate sex (12–16 cm TL). Monthly monitoring of gonadosomatic ratio, condition factor and sexual maturity stages revealed that G. decadactylus reproduces continuously but has two slight peak periods: one in the long rainy season and the other in the short rainy season. The species is protandrous, with sizes at first sexual maturity of 17.7 cm TL for males and 18.7 cm for females. Mature individuals largely dominated the catches of small-scale fishers in Gabon. Mean absolute ...
Le régime alimentaire du chinchard d'europe, Trachurus trachurus (Linnaeus, 1758), a été étud... more Le régime alimentaire du chinchard d'europe, Trachurus trachurus (Linnaeus, 1758), a été étudié au sud de la côte atlantique marocaine, entre cap blanc et cap boujdour (21°00'N-26°30'N). L'échantillonnage a été réalisé durant les saisons chaude (juin-juillet-août) et froide (novembre-décembre) en 2007 et 2008. L'analyse du contenu stomacal de 456 individus a montré que le régime alimentaire de T. trachurus est diversifié, composé essentiellement de crustacés pélagiques qui représentent ses proies préférentielles. une analyse en composante principale normée, associée à un test de permutations, a mis en évidence une variation du régime alimentaire en fonction des périodes d'échantillonnage. une analyse de variance multiple (ManoVa) appliquée sur la période des campagnes, la position latitudinale des stations, la profondeur de chalutage et la taille des individus a permis de mettre en exergue les déterminants de cette variation. il en ressort que T. trachurus pr...
Tropical fisheries tend to be multispecies and require management approaches adapted to high dive... more Tropical fisheries tend to be multispecies and require management approaches adapted to high diversity but scarce and poorly informative data. Productivity and Susceptibility Analysis-PSA is particularly useful where catch or biological data are incomplete, aggregated across species or insufficient for quantitative stock assessment. We applied PSA to estimate vulnerability and potential risk to target and non-target species caught by the small-scale shrimp fishery in northeast Brazil, adapting the method to regional conditions and incorporating an assessment of uncertainties caused by its subjective choices. Our findings suggest that non-target species can be more vulnerable than target ones. Bagre marinus, Pseudobatos percellens, Micropogonias furnieri, Hypanus guttatus, Macrodon ancylodon, Polydactylus virginicus, Rhizoprionodon porosus, Cynoscion virescens, Larimus breviceps, and Menticirrhus americanus, were the top 10 species potentially at risk due to their low productivity (long lifespans, low spawning), high capture rates of juveniles and overlap of feeding and breeding grounds with fishing areas. Most species (76%) maintained the same risk category (low, moderate, or high) regardless of the score weighting or productivity and susceptibility attribute boundaries applied. Overall, the target species are not currently the main ones threatened, but bycatch such as elasmobranchs, catfishes and Scianidae should be prioritized for assessment and data collection.
Abstract Global shrimp catches are reported primarily in association with large industrial trawli... more Abstract Global shrimp catches are reported primarily in association with large industrial trawling, but they also occur through small-scale fishing, which plays a substantial role in traditional communities. We developed an Ecopath model in north-eastern Brazil, and applied a temporally dynamic model (Ecosim) to evaluate the potential effects of different fishing effort control policies and environmental changes on marine resources and ecosystem between 2015 to 2030 with a case study for small-scale shrimp fishing, novelty for tropical region. These scenarios included different management options related to fishing controls (changing effort and closed season) and environmental changes (primary production changes). Our findings indicate that it is possible to maintain the same level of landings with a controlled reduction of bottom trawlers activities, for example, close to 10 %, without compromising the ecosystem structure. This scenario provided better results than 3–4 months of closing the fishing season, which led to significant losses in catches of high market-value target species (white shrimp, Penaeus schmitti and pink shrimp, Penaeus subtilis). However, intense negative effects on biomass, catch and biodiversity indicators were reported in scenarios with decreasing primary production, from 2 %, reinforcing the need to simulate and project the possible impacts caused by environmental change. However, the control of bottom trawling activity may help to reduce, even at low levels, the highly adverse effects due to primary production reduction. The impacts of climate change in a near future on organisms and ecosystems is an imminent reality, and therefore the search for measures for mitigating and even minimizing these impacts is crucial.
Potential trophic competition between two sympatric mullet species, Mugil cephalus and Mugil cure... more Potential trophic competition between two sympatric mullet species, Mugil cephalus and Mugil curema, was explored in the hypersaline estuary of the Saloum Delta (Senegal) using δ(13) C and δ(15) N composition of muscle tissues. Between species, δ(15) N compositions were similar, suggesting a similar trophic level, while the difference in δ(13) C compositions indicated that these species did not feed from exactly the same basal production sources or at least not in the same proportions. This result provides the first evidence of isotopic niche segregation between two limno-benthophageous species belonging to the geographically widespread, and often locally abundant, Mugilidae family.
The lesser African threadfin Galeoides decadactylus (family Polynemidae) is one of the most captu... more The lesser African threadfin Galeoides decadactylus (family Polynemidae) is one of the most captured marine fish species in Central Africa. This study examines aspects of the reproductive biology of G. decadactylus in the Libreville area of Gabon. Fish caught with encircling gillnets and bottom gillnets were collected from May 2017 to May 2018 from artisanal fishermen. A total of 776 specimens were studied, comprising 401 females (14–36 cm total length [TL]), 347 males (13–28 cm TL), and 28 individuals of indeterminate sex (12–16 cm TL). Monthly monitoring of gonadosomatic ratio, condition factor and sexual maturity stages revealed that G. decadactylus reproduces continuously but has two slight peak periods: one in the long rainy season and the other in the short rainy season. The species is protandrous, with sizes at first sexual maturity of 17.7 cm TL for males and 18.7 cm for females. Mature individuals largely dominated the catches of small-scale fishers in Gabon. Mean absolute ...
Le régime alimentaire du chinchard d'europe, Trachurus trachurus (Linnaeus, 1758), a été étud... more Le régime alimentaire du chinchard d'europe, Trachurus trachurus (Linnaeus, 1758), a été étudié au sud de la côte atlantique marocaine, entre cap blanc et cap boujdour (21°00'N-26°30'N). L'échantillonnage a été réalisé durant les saisons chaude (juin-juillet-août) et froide (novembre-décembre) en 2007 et 2008. L'analyse du contenu stomacal de 456 individus a montré que le régime alimentaire de T. trachurus est diversifié, composé essentiellement de crustacés pélagiques qui représentent ses proies préférentielles. une analyse en composante principale normée, associée à un test de permutations, a mis en évidence une variation du régime alimentaire en fonction des périodes d'échantillonnage. une analyse de variance multiple (ManoVa) appliquée sur la période des campagnes, la position latitudinale des stations, la profondeur de chalutage et la taille des individus a permis de mettre en exergue les déterminants de cette variation. il en ressort que T. trachurus pr...
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