Effect of deepwater trawling on the macro-invertebrate assemblages of seamounts on the Chatham Rise,New Zealand

Seamounts, knolls, pinnacles and other “seamount-like” features are prominent and widely distributed features of the New Zealand marine environment, and also the focus of important commercial fisheries and some exploratory mineral mining. There is considerable debate about the effects of such activities on the benthic habitat of deep-water seamounts. In 2001 a study was undertaken of eight seamount-features on the Chatham Rise, an area that has been heavily trawled for orange roughy since the early 1990s. Half of the study seamounts were considered unfished and the other half fished. Benthic macro-invertebrate assemblages of each seamount were sampled using epibenthic sleds, whilst the presence of habitat-forming fauna (e.g., live corals), substrate type and indications of trawling (e.g., trawl door marks) were determined using a towed underwater camera. Fisheries catch-effort data were examined to determine the amount and distribution of bottom trawling effort on the seamounts. Analyses of camera data revealed that unfished seamounts possessed a relatively large amount of stony coral habitat comprising live Solenosmilia variabilis and Madrepora oculata (predominantly on the seamount peaks) whereas fished seamounts had relatively little coral habitat. Indications of trawling were observed over six times more frequently on seabed images from fished as opposed to unfished seamounts, and appeared related to the amount of fishing effort on individual seamounts. Multivariate analyses of sled data revealed a significant difference in macro-invertebrate assemblage composition between fished and unfished seamounts. The variability observed in assemblage composition between seamounts can in part be explained by the relative fishing pressure measured by a fishing effects index. The results of the study are discussed with respect to management of seamount habitat, and the need for ongoing monitoring and research to derive conservation practices that allow for sustainable seamount fisheries.     

Challenges to achieving greater and fairer stakeholder involvement in marine spatial planning as illustrated by the Lyme Bay scallop dredging closure

The statutory closure of 60 square miles of Lyme Bay to towed fishing gear in 2008 marked the culmination of nearly 20 years of discussions between conservationists and fishermen. Prior to the 2008 decision, voluntary, bottom-up led agreements resulted in inadequate protection of the bay's biological resources and significant erosion of social capital. Lyme Bay provides an excellent case study of the challenges likely to be posed by wider stakeholder involvement imposed under the new Marine Act. This paper examines a broad range of perspectives in relation to the Lyme Bay consultation and subsequent closure, via semi-structured interviews with 25 representatives of different interest groups in Lyme Bay. All respondents acknowledged significant flaws in the process leading to the Lyme Bay decision and felt the Marine Act was well placed to tackle many of these criticisms. However, while the Marine Act should provide a framework for resolving conflicts, it will not prevent them. Success will depend on collaboration between different marine interests, and also on the government acknowledging that outcomes are unlikely to favour everyone in the short-term and that top-down interventions are inevitable.     

海洋捕捞与海水养殖监管系统研究

文章针对海洋渔业由于过度捕捞造成渔业资源枯竭的问题,提出了一种基于海洋遥感(ORS)、全球定位系统(GPS)和海洋地理信息系统(MGIS)等高新技术的海洋捕捞与海水养殖监管系统设计方案,可以远程自动对海洋渔业区域的水质多参数信息和养殖环境视频信息进行综合采集、传输及监控,也可以自动采集传输渔船RFID身份识别信息、渔船AIS自动识别信息、渔船GPS定位信息和捕捞生产视频信息等,并通过海洋精细渔业专家系统ES进行渔业养殖监控、渔业环境资源监测评估、渔船船数和功率数控制和海洋捕捞生产渔情监测等。该系统可以实现海洋渔业精细化捕捞和海洋渔业精细化养殖,促进海洋渔业可持续发展。     

A tool for site prioritisation of marine protected areas under data poor conditions

A challenge of managing data poor fisheries lies in overcoming uncertainties associated with a lack of information on biological and socio-economic conditions. This paper focuses on site prioritisation for marine protected areas, a process that usually imposes moderate to heavy demands on data, time, local expertise, and funds. A fuzzy logic decision support tool for zoning marine areas that is suitable for use in data poor conditions is developed. This tool, the Protected Area Suitability Index (PASI), assesses the suitability of sites for protection based on fishers’ preferences for that site and the site’s conservation value. Only eight input attributes are required to run the PASI, which operates on a series of heuristic rules to estimate a site suitability score that ranges from 0 to 10, where 10 indicates that a site is highly suitable for being protected from fishing. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the PASI is relatively robust, and produces reliable results even as the system is degraded by the loss of data. Eighteen actively fished sites and 11 sites that are closed to fishing are assessed to evaluate how well the PASI is able to distinguish differences between sites. The estimated scores are significantly different (p<0.05), whereby non-fished sites are scored as being more suitable for protection than fished sites. The PASI can be used as a decision support tool to facilitate systematic marine spatial management under data poor conditions, especially in the task of identifying suitable sites for protection.     

Quantifying the relative intensity of fishing on New Zealand seamounts

New Zealand seamounts support major fisheries for several deepwater fish species, including orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) and smooth oreo (Pseudocyttus maculatus). Although a high proportion of features in the depth range 500–1000 m have been fished, very little is known about the ecological impacts of bottom trawling on seamounts. The potential impact is likely to be influenced by the spatial extent and frequency of fishing. A new index is presented to assess the relative intensity of trawling on New Zealand seamounts. The fishing effects index (FEI) incorporates information on the density of fishing on the seamount as a proportion of the seabed area and also on tow direction. Detailed fisheries data from more than 250 000 tows were examined to calculate FEI for New Zealand seamounts. The most intensively fished seamounts were on the south Chatham Rise, an area characterised by a large number of relatively small features which were fished serially for orange roughy in the 1980s and 1990s. Other seamounts with high FEI were on the north Chatham Rise, Challenger Plateau, and off the east coast of the North Island. A range of sensitivity analyses indicated that the general rankings of seamounts were relatively robust to the choice of arbitrary thresholds used to assign tows to seamounts.     

Vertical distribution of giant jellyfish, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nemopilema nomurai</Emphasis> using acoustics and optics

Nemopilema nomurai jellyfish, which are believed to complete their development in the East China Sea, have started migrating into the Yellow Sea in recent years. We obtained biomass estimates of this species in the Yellow Sea using bottom trawl fishing gear and sighting surveys over a 5-year period. These methods are effective for obtaining N. nomurai jellyfish density estimates and information about the community distribution near the bottom or surface of the sea. To verify the vertical distributions of giant jellyfish between, we used hydroacoustic equipment, including an optical stereo camera system attached to a towed sledge and an echo counting method with scientific echosounder system. Acoustic and optical data were collected while the vessel moved at 3 knots, from which the distribution and density of N. nomurai jellyfish were analyzed. Subsequently, the camera system was towed from a 7 m mean depth to sea level, with the detection range of the acoustic system extending from an 8 m depth to the bottom surface. The optical and acoustic methods indicated the presence of vertical distribution of 0.11³ (inds/m³) and 0.064 (inds/m3), respectively. However, the vertical distribution indicated that around 93% of individuals occurred at a depth range of 10–40 m; thus, a 2.4-fold greater density was estimated by acoustic echo counting compared to the optical method.     

The long-term impacts of fisheries on epifaunal assemblage function and structure, in a Special Area of Conservation

Fisheries can have profound effects on epifaunal community function and structure. We analysed the results from five dive surveys (1975-1976, 1980, 1983, 2003 and 2007), taken in a Special Area of Conservation, Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland before and after a ten year period of increased trawling activity between 1985 and 1995. There were no detectable differences in the species richness or taxonomic distinctiveness before (1975-1983) and after (2003-2007) this period. However, there was a shift in the epifaunal assemblage between the surveys in 1975-1983 and 2003-2007. In general, the slow-moving, or sessile, erect, filter-feeders were replaced by highly mobile, swimming, scavengers and predators. There were declines in the frequency of the fished bivalve Aequipecten opercularis and the non-fished bivalves Modiolus modiolus and Chlamys varia and some erect sessile invertebrates between the surveys in 1975-1983 and 2003-2007. In contrast, there were increases in the frequency of the fished and reseeded bivalves Pecten maximus and Ostrea edulis, the fished crabs Cancer pagurus and Necora puber and the non-fished sea stars Asterias rubens, Crossaster papposus and Henricia oculata between the surveys in 1975-1983 and 2003-2007. We suggest that these shifts could be directly and indirectly attributed to the long-term impacts of trawl fishing gear, although increases in the supply of discarded bait and influxes of sediment may also have contributed to changes in the frequency of some taxa. These results suggest that despite their limitations, historical surveys and repeat sampling over long periods can help to elucidate the inferred patterns in the epifaunal community. The use of commercial fishing gear was banned from two areas in Strangford Lough in 2011, making it a model ecosystem for assessing the long-term recovery of the epifaunal community from the impacts of mobile and pot fishing gear.     

Effort changes around a marine reserve: The case of the California Rockfish Conservation Area

This article is an analysis of observed changes in the level of fishing effort and the spatial distribution of fishing effort following implementation of a marine reserve off the California coast. The Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) closes the area between depth contour based boundaries to commercial trawl fishing. In this analysis, commercial fishing vessels are grouped based on their level of fishing effort within the closed area prior to the closure in order to compare changes in effort levels between groups. The results suggest that the RCA may have had a small effect on the level of fishing effort in the California groundfish trawl fishery. Spatial distribution of fishing effort before and after implementation of the marine reserve is also compared. Some concentration of effort occurred along parts of the closed area boundaries. This pattern suggests the “fishing the line” behavior noted in the marine reserve literature, but other possible explanations exist including the effects of coincident changes in other regulations and changing bioeconomic conditions.     

History,effort distribution and landings in an artisanal bottom longline fishery: An empirical study from the North Atlantic Ocean

Commercial fishing data were used to reconstruct historical spatio-temporal patterns of fishing effort and landings in the bottom longline fishery of the Azores. Key events during an important 15-year period were charted, through fisher interviews together with GIS analysis. While effort distribution varied over time, the prevailing pattern was a shift in focus from eastern to western areas and from shelf/slope to offshore banks and seamounts in response to policy measures (e.g. banning bottom longline inside 3 NM, public aids for modernization of the fleet) and reduced fishing yields. Areas 12–50 NM from shore represented the most vital fishing grounds in terms of fishing effort and production. Declining landings of the major demersal species, in recent years, indicate that present catch levels are not sustainable and further measures need to be taken in order to sustain fisheries resources. Knowledge of fleet behavior and the distribution of fishing effort, particularly in patchy environments, provide valuable insights into the impacts of past management decisions and help predict the outcome of new policies both in this region and elsewhere.     

Spatial patterns of zooplankton and nekton in a hydrothermally active axial valley on Juan de Fuca Ridge

Zooplankton and nekton at 2000 m depth in the axial valley of Endeavour Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge, show marked variability in abundances in a plane at 20 m above bottom. A remotely operated vehicle flew a gridded rectangle 3.2×0.5 km that included two large high-temperature and two small low-temperature vent fields. Numbers of zooplankton, jellyfish, shrimp and fish were recorded with a video camera, and the abundance patterns were examined with the program SADIE^©. Each organism group displayed a distinctive distribution pattern. Abundance gaps over the high-temperature fields were significant and, for the more abundant copepods, were related to the locations of individual smokers. Pelagic shrimp and macrourid fish abundances were correlated and concentrated around the northern high temperature field. Distinct aggregations of zooplankton and nekton were correlated with the fluid indicators from both the low temperature diffuse effluent and the focused high temperature vents. Patterns were likely established by organism choice that forms aggregations and gaps, and by physical processes that entrain passive particles near vigorous smoker plumes. While enhanced plankton and nekton numbers were not observed over the vent fields, overall abundances in the axial valley may be sustained by production transported from the vent fields on the seafloor.     

Recreational use of offshore wind farms: Experiences and opinions of sea anglers in the UK

The expansion of offshore wind farms (OWFs) is likely to increase conflict with other marine users as different sectors compete for space. There may also be positive interactions, as the artificial reef effects from energy infrastructure have the potential to sustain and enhance fishing opportunities. Recreational sea angling is an important sector within the UK but the experiences and opinions of UK sea anglers with respect to OWFs have not been documented. To address this, an online survey was undertaken with recreational anglers around the UK (n=199). Respondents represented a range of socio-demographic and angling characteristics, although male, more frequent and older fishers as well as club members were over-represented compared to a 2012 national survey. One quarter of the respondents had fished around the perimeter of or within an OWF, most on multiple occasions, and 73% of those who had not expressed a willingness to do so in future. Anglers reported both positive and negative effects on catch success when fishing near or within OWFs compared to their experiences of the same site prior to OWF development. Outcomes for individual species were also mixed. Anglers recognised the potential artificial reef effects of OWFs and their role as a “safe haven”, particularly due to the exclusion of commercial fishers. Negative perceptions included restricted access, harm to marine wildlife, and visual impact. There is little evidence that OWFs will have a significant economic impact on recreational fishing, as most anglers are unlikely to change their behaviour in response to future developments.     

Can shell scars on dog cockles (Glycymeris glycymeris L.) be used as an indicator of fishing disturbance?

The use of shell damage records as an in situ indicator of past fishing disturbance was investigated using the dog cockle Glycymeris glycymeris L. Shell sections of dog cockles collected from four areas subjected to varying levels of fishing disturbance were examined for the presence of damage records or shell ‘scars’. Animals from a heavily fished area had significantly higher levels of scarring than those from three lightly fished areas. From an estimation of the age of the shells (from internal growth lines and dating of each line), the year in which scarring occurred was determined and this was compared to yearly records of fishing effort. There was a weak but significant positive correlation between the frequency of shell scars per year and the intensity of fishing effort. Our data suggest that whilst scarring in shells of G. glycymeris cannot accurately be used to estimate past fishing intensity on a year-by-year basis, it can be used to differentiate between severely impacted and lightly fished areas of the sea bed.     

福建三沙湾游泳动物种类和数量的季节变化

根据2019年1月、4月、7月和10月四个季度10个站位定置张网调查资料, 对福建三沙湾游泳动物的种类组成及季节变化进行分析研究。结果表明: 调查共获得游泳动物209种, 隶属于3门4纲19目73科144属, 其中鱼类154种, 甲壳类48种, 头足类7种。游泳动物种类数以秋季出现最多, 四个季节共同出现的种类有42种。鲈形目种类最多, 其次是十足目。鱼类适温性以暖水性种类居多, 占71.43%, 暖温性种类次之(27.92%); 生态类型以底层、近底层鱼类居多, 两者合占75.97%。鹰爪虾(Trachypenaeus curvirostris)、大黄鱼(Larimichthys crocea)、棘头梅童鱼(Collichthys lucidus)、红星梭子蟹(Portunus sanguinolentus)和日本蟳(Charybdis japonica)等14个种类是三沙湾游泳动物的优势种类, 季节性优势种居多。三沙湾定置张网调查渔业资源质量密度为111.09 kg/km², 尾数密度为13.72×10³ ind./km², 均以夏季最高, 春季最低。应该进一步加强对三沙湾渔业资源的合理利用和有效保护, 同时重视对外来物种的监测。     

Relative and combined effects of habitat and fishing on reef fish communities across a limited fishing gradient at Ningaloo

Habitat degradation and fishing are major drivers of temporal and spatial changes in fish communities. The independent effects of these drivers are well documented, but the relative importance and interaction between fishing and habitat shifts is poorly understood, particularly in complex systems such as coral reefs. To assess the combined and relative effects of fishing and habitat we examined the composition of fish communities on patch reefs across a gradient of high to low structural complexity in fished and unfished areas of the Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia. Biomass and species richness of fish were positively correlated with structural complexity of reefs and negatively related to macroalgal cover. Total abundance of fish was also positively related to structural complexity, however this relationship was stronger on fished reefs than those where fishing is prohibited. The interaction between habitat condition and fishing pressure is primarily due to the high abundance of small bodied planktivorous fish on fished reefs. However, the influence of management zones on the abundance and biomass of predators and target species is small, implying spatial differences in fishing pressure are low and unlikely to be driving this interaction. Our results emphasise the importance of habitat in structuring reef fish communities on coral reefs especially when gradients in fishing pressure are low. The influence of fishing effort on this relationship may however become more important as fishing pressure increases.     

Effects of electric fishing on the invertebrate fauna of a New Zealand stream

Electric fishing experiments were made in Woolly Creek, part of the Glenariffe system of tributaries to the Rakaia River, South Island, New Zealand, during December 1972. Two operators electric fished a 25‐m length of stream from the banks, with three runs in both upstream and downstream directions.

Large increases in drift were caused by the electric fishing process, which had a marked effect on the Ephemeroptera and the oligochaete families Tubificidae and Lumbriculidae.

The invertebrate drift leaving the experimental reach came predominantly from the downstream 10 m section, and larger numbers were caught in drift samples when fishing proceeded in a downstream direction. This was probably because the electrode passed over invertebrates which had previously entered the drift ‘higher’ upstream and re‐settled on the substrate lower in the reach.

Electric fishing caused a loss to the drift of 9.6% of the total benthos in the experimental area. This was slightly more than the 8% decrease in benthic numbers calculated from bottom samples.     

Modelling the effects of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) on the southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) fishery of Victoria,Australia

Since 2002, 5.3% of the Victorian coastal waters have been declared as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). These are aimed at safeguarding important marine habitats and species, significant natural features, and areas of cultural heritage and aesthetic value. However, MPAs impact the fishery for southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii), as total allowable catches (TACs) were previously set to allow the biomass to recover to pre‐specified target levels. The model on which assessments and risk analyses are based is extended to include the impact of MPAs. The MPAs and the area open to fishing are modelled as subpopulations with different levels of mortality and consequently different density and population size‐structure. A range for the probability of a lobster moving from a MPA to the fished area from 0 to 15% is considered, based on the results of tagging studies. The reduction of biomass available to the commercial fishery because of the introduction of MPAs is estimated to be 8% and 16% (Western and Eastern Zones) respectively. The results of a risk assessment show that if the current TACs are maintained, the time to increase the biomass available to the commercial fishery by 50% would be delayed 5–9 years in the Western Zone and 1–4 years in the Eastern Zone because of the impact of displaced effort. In contrast, spawning biomass in the Eastern Zone is currently below the agreed limit reference point, and the introduction of MPAs would enhance the rate of recovery, although only marginally initially, faster than the absence of the MPAs.     

Fisheries for orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) on seamounts in New Zealand

Major commercial fisheries for orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) occur on seamount features, which are widely distributed throughout the New Zealand region. When the fishery developed in the late 1970s to early 1980s, it occurred mainly on flat bottom, but over time has become more focused on seamounts. In the 1995–1996 fishing year, it is estimated that about 70 % of the catch of orange roughy within the New Zealand EEZ was taken from seamounts. Seamounts on the Chatham Rise have been fished for over ten years. Examination of commercial catch and effort data show strong declines in catch rates over time, and a pattern of serial depletion of seamount populations, with the fishery moving progressively eastwards to unfished seamounts along the southern margins of the Rise. Catch rates on seamounts in other regions of New Zealand have also generally shown a similar pattern of rapid decline. There is growing concern over the impact of trawling on seamounts, and the effects this can have on the benthic habitat and fauna, and the long-term sustainability of associated commercial fisheries.     

Spatial conflicts in New Zealand fisheries: The rights of fishers and protection of the marine environment

New Zealand fisheries legislation provides commercial fishing rights to holders of individual transferable quota (ITQ). The settlement of fisheries claims against the Crown by Mäori, New Zealand's indigenous people, brought about the transfer of ITQ holdings to Mäori, and an obligation on the Crown to recognise and provide for indigenous (customary) fishing rights over fishing grounds and other areas that have been of special significance to Mäori. Some types of customary fishing areas exclude commercial fishing and could affect recreational fishing. Fisheries legislation requires that regulatory measures be put in place to avoid, remedy or mitigate the adverse effects of fishing. The Government also aims to protect marine biodiversity by having 10% of New Zealand waters in some form of protection by 2010. The legislative processes for protecting the marine environment and establishing customary fishing areas include assessment of effects on fishing rights. This paper explores the conflicts that arise from legislative obligations to uphold the rights of fishers, to sustain fishstocks and to protect the marine environment. The paper concludes that inconsistent legislative obligations and their disparate processes have led to spatial conflicts and a race for the allocation of space. Legislative obligations need to be integrated to maintain a balance between use of fisheries resources and protection of the marine environment.     

Defining ecological indicators of trawling disturbance when everywhere that can be fished is fished: A Mediterranean case study

Selecting indicators of the response of the benthic community to fishing effort restrictions is important for testing the efficacy of management actions that seek to minimise ecosystem degradation. Components of epifaunal communities are sensitive to trawling, and concordant measurements of trawling effort can be used to establish a link between response and impact variables. Trawling effort on Mediterranean fishing grounds can be assessed, but the lack of data from communities inhabiting these areas makes establishing the response–impact relationship difficult. This study addresses this challenge by investigating benthic communities from the NW Mediterranean subjected to a gradient of fishing effort, and confirms that indicators based on functional components of epibenthos can be a useful tool to describe the response of communities to disturbance across habitat types.     

Investigation of strategies to improve the recycling effectiveness of waste oil from fishing vessels

The marine ecological environment and fishery resources can be severely polluted or destroyed by waste oil from fishing vessels if they are emitted directly into the ocean without any proper pre-treatment process. International conventions such as MARPOL 73/78 regulate waste-oil emissions and require the installation of a waste oil–water separator only for ocean-going ships of over 400 gross tons. Hence, these international conventions are not applicable to most fishing ships due to their low gross tonnages. In addition, space on most fishing vessels is too limited to allow waste-oil storage tanks or a waste oil-water separator to comply with international maritime regulations. Because a significant amount of waste oil is produced by fishing vessels around the world every day, effective strategies or measures are needed to prevent this waste oil from polluting the marine environment. This study thus investigates strategies and measures for improving the effectiveness of waste-oil collection from fishing vessels. This study found that existing procedures for the collection and treatment of waste lubricating oil on land could be applied to the management of waste oil and bilge water from fishing vessels. Sufficient oil–water separators and storage facilities for the collection of waste oil should be placed at each fishing port and shipyard. Fishermen should then be required to deliver their waste oil to these storage facilities, from where it can be transported to legal recycling companies for further treatment. In addition, fishing harbor authorities should bear definitive responsibility for monitoring the illegal dumping of waste oil and for checking the waste-oil record books of fishing vessels. Each maritime country should enforce relevant laws and regulations to reduce the emission of waste oil from fishing vessels into the ocean.