Monitoring beaked redfish (Sebastes mentella) in the North Atlantic, current challenges and future prospects

Abstract

-Beaked redfish inhabits North Atlantic waters in the depth range 100-950 m, over the continental shelf, slope and the open ocean. Individuals can live demersal or pelagic, at various stages of their life cycle. The geographical distribution of the species extends to most of the Atlantic waters from Newfoundland and the Labrador basin in the west to the Barents Sea in the east. Monitoring beaked redfish is challenging because of the species wide geographical distribution and large scale migrations; deep distribution, which complicates trawling and hydroacoustic surveys; difficulties with tagging; and persistent difficulties in taxonomic identification. These challenges make it a particularly problematic species to observe with conventional research methods. We review these key challenges and provide recommendations for the coordinated observation of Sebastes mentella in the North Atlantic that would best contribute to the assessment and ecological research on this species.

Three‐dimensional post‐glacial expansion and diversification of an exploited oceanic fish

“…This highlights the ability of redfish to exhibit a degree of pelagic–demersal mixing between clades from shallow and deep environments (Planque et al . ). Most notably, four individuals from the 2013 Irminger Sea ‘deep’ sampling (I.D.…”

“…Yet, the complex behaviour, areas of copulation and seasonal migration patterns of this species across shallow‐ and deep‐pelagic habitats remain poorly understood (Planque et al . ). Hence, this pattern suggests the occurrence of short‐time migration from deep‐pelagic individuals, supporting the notion of vagrants as individuals move to shallow and deeper waters during their life cycle (Shum et al .…”

“…), with a lack of adequate standardized sampling and replication across depth layers where different beaked redfish assemblages occur (Bergstad ; Planque et al . ). Furthermore, previous studies lacked either the appropriate molecular and analytical toolkit (Stefánsson et al .…”

Geographic extent of introgression in Sebastes mentella and its effect on genetic population structure

“…For Sebastes mentella , the species distribution range, and larval release and nursery areas are presented (source: Planque et al. ). S. mentella , Sebastes norvegicus , Sebastes viviparus , and Sebastes fasciatus samples are indicated by numbers 1–27(●), 28–32 (★), 33–34 (■), and 35(○), respectively.…”

Editorial: Management and monitoring of deep-sea fisheries and stocks

“…Lastly, Burgos et al (2013) assessed the fishing effort and its spatial distribution over time in the small-scale fishery for the blackspot seabream, Pagellus bogaraveo, in the Strait of Gibraltar using a regional VMS data based upon the GPRS/GSM mobile phone network; this technology could substantially improve the monitoring of fishing effort in small-scale fisheries. Planque et al (2013) described the complexity of monitoring requirements for beaked redfish fisheries. Although this species may represent a somewhat extreme case of complexity due to its wide geographic distribution, meta-population structure, issues with age estimation, migrations and interactions with the environment and the pelagic ecosystem, Planque et al show that solutions exist for monitoring future changes in beaked redfish stocks.…”