scholarly journals Recovery Signals of Rhodoliths Beds since Bottom Trawling Ban in the SCI Menorca Channel (Western Mediterranean)

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Maria Teresa Farriols ◽  
Camille Irlinger ◽  
Francesc Ordines ◽  
Desirée Palomino ◽  
Elena Marco-Herrero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Bottom Trawl ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Bottom Trawling ◽  
Trawl Fishing ◽  
Special Area ◽  
The Impact

One of the objectives of the LIFE IP INTEMARES project is to assess the impact of bottom trawling on the vulnerable benthic habitats of the circalittoral bottoms of the Menorca Channel (western Mediterranean), designated a Site of Community Importance (SCI) within the Natura 2000 network. The present study compares the epibenthic communities of four areas, subjected to different bottom trawl fishing intensity levels. The assignment of fishing effort levels was based on the fishing effort distribution in the area calculated from Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data and the existence of two Fishing Protected Zones in the Menorca Channel. Biological samples were collected from 39 beam trawl stations, sampled during a scientific survey on April 2019. We compare the diversity, composition, and density of the epibenthic flora and fauna, together with the rhodoliths coverage and the morphology of the main species of rhodoliths of four areas subjected to different levels of bottom trawl fishing effort, including one that has never been impacted by trawling. Our results have shown negative impacts of bottom trawling on rhodoliths beds and the first signals of their recovery in areas recently closed to this fishery, which indicate that this is an effective measure for the conservation of this habitat of special interest and must be included in the management plan required to declare the Menorca Channel as a Special Area of Conservation.

scholarly journals Biology and population dynamics of by-catch fish species of the bottom trawl fishery in the western Mediterranean

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 613 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. ORDINES ◽  
M.T. FARRIOLS ◽  
J. LLEONART ◽  
B. GUIJARRO ◽  
A. QUETGLAS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Analysis ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Distribution Range ◽  
Bottom Trawl ◽  
Trawl Fishery ◽  
Virtual Population ◽  
Trawl Fishing ◽  
By Catch

The teleosts Chelidonichthys cuculus, Trigloporus lastoviza, Serranus cabrilla and Trachinus draco, are important by-catch species, in terms of landed biomass and commercial value, from the continental shelf bottom trawl fishery off the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean). The main biological parameters of these species were calculated from monthly biological samplings, and were used along with three years pseudo-cohorts (2008-2010) obtained from monitoring on-board of the bottom trawl fleet, to assess their exploitation level through Virtual Population Analysis (VPA) and Yield per Recruit (Y/R) analysis. Time series of fishery independent indicators based on MEDITS surveys data such as the evolution of the abundance and biomass, the distribution range, and the Conservation Status of Fish b (CSFb), were also analyzed. All four species analyzed showed growth overfishing. The reductions of the fishing effort required to reach the Y/RF0,1 reference point were lower, 66-73% depending on the species, to those reported for the target species M. merluccius (87%), but higher than that reported for M. surmuletus (53%), in the study area in the period 2000-2010. The abundance and biomass, and the distribution range did not show any trend for the period 2001-2011, whereas the CSFb showed signs of recovery that may be due to the displacement of the trawl fishing effort from the shelf to the slope during the last decade. Our results underline the necessary incorporation of monitoring and assessment of by-catch species to the management of fisheries as their populations can show a more pronounced overexploitation than target ones.

scholarly journals Can traditional harvesting methods for cockles be accommodated in a Special Area of Conservation?

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma McLaughlin ◽  
Alex Portig ◽  
Mark P. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Status ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Strangford Lough ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Special Area ◽  
Migrant Birds ◽  
Local Opposition ◽  
Eelgrass Beds

Abstract McLaughlin, E., Portig, A., and Johnson, M. P. 2007. Can traditional harvesting methods for cockles be accommodated in a Special Area of Conservation? – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 309–317. The European Natura 2000 project attempts to balance conservation and exploitation by permitting activities that do not affect the conservation status of designated sites. Given the scale of Natura 2000, guidelines are needed to facilitate the drafting of simple site management plans. This need is particularly acute for traditional harvesting methods for which there is usually strong local opposition to the imposition of controls. These issues were examined in Strangford Lough, a special area of conservation where cockles have traditionally been harvested by hand-raking. Raking was found not to affect the ability of cockles to rebury. There were significant reductions in Zostera biomass when raking was carried out within eelgrass beds (a 90% reduction in biomass available to winter migrant birds from summer raking). Traditional harvesting methods could therefore be accepted in Strangford as long as Zostera beds are avoided. A relatively low intensity of harvesting activity in Strangford Lough probably reflects low cockle densities (average 91.8 m−2), with the most economically valuable individuals at some distance from points of access to the shore. An economically feasible management plan could sanction traditional harvesting and result in the implementation of more resource-intensive management only if increases in cockle stocks and market prices stimulate large increases in harvesting activity.

scholarly journals Improving Scientific Knowledge of Mallorca Channel Seamounts (Western Mediterranean) within the Framework of Natura 2000 Network

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Enric Massutí ◽  
Olga Sánchez-Guillamón ◽  
Maria Teresa Farriols ◽  
Desirée Palomino ◽  
Aida Frank ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Information ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Habitats Directive ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Scientific Exploration ◽  
Special Area ◽  
Maerl Beds ◽  
A Site ◽  
Diverse Groups

The scientific exploration of Mallorca Channel seamounts (western Mediterranean) is improving the knowledge of the Ses Olives (SO), Ausias March (AM), and Emile Baudot (EB) seamounts for their inclusion in the Natura 2000 network. The aims are to map and characterize benthic species and habitats by means of a geological and biological multidisciplinary approach: high-resolution acoustics, sediment and rock dredges, beam trawl, bottom trawl, and underwater imagery. Among the seamounts, 15 different morphological features were differentiated, highlighting the presence of 4000 pockmarks, which are seafloor rounded depressions indicators of focused fluid flow escapes, usually gas and/or water, from beneath the seabed sediments. So far, a total of 547 species or taxa have been inventoried, with sponges, fishes, mollusks, and crustaceans the most diverse groups including new taxa and new geographical records. Up to 29 categories of benthic habitats have been found, highlighting those included in the Habitats Directive: maërl beds on the summits of AM and EB, pockmarks around the seamounts and coral reefs in their rocky escarpments as well as fields of Isidella elongata on sedimentary bathyal bottoms. Trawling is the main demersal fishery developed around SO and AM, which are targeted to deep water crustaceans: Parapenaeus longirostris, Nephrops norvegicus, and Aristeus antennatus. This study provides scientific information for the proposal of the Mallorca Channel seamounts as a Site of Community Importance and for its final declaration as a Special Area of Conservation.

scholarly journals A Win-Win for Deep-Sea Corals and Fishing: Increasing Seafloor Protections While Restoring Fishing Opportunities Off the United States West Coast

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey G. Shester ◽  
Ben Enticknap ◽  
Brianne Mecum ◽  
Ashley Blacow-Draeger ◽  
Tara Brock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bottom Trawl ◽  
Habitat Conservation ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Bottom Trawling ◽  
Trawl Fishing ◽  
Upper Slope

On January 1, 2020, the United States (U.S.) government implemented new regulations increasing total closed areas to bottom trawl fishing by 363,513 km2, including a net increase of 44,498 km2 in essential fish habitat conservation areas at fishable depths (<1,280 m) along the West Coast continental shelf and upper slope. At the same time, the government reopened certain bottom trawl fishing grounds originally established to rebuild overfished groundfish. In combination with previously existing conservation areas, the result of these regulations is that bottom trawl fishing is now prohibited in 90% (739,491 km2) of ocean waters in the United States West Coast Exclusive Economic Zone, including 32.6% of shelf (<200 m) depth zones and 56.0% of upper slope depth zones (200-1,280 m), with a disproportionate focus on priority habitat features that are proxies for fish habitat, sensitivity to bottom trawling, and biodiversity. The final spatial management measures include 53 new or modified habitat conservation areas closed to bottom trawling in fishable depths (<1,280 m) and a precautionary prohibition on all bottom contact fishing gears at depths greater than 3,500 m. Together the final set of habitat conservation area closures and openings result in an overall increase in coastwide protections for hard, mixed, and soft substrates; seamounts; submarine canyons; and known and predicted coral, sponge, and pennatulid locations. Finer scale analyses indicate net increases or no change in coral and sponge observations inside protected areas across all regions and depth zones, despite some reductions in total area and hard substrate protected in certain regions. Based on historic bottom trawl effort data, we estimate that the opening of previously closed areas restores 24.6% of fishing effort that was displaced by bottom trawl closures implemented prior to 2020. Here we describe the involvement and approach of the conservation organization, Oceana, to protect seafloor habitats off the United States West Coast, which included a coastwide proposal to modify conservation areas, geospatial analyses, grassroots organizing, media stories, and scientific expeditions using remotely operated vehicles. Our comparison of the new versus previous assemblage of habitat conservation areas demonstrates increased overall habitat protection and fishing opportunities throughout depths and bioregions off the United States West Coast.

scholarly journals Spatio-temporal trends in diversity of demersal fish assemblages in the Mediterranean

2020 ◽  
Vol 83 (S1) ◽  
pp. 189 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Teresa Farriols ◽  
Francesc Ordines ◽  
Pierluigi Carbonara ◽  
Loredana Casciaro ◽  
Manfredi Di Lorenzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Demersal Fish ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Bottom Trawl ◽  
Fish Diversity ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Diversity Pattern ◽  
Trawl Fishing ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Spatio Temporal

The high species richness, coupled with high proportion of endemism, makes the Mediterranean one of the world’s ‘biodiversity hotspots’. However, the continuous increase in fisheries in the last few decades has led to the overexploitation of their main commercial stocks. Using fishery-independent data collected under the framework of the MEDITS trawl surveys carried out over the last 20 years, we study the demersal fish diversity pattern in the Mediterranean at a large spatial and temporal scale to determine whether it is being affected by the general fishing overexploitation of the demersal resources. The detected diversity trends are compared with the spatio-temporal variation in bottom trawl fishing effort in the Mediterranean. Our results show a stability and even recovery of demersal fish diversity in the Mediterranean together with higher diversity values on the continental shelves of the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily and the Aegean Sea. At large temporal and spatial scales, the high diversity of demersal assemblages in the Mediterranean is associated with a reduction in bottom trawl fishing effort. The inclusion of species other than target ones through diversity indices is important in the implementation of an ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Chasing the phantom: biogeography and conservation of Vipera latastei-monticola in the Maghreb (North Africa)

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inês Freitas ◽  
Soumia Fahd ◽  
Guillermo Velo-Antón ◽  
Fernando Martínez-Freiría
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Niche Modelling ◽  
Habitat Transformation ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Suitable Space ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The Maghreb region (North Africa) constitutes a major component of the Mediterranean Basin biodiversity hotspot. During the last centuries, a consistent human population growth has led to an unprecedented rate of habitat transformation and loss in the region and thus, threatening its biodiversity. The Western Mediterranean viper Vipera latastei-monticola inhabits humid and subhumid areas in the main mountain ranges of the Maghreb, facing such threatening factors; however, its elusive character and rarity hindered data collection for distinct biological purposes. Here, we study the biogeographical patterns and conservation status of the Maghrebian V. latastei-monticola resulting from recent sampling campaigns in Morocco and Tunisia. We update species distribution, and integrate phylogeographic and ecological niche modelling analyses at both species and lineage level to identify suitable areas, and to evaluate the impact of anthropogenic transformation and level of protection of their suitable space. We identified four highly divergent mitochondrial lineages, including a new lineage endemic to the Western High Atlas, with allopatric distributions and restricted to mountain ranges, supporting the role of mountains as past climatic refugia. Despite the remoteness of suitable areas, we report widespread habitat degradation and identify the low effectiveness of the current protected areas system in preserving the species and lineages range. Our study shows the urgent need to apply management actions for the long-term conservation of this vulnerable species and suggests a revaluation of the specific status of V. monticola, as these populations likely represent an ecotype of V. latastei.

Impact of anti-cancer drugs shortages in oncology and hematology departments in a Moroccan hospital

2021 ◽  
pp. 107815522110082
Author(s):  
Ali Cherif Chefchaouni ◽  
Youssef Moutaouakkil ◽  
Badr Adouani ◽  
Yasmina Tadlaoui ◽  
Jamal Lamsaouri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Management Plan ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Cancer Drugs ◽  
Drug Shortage ◽  
Medical File ◽  
Short Supply ◽  
Drug Shortages ◽  
Non Hodgkin Lymphoma ◽  
Anti Cancer ◽  
The Impact

Introduction Drug shortages have been a growing global problem in recent years. Some of them are of vital necessity and importance for the patient, such as those used to treat pathologies in clinical hematology and oncology departments. The objectives of this study are to determine the impact of anti-cancer drugs shortages on both: treatment and patient in the hematology and oncology departments, to describe the actions that have been put in place to manage the shortages and to survey patients about their perspectives and experiences. Materials and methods It was a prospective, observational study, it took place in the oncology and hematology departments. It was carried out with the help of an operating sheet, which contained two parts: patient and treatment data. This sheet was filled out after the interview with the patient and on the basis of the medical file. Results Of the 101 patients interviewed, 67.3% were impacted by the shortage of drugs. The treated pathology that was most impacted by the rupture was Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (55.8%), vincristine was the drug most responsible for the shortages (34%). Most patients (51.4%) went to a non-local pharmacy to buy the medicine that was in short supply in the hospital. Delayed care was the main impact of the drug shortage (42.6%). As a result of these shortages, the majority of patients (45.6%) were frustrated and anxious about the situation. Conclusion Drug shortages have a profound impact on patient safety, clinical outcomes, quality of treatment, hospital management and other important factors. In-depth collaboration between different health actors and timely communication strategies are essential elements of an effective drug shortage management plan.

scholarly journals Nonstationary Responses of Demersal Fishes to Environmental Variations in Temperate Waters of the Northwestern North Pacific under a Changing Climate

Fishes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Qingsong He ◽  
Shuyang Ma ◽  
Qinwang Xing ◽  
Wenchao Zhang ◽  
Haiqing Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Demersal Fish ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Asian Winter Monsoon ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
Sst Variability ◽  
Environmental Variations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Demersal Fishes

Although nonstationarity in marine ecosystems has attracted great attention, the nonstationary responses of demersal fishes to environmental variations induced by the changing climate are still not well understood. Here, we collected 21 time series of demersal fishes from 1956 to 2015 to investigate the climate-induced nonstationary responses in temperate waters of the northwestern North Pacific (NWP). We showed that these demersal fishes experienced state shifts in approximately 1986/87, accompanied by abrupt warming over this region. Moreover, the relationships between demersal fishes and sea surface temperature (SST) were found to change between the two identified eras (i.e., a weak relationship before 1986 and a strong negative relationship after 1986), which may be primarily caused by the alternating dominance of the East Asian winter monsoon and mega-ENSO on SST in temperate waters of the NWP. The identified climate-induced nonstationary responses of demersal fishes to SST variability in this study may provide implications for understanding climate-induced biological dynamics, predicting demersal fish fluctuations, coping with potential ecological risks, and the sustainable exploitation of fishery resources in the future climate. Note that the impact of fishing on the demersal fishes in temperate waters of the NWP was not assessed in this study due to the lack of fishing effort data and therefore the conclusions of our research should be approached with caution.

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