The effects of barotrauma on five species of South African line-caught fish

Management measures for South African line-caught fish include output controls such as closed seasons, bag and size limits and no-take moratoria. The main condition for these measures to be effective is that undesirable catches can be successfully released. However, most of the line-caught fish species are susceptible to barotrauma, a condition caused in physoclists by the rapid reduction of hydrostatic pressure during the ascent to the surface during capture. We investigated the effects of barotrauma on five commercially important species: roman Chrysoblephus laticeps, silver kob Argyrosomus inodorus, hottentot Pachymetopon blochii, santer Cheimerius nufar and carpenter Argyrozona argyrozona. A classification of the external signs of barotrauma was developed and internal and external signs of barotrauma were examined in relation to fishing depth and fish size, and compared between species. Immediate post-release mortality was investigated during a catch-and-release experiment. Medium-term survival of C. laticeps (~1 d) was examined by returning fish to depth in cages and subsequent monitoring on SCUBA. Our results indicate that most of the fish experience barotrauma even when caught at relatively shallow depths. External signs include extension of the inflated, everted stomach through the mouth, distended eyes, protrusion of the hind-gut and other organs through the cloaca, and gas bubbles in the dermal tissue between the fin rays. The absence of any obvious external signs of barotrauma can be misleading as dissections of such fish revealed ruptures of the swimbladder and other internal injuries consistent with barotrauma. Our results indicate that there might be significant post-release mortality, a factor that needs to be taken into account during stock assessment predictions and during the implementation of catch restrictions.     

The biology,life history and management needs of a large sciaenid fish,Argyrosomus coronus,in Angola

The West Coast dusky kob Argyrosomus coronus is an understudied yet important fishery species in Angola. During a five-year study (2005–2009), the species was recorded in all fishery sectors, but was most important in the inshore recreational fishery in southern Angola (Cunene Estuary to Namibe). Early juveniles (<300 mm total length, TL) were captured in the offshore artisanal fishery at Praia Pinda, whereas juveniles (300–600 mm TL), subadults (600–870 mm TL) and adults (>870 mm TL) were captured in all fisheries as far north as Namibe, and shoals of large adult fish (>1 000 mm TL) were occasionally captured in the offshore purse-seine commercial fishery between the Cunene Estuary and Lucira. Because some Argyrosomus species are morphologically cryptic, a DNA barcoding method was used to confirm the taxonomic status of the biological samples used in this study. The male:female sex ratio of examined samples was 1:1.4 (n = 225). The length-at-50% maturity was 823 mm and 904 mm TL for males and females respectively. Age-at-50% maturity was 4.4 and 4.3 years for males and females respectively. The periodicity of otolith ring formation was confirmed to be one year using a marginal zone and a chemical marking analysis. Growth (in mm TL) was best described by: L_t = 1 826(1—e^{?0.12(t + 1.60)}). Argyrosomus coronus fed predominantly on fish, mainly Sardinella aurita (62% frequency of occurrence). Early juveniles appeared to frequent the offshore zone (50–100 m depth), moving into the inshore region at approximately 300 mm TL. Juveniles and subadults were resident (57% recaptured at the same site) and were particularly abundant around the mouth of the Cunene Estuary as well as in central and northern Namibia. Adults undertake migrations that correspond with the movement of the Angola–Benguela frontal zone, moving north as far as Gabon in winter and returning to southern Angola in spring, when spawning appeared to take place offshore. There are currently no catch restrictions on A. coronus in Angolan waters. However, declining catches and increasing fishing effort suggest that some management intervention is required, commencing with a proposed closure of the Cunene Estuary mouth region to fishing.     

A spatial- and age-structured assessment model to estimate the impact of illegal fishing and ecosystem change on the South African abalone Haliotis midae resource

The management of abalone stocks worldwide is complicated by factors such as illegal fishing combined with the difficulties of assessing a sedentary (but not immobile) resource that is often patchily distributed. The South African abalone Haliotis midae fishery is faced with an additional problem in the form of a relatively recent movement of rock lobsters Jasus lalandii into much of the range of the abalone. The lobsters have heavily reduced sea urchin Parechinus angulosus populations, thereby indirectly negatively impacting juvenile abalone which rely on the urchins for shelter. A model is developed for abalone that is an extension of more standard age-structured assessment models because it explicitly takes spatial effects into account, incorporates the ecosystem change effect described above and estimates the magnitude of substantial illegal (‘poached’) catches. The model is simultaneously fitted to catch per unit effort and Fishery-Independent Abalone Survey abundance data, as well as to several years of catch-at-age (cohort-sliced from catch-at-size) data for the various components of the fishery and different spatial strata. It constitutes the first quantitative approach applied to the management of this commercially valuable resource in South Africa and has provided a basis for management advice over recent years by projecting abundance trends under alternative future catch levels.     

Few data but many fish: marine small-scale fisheries catches for Mozambique and Tanzania

The fisheries data supplied to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) by national agencies have served as the primary tool for many global and regional studies. However, it is recognised that these data are incomplete and often underestimate actual catches, particularly for small-scale fisheries. This study reconstructed total marine fisheries catches from 1950 to 2005 for Mozambique and the United Republic of Tanzania, by applying an established catch reconstruction approach utilising all available quantitative and qualitative data, combined with assumption-based estimations and interpolations. Since the 1950s, Mozambique has reported primarily industrial catches and has substantially under-reported the country's small-scale fishing sector due to lack of resources and civil war. In Tanzania, Zanzibar's recorded fisheries statistics prior to 2000 are absent from Tanzania's marine fisheries catches reported to FAO, and total mainland catches are at least one-third larger than officially reported. Based on our reconstruction, since 2000, Mozambique caught between 150 000 and 172 000 t y^?1, while the United Republic of Tanzania caught at least 95 000 t y^?1. For the period 1950–2005, reconstructed total marine catches were 6.2 and 1.7 times greater than data supplied to FAO by Mozambique and Tanzania respectively. The reliance on incomplete and substantially under-reported national data puts authorities under serious risk of over-licensing fishing access and mismanaging marine ecosystems and national food security.     

Investigations into the diet and feeding ecology of the bearded goby Sufflogobius bibarbatus off Namibia

The bearded goby Sufflogobius bibarbatus has come to replace sardine Sardinops sagax in the diets of many top predators within the marine environment off Namibia, and it is playing a key role within the region's foodweb. Previously published information on the diet of the bearded goby has been derived from small samples and has been contradictory. We investigated the gut contents of over 3 500 specimens of S. bibarbatus from two separate studies. The results indicate that the species has a fairly generalised diet, feeding mostly on benthic and pelagic animals (phytoplankton was rare), in a way that reflects ontogeny, habitat and likely prey availability. Smaller, more pelagic individuals included a substantial number of pelagic organisms in their diet and the proportion of benthic organisms increased with the size of the goby. Given the importance of this species in recycling benthic carbon through the foodweb of the northern Benguela ecosystem, there is a need to describe and quantify the benthic food environment.     

中国海洋渔业碳平衡状态及影响因素研究

低碳是海洋循环经济实现的重要途径,实现海洋渔业的碳平衡是海洋传统经济转变的重要发展方式。本文通过对2013—2022年全国及沿海9省(区)的海洋捕捞碳排放量与碳汇量测算,在此基础上分析了全国及沿海9省(区)的碳平衡状态,并利用灰色关联度分析碳平衡状态影响因素的关联度。结果表明除2020年-2022年山东省的碳平衡状态为盈余外,其他均为碳赤字状态。对于碳平衡状态的影响因素,总体来看全国与沿海9省(区)关联度较大的是海洋捕捞产量、捕捞人员数量和海水养殖面积。最后从加快渔船的升级改造与更新淘汰、调整捕捞的作业方式、提高海水养殖贝藻类的养殖规模以及加快渔业专业合作组织的建立和加速推广渔业碳汇交易提出相关对策建议,以期尽快地实现海洋渔业的碳平衡。