An ecosystem approach for the assessment of fisheries impacts on marine top predators: the Bay of Biscay case study

Abstract Lassalle, G., Gascuel, D., Le Loc'h, F., Lobry, J., Pierce, G. J., Ridoux, V., Santos, M. B., Spitz, J., and Niquil, N. 2012. An ecosystem approach for the assessment of fisheries impacts on marine top predators: the Bay of Biscay case study. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 925–938. A number of marine mammal populations is currently threatened by their interactions with fisheries. The present study aimed to provide insights into the severity of potential impacts of operational and biological interactions between top predators and fisheries, in the Bay of Biscay region. Our approach was to modify an Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) model describing the overall structure and function of the ecosystem by including landings and discards of exploited stocks and estimations of the bycatch of non-target compartments. Second, a set of ecological indices and a trophic level (TL)-based model (EcoTroph, ET) were derived from the EwE model. ET was used to simulate the effects of increasing fishing pressure on the ecosystem and, more particularly, on top predators. The Bay of Biscay was demonstrated to be not far from overexploitation at the current fishing rate, this phenomenon being particularly noticeable for the highest TLs. Within the toothed cetacean community, bottlenose dolphins appeared the most sensitive to resource depletion, whereas common dolphins and harbour porpoises were most impacted by their incidental captures in fishing gears. This study provides a methodological framework to assess the impacts of fisheries on ecosystems for which EwE, or other ecosystem models, already exist.

Download Full-text

Advancing an Ecosystem Approach in the Gulf of Maine

Advancing an Ecosystem Approach in the Gulf of Maine ◽

10.47886/9781934874301.ch2 ◽

2012 ◽

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Ecosystem Health ◽

Gulf Of Maine ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Ecosystem Approach ◽

Human Populations ◽

Ecosystem Models ◽

Management Scenarios ◽

Trade Offs ◽

And Function

<i>Abstract</i>.—A growing variety and intensity of human activities threaten the health of marine ecosystems and the sustained delivery of services provided by oceans and coasts. The Gulf of Maine (GoM) is no exception to this trend, and as such, an ecosystem- based approach to managing the region has gained traction in recent years. The ultimate aim of marine ecosystem-based management (EBM) is to maintain ecosystem health (i.e., structure and function) and to sustain the full suite of ecosystem services on which people rely. Maintaining ecosystem health and sustaining services are related goals, both from a scientific and management perspective, yet in some cases, the interplay between the two is not well understood. Here, we examine relationships between attributes of ecosystem health and ecosystem services. In particular, we explore how outputs from ecosystem models, originally developed for ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM), can be used to quantify and value services of particular relevance to the GoM environments and human populations. We highlight services, such as the provisioning of food from fisheries, that ecosystem models are well equipped to inform and reveal where more work is needed to value other services, such as the protection from erosion and inundation afforded by coastal habitats. EBM also requires knowledge about the costs and benefits of management decisions for humans and ecosystems. We demonstrate how ecosystem models can be used to explicitly illustrate trade-offs between attributes of ecosystem health and ecosystem services that result from alternative management scenarios. By bridging the gap between models developed for EBFM and ecosystem service models, we identify existing science and future needs for informing an ecosystem approach to managing the GoM.

Download Full-text

The Path to an Ecosystem Approach for Forage Fish Management: A Case Study of Atlantic Menhaden

Frontiers in Marine Science ◽

10.3389/fmars.2021.607657 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Kristen A. Anstead ◽

Katie Drew ◽

David Chagaris ◽

Amy M. Schueller ◽

Jason E. McNamee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Single Species ◽

Ecosystem Approach ◽

The United States ◽

Reference Points ◽

Atlantic Menhaden ◽

Forage Fish ◽

Ecosystem Models ◽

Fish Management

Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) support the largest fishery by volume on the United States East Coast, while also playing an important role as a forage species. Managers’ and stakeholders’ increasing concerns about the impact of Atlantic menhaden harvest on ecosystem processes led to an evolution in the assessment and management of this species from a purely single-species approach to an ecosystem approach. The first coastwide stock assessment of Atlantic menhaden for management used a single-species virtual population analysis (VPA). Subsequent assessments used a forward projecting statistical catch-at-age framework that incorporated estimates of predation mortality from a multispecies VPA while analytical efforts continued toward the development of ecosystem models and explicit ecological reference points (ERPs) for Atlantic menhaden. As an interim step while ecosystem models were being developed, a series of ad hoc measures to preserve Atlantic menhaden biomass for predators were used by managers. In August 2020, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission formally adopted an ecological modeling framework as a tool to set reference points and harvest limits for the Atlantic menhaden that considers their role as a forage fish. This is the first example of a quantitative ecosystem approach to setting reference points on the United States Atlantic Coast and it represents a significant advance for forage fish management. This case study reviews the history of Atlantic menhaden stock assessments and management, outlines the progress on the current implementation of ERPs for this species, and highlights future research and management needs to improve and expand ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Download Full-text

Delphinid spatial distribution and abundance estimates over the shelf of the Bay of Biscay

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsn046 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 65 (4) ◽

pp. 656-666 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

G. Certain ◽

V. Ridoux ◽

O. van Canneyt ◽

V. Bretagnolle

Keyword(s):

Spatial Distribution ◽

Large Scale ◽

Bottlenose Dolphins ◽

Shelf Break ◽

Bay Of Biscay ◽

Stenella Coeruleoalba ◽

Abundance Estimate ◽

Abundance Estimates ◽

Common Dolphins ◽

Strip Transect

Abstract Certain, G., Ridoux, V., van Canneyt, O., and Bretagnolle, V. 2008. Delphinid spatial distribution and abundance estimates over the shelf of the Bay of Biscay. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 656–666. The small delphinid community (bottlenose Tursiops truncatus, common Delphinus delphis, and striped Stenella coeruleoalba dolphins) of the Bay of Biscay (100 000 km2 of continental shelf along the French Atlantic coast) has been studied here by combining strip-transect aerial surveys conducted between 2001 and 2004 and ship-based surveys conducted between 2003 and 2006. Distribution was modelled spatially in relation to several large-scale descriptors of the environment. Highest densities of small delphinids were associated with the shelf break, in particular in two hotspots located in the north and the south of the bay. Using ship-based data, we found strong spatial segregation between common and bottlenose dolphins in spring, with common dolphins associated with coastal areas (and especially river plumes) and bottlenose dolphins on the outer shelf and the shelf break. Assuming a detection probability of 1, a strip-transect abundance estimate for the small delphinid community was obtained in August 2002 with 56 500 (95% CI 29 100–90 400), but relative abundance varied across months.

Download Full-text

Karpophoroi deities and the Attic cult of Ge. Notes on IG II2 4758

Opuscula Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome ◽

10.30549/opathrom-07-11 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 193-203

Author(s):

Jenny Wallensten

Keyword(s):

The Earth ◽

And Function

Karpophoros, fruit-bearing, is an epithet easily considered as “literary”, i.e., a poetic name with little or no relation to cult. The epigraphic sources, however, clearly show us that gods thus named were offered divine worship. The epithet is found in connection with several deities. Goddesses of agriculture, such as Demeter, and Ge, the Earth, naturally carry this name, but so do Zeus, Dionysos and a goddess known as “The Aiolian”, who was sometimes associated with Agrippina. This paper surveys deities known as karpophoroi and examines what their cult entailed. Its focus is, however, on a brief Acropolis inscription, IG II2 4758, where Ge is honoured as Karpophoros, in accordance with an oracle. The case study provides insights into the Attic cult of Ge, the epithet Karpophoros, as well as the use and function of epithets within Greek dedicatory language.

Download Full-text

Determinants of lungworm specificity in five cetacean species in the western Mediterranean

Parasites & Vectors ◽

10.1186/s13071-021-04629-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Rachel Pool ◽

Clara Romero-Rubira ◽

Juan Antonio Raga ◽

Mercedes Fernández ◽

Francisco Javier Aznar

Keyword(s):

Bottlenose Dolphins ◽

Parasite Burden ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Host Size ◽

Cetacean Species ◽

Stenella Coeruleoalba ◽

Species Similarity ◽

Pilot Whales ◽

Common Dolphins ◽

Prey Overlap

Abstract Background Current data about Pseudaliidae show contrasting patterns of host specificity between congeneric species. We investigated how both contact and compatibility between hosts and parasites contributed to the patterns of lungworm infection observed in a community of five species of cetaceans in the western Mediterranean. Methods The lungs of 119 striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba, 18 bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus, 7 Risso’s dolphins Grampus griseus, 7 long-finned pilot whales Globicephala melas, and 6 common dolphins Delphinus delphis were analysed for lungworms. Parasites were identified by morphology and analysis of ITS2 sequences using both maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods. Body length was used as a proxy for lungworm species fitness in different hosts and compared with Kruskal-Wallis tests. Infection parameters were compared between cetacean species using Fisher’s exact tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Phylogenetic specificity was explored by collating the overall lungworm species prevalence values in hosts from previous surveys in various localities. To explore the relative importance of vertical and horizontal transmission, Spearman’s rank correlation was used to look for an association between host size and lungworm burden. A Mantel test was used to explore the association between lungworm species similarity and prey overlap using dietary data. Results Halocercus delphini had higher infection levels in striped dolphins and common dolphins; Stenurus ovatus had higher infection levels in bottlenose dolphins; and Stenurus globicephalae had higher infection levels in long-finned pilot whales. These results are congruent with findings on a global scale. Morphometric comparison showed that the larger nematodes were found in the same host species that had the highest parasite burden. Lungworms were found in neonatal striped dolphins and a Risso’s dolphin, and there was a weak but significant correlation between host size and parasite burden in striped dolphins and bottlenose dolphins. There was also a weak but significant association between prey overlap and lungworm species similarity. Conclusions Data indicate that phylogenetic specificity has an important role in governing host–parasite associations, as indicated by the higher infection levels and larger nematode size in certain hosts. However, diet can also influence infection patterns in these preferred hosts and contribute to less severe infections in other hosts.

Download Full-text

Retail Suburbanization, Modernization, and Growth in Sydney during Australia’s Postwar Boom

Journal of Urban History ◽

10.1177/00961442211023600 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 009614422110236

Author(s):

Matthew Bailey

Keyword(s):

Capital City ◽

Growth Strategies ◽

Capital Cities ◽

Form And Function ◽

Urban Core ◽

Socially Constructed ◽

And Function ◽

Retail Formats ◽

Car Driving

This article uses Sydney as a case study to examine the process of retail decentralization during Australia’s postwar boom, showing how the form and function of capital city retailing changed completely in just a couple of decades. Suburban migration, the emergence of mobile car-driving consumers, socially constructed gender roles, the ongoing importance of public transport networks, planning regimes that sought to concentrate development in designated zones, and business growth strategies that deployed retail formats developed in America all played a role in shaping the form and function of Australian retailing during the postwar boom. In the process, the retail geographies of Australia’s capital cities were transformed from highly centralized distribution structures dominated by the urban core, to decentralized landscapes of retail clusters featuring modern retail forms like the supermarket and shopping center that would come to define Australian retailing for the remainder of the century.

Download Full-text

Mineral Resource Depletion Assessment: Alternatives, Problems, Results

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13020862 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 862

Author(s):

Tatiana Ponomarenko ◽

Marina Nevskaya ◽

Izabela Jonek-Kowalska

Keyword(s):

Mineral Resource ◽

Natural Resources ◽

Resource Depletion ◽

Mining Company ◽

Social Wellbeing ◽

Renewable Natural Resources ◽

Tin Deposit ◽

The Impact ◽

Local Levels

The depletion of non-renewable natural resources (primarily mineral and energy resources) and its assessment is a problem that is analyzed based on the concept of sustainable development. Mineral resource depletion assessment is particularly important for resource-based economies. It provides for assessing the impact of mineral asset disposal that results from the suspension or termination of operations conducted by a mining company due to insurmountable circumstances. The results of such an event will be manifested at the national, regional, and local levels and felt by mining companies, suppliers, workers, the population of the territory, and other stakeholders. The study clarifies the attributes and essence of mineral resource depletion, analyzes the advantages and limitations of the existing tools for assessing mineral resource depletion, identifies depletion factors, describes a methodology for assessing mineral resource depletion, and contains a case study of a tin deposit. The results of the study contribute to the development of the theory on the depletion of non-renewable natural resources. They provide for assessing losses to social wellbeing that can be caused by stopping the use of profitable mineral reserves.

Download Full-text