A century of fishery data documenting the collapse of smooth‐hounds (<i>Mustelus</i> spp.) in the Mediterranean Sea

Colloca, Francesco; Enea, Marco; Ragonese, Sergio; Lorenzo, Manfredi Di

doi:10.1002/aqc.2789

Cited by 56 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The case was also reported for Squatina squatina (Linnaeus, 1758) [65]. Recent analysis of the frequency of occurrence of smooth-hounds in fishery catch data showed that the species have declined by 80-90% since the beginning of last century to almost disappear in a large part of their original distributional range during the 1980s and 1990s [66]. landing for elasmobranchs between 1997 and 2004 decreased 77% compared with the previous years .…”

Section: Impact Of Fisheriesmentioning

confidence: 63%

Overview on Mediterranean Shark’s Fisheries: Impact on the Biodiversity

Bradaï¹,

Saïdi²,

Enajjar³

2018

Marine Ecology - Biotic and Abiotic Interactions

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Bibliographic analysis shows that the Mediterranean Sea is a hot spot for cartilaginous species biodiversity, including sharks, rays, and chimaeras; 49 sharks and 36 rays were recorded in this region. However, they are by far the most endangered group of marine fish in the Mediterranean Sea. The IUCN Red List shows clearly the vulnerability of elasmobranchs and the lack of data; 39 species (53% of 73 assessed species) are critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. The biological characteristics of elasmobranchs (low fecundity, late maturity, and slow growth) make them more vulnerable to fishing pressure than most teleost fish. Overfishing, the wide use of nonselective fishing practices, and habitat degradation are leading to dramatic declines of these species in the Mediterranean Sea. In general, elasmobranchs are not targeted but are caught incidentally. In many fisheries, they are, however, often landed and marketed. A decline in cartilaginous fish species landings has been observed while fishing effort has generally increased. Better understanding of the composition of incidental and targeted catches of sharks by commercial fisheries are fundamentally important for the conservation of these populations. Moreover, problems encountered by elasmobranchs in the area are highlighted, and conservation measures are suggested.

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Section: Impact Of Fisheriesmentioning

confidence: 63%

Overview on Mediterranean Shark’s Fisheries: Impact on the Biodiversity

Bradaï¹,

Saïdi²,

Enajjar³

2018

Marine Ecology - Biotic and Abiotic Interactions

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“…However, no effective management measures against the overexploitation of many commercial species have been successfully implemented or enforced (Vasilakopoulos et al 2014, Osio et al 2015. In addition, data on the stock status of sharks and rays remain poor or non-existent (Polidoro et al 2008, Worm et al 2013, Colloca et al 2017.…”

Section: Variabilidad Espacial De Chondrichthyes En El Norte Del Medimentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial variability of Chondrichthyes in the northern Mediterranean

et al. 2020

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Thanks to the availability of the MEDITS survey data, a standardized picture of the occurrence and abundance of demersal Chondrichthyes in the northern Mediterranean has been obtained. During the spring-summer period between 2012 and 2015, 41 Chondrichthyes, including 18 sharks (5 orders and 11 families), 22 batoids (3 orders and 4 families) and 1 chimaera, were detected from several geographical sub-areas (GSAs) established by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. Batoids had a preferential distribution on the continental shelf (10-200 m depth), while shark species were more frequent on the slope (200-800 m depth). Only three species, the Carcharhiniformes Galeus melastomus and Scyliorhinus canicula and the Torpediniformes Torpedo marmorata were caught in all GSAs studied. On the continental shelf, the Rajidae family was the most abundant, being represented in primis by Raja clavata and then by R. miraletus, R. polystigma and R. asterias. The slope was characterized by the prevalence of G. melastomus in all GSAs, followed by S. canicula, E. spinax and Squalus blainville. Areas under higher fishing pressure, such as the Adriatic Sea and the Spanish coast (with the exception of the Balearic Islands), show a low abundance of chondrichthyans, but other areas with a high level of fishing pressure, such as southwestern Sicily, show a high abundance, suggesting that other environmental drivers work together with fishing pressure to shape their distribution. Results of generalized additive models highlighted that depth is one of the most important environmental drivers influencing the distribution of both batoid and shark species, although temperature also showed a significant influence on their distribution. The approach explored in this work shows the possibility of producing maps modelling the distribution of demersal chondrichthyans in the Mediterranean that are useful for the management and conservation of these species at a regional scale. However, because of the vulnerability of these species to fishing exploitation, fishing pressure should be further incorporated in these models in addition to these environmental drivers.

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“…For example, pelagic sharks declined by more than 95% during the last century (Ferretti et al, 2008), whilst demersal sharks, such as smooth-hounds (Mustelus spp. ), disappeared from most of the West Mediterranean in '70s and '80s (Massutí, 1971;Aldebert, 1997;Maynou et al, 2011;Ligas et al, 2013;Fortibuoni et al, 2016;Colloca et al, 2017).…”

Section: Impact Of Fishing On Commercial Stocks and By-catch Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Trends and Impacts of Fisheries Exploitation on Mediterranean Stocks and Ecosystems

2017

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This review focuses on the recent data on Mediterranean fishing fleets and landings, results from stock assessments and ecosystem models to provide an overview of the multiple impacts of fishing exploitation in the different Mediterranean geographical sub-areas (GSAs). A fleet of about 73,000 vessels is widespread along the Mediterranean coasts. Artisanal activities are predominant in South Mediterranean and in the eastern basin, while trawling features GSAs in the western basin and the Adriatic Sea. The overall landings of fish, crustaceans and cephalopods, after peaking during mid 90s at about one million tons, declined at about 700,000 tons in 2013. However, while landings are declining in EU countries since the 90s, in non-EU countries a decreasing trend was observed only in the last 5-10 years. The current levels of fishing effort determine a general overexploitation status of commercial stocks with more than 90% of the stock assessed out of safe biological limits. Indicators obtained from available ecosystem models were used to assess the sustainability of the fisheries. They included primary production required to sustain fisheries (PPR), mean trophic level of the catch (mTLc), the loss in secondary production index (L index), and the probability of the ecosystem to be sustainably exploited (p sust ). In areas exploited more sustainably (e.g., Gulf of Gabes, Eastern Ionian, and Aegean Sea) fishing pressure was characterized by either low number of vessels per unit of shelf area or the large prevalence of artisanal/small scale fisheries. Conversely, GSAs in Western Mediterranean and Adriatic showed very low ecosystem sustainability of fisheries that can be easily related with the high fishing pressure and the large proportion of overfished stocks obtained from single species assessments. We showed that the current knowledge on Mediterranean fisheries and ecosystems describes a worrisome picture where the effect of poorly regulated fisheries, in combination with the ongoing climate forcing and the rapid expansion of nonindigenous species, are rapidly changing the structure and functioning of the ecosystem with unpredictable effects on the goods and services provided. Although this would call for urgent conservation actions, the management system implemented in the region appears too slow and probably inadequate to protect biodiversity and secure fisheries resources for the future generations.

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A century of fishery data documenting the collapse of smooth‐hounds (Mustelus spp.) in the Mediterranean Sea

Cited by 56 publications

References 48 publications

Overview on Mediterranean Shark’s Fisheries: Impact on the Biodiversity

Overview on Mediterranean Shark’s Fisheries: Impact on the Biodiversity

Spatial variability of Chondrichthyes in the northern Mediterranean

Recent Trends and Impacts of Fisheries Exploitation on Mediterranean Stocks and Ecosystems

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