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Poisson, F., Abascal Crespo, F., Ellis, J. R., Chavance, P., Pascal, B., Santos, M. N., et al. (2016). Technical mitigation measures for sharks and rays in fisheries for tuna and tuna-like species: turning possibility into reality. Aquat. Living Resour., 29(4), 402.
Résumé: Tuna fisheries have been identified as one of the major threats to populations of other marine vertebrates, including sea turtles, sharks, seabirds and marine mammals. The development of technical mitigation measures (MM) in fisheries is part of the code of conduct for responsible fisheries. An in-depth analysis of the available literature regarding bycatch mitigation in tuna fisheries with special reference to elasmobranchs was undertaken. Studies highlighting promising MMs were reviewed for four tuna fisheries (longline, purse seine, driftnets and gillnet, and rod and line – including recreational fisheries). The advantages and disadvantages of different MMs are discussed and assessed based on current scientific knowledge. Current management measures for sharks and rays in tuna Regional Fishery Management Organizations (t-RFMOs) are presented. A review of relevant studies examining at-vessel and postrelease mortality of elasmobranch bycatch is provided. This review aims to help fisheries managers identify pragmatic solutions to reduce mortality on pelagic elasmobranchs (and other higher vertebrates) whilst minimizing impacts on catches of target tuna species. Recent research efforts have identified several effective MMs that, if endorsed by t-RFMOs, could reduce elasmobranchs mortality rate in international tropical purse seine tuna fisheries. In the case of longline fisheries, the number of operational effective MMs is very limited. Fisheries deploying driftnets in pelagic ecosystems are suspected to have a high elasmobranchs bycatch and their discard survival is uncertain, but no effective MMs have been field validated for these fisheries. The precautionary bans of such gear by the EU and by some t-RFMOs seem therefore appropriate. Recreational tuna fisheries should be accompanied by science-based support to reduce potential negative impacts on shark populations. Priorities for research and management are identified and discussed.
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Sempo, G., Dagorn, L., Robert, M., & Deneubourg, J. - L. (2013). Impact of increasing deployment of artificial floating objects on the spatial distribution of social fish species. Journal of Applied Ecology, 50(5), 1081–1092.
Résumé: * Approximately 300 pelagic fish species naturally aggregate around floating objects (FOBs) at the surface of the oceans. Currently, more than 50% of the world catch of tropical tuna comes from the industrial tuna fisheries around drifting FOBs. Greater understanding of the complex decision-making processes leading to this aggregation pattern and the impact of the massive release of artificial FOBs by fishermen on the spatial distribution and management of tuna is needed. * We analyse how the interplay between social (relationships between individuals) and non-social (responses to the environment) behaviours may affect the spatial distribution of a population in a multi-FOB environment. Taking the example of tropical tunas associating with FOBs and using differential equations and stochastic simulations, we examine how, when increasing the number of FOBs, fish aggregation dynamics and the distribution of the population among patches are affected by the population size, level of sociality and the natural retentive and/or attractive forces of FOBs on individual tuna. * Our model predicts that, depending on the species' level of sociality, fish will be scattered among FOBs or aggregated around a single FOB based on the number of FOBs deployed in a homogeneous oceanic region. * For social species, we demonstrated that the total fish catch is reduced with increasing FOBs number. Indeed, for each size of population, there are a number of FOBs minimizing the total population of fish associated with FOBs and another number of FOBs maximizing the total population of associated fish. * Synthesis and applications. In terms of fisheries management, the total catch volume is directly linked to the total number of floating objects (FOBs) for non-social species, and any limit on the number of sets would then result in a limit on the total catch. For social species (e.g. tuna), however, increasing the number of FOBs does not necessarily lead to an increase in the total catch, which is a non-intuitive result. Indeed, our model shows that, for specific values of the parameters, deploying a greater number of FOBs in the water (all other parameters being constant) does not necessarily help fishermen to catch more tuna, but does increase the level of fishing effort and bycatch.
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Escalle, L., Murua, H., Amande, J. M., Arregui, I., Chavance, P., Delgado de Molina, A., et al. (2016). Post-capture survival of whale sharks encircled in tuna purse-seine nets: tagging and safe release methods. Aquatic Conserv: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst., 25(4), 433–447.
Résumé: 1. Whale shark, the world's largest fish, is believed to be particularly vulnerable owing to its biological characteristics (slow growth, late maturation, great longevity) and is listed as Vulnerable by IUCN and included in Appendix II of CITES. 2. Whale sharks are occasionally encircled in tropical tuna purse-seine nets, throughout this global fishery. Although apparent immediate survival rates following encirclement and release have recently been assessed through scientific onboard observer programmes, a more rigorous methodology is still required for studying post-released survival. 3. This work provides a method for applying pop-up satellite tags and reports an enhanced release procedure for whale sharks. The first assessment of survival after release from purse-seine nets involved six whale sharks tagged between May and September 2014 in the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean. Five tags transmitted data: three popped up as programmed (after 30 days), while two surfaced prematurely (one after 21 and the other after 71 days (programmed to pop off after 30 and 90 days, respectively)) but showed no sign of unusual behaviour. 4. Overall, whale sharks survived at least 21 days (one at least 71 days) after release from purse-seine nets. These observations based on five large individuals (total length > 8 m), suggest that whale sharks have a good chance of survival when released with the proposed method. 5. Additional tagging in this and other oceans, especially of juveniles which may be more sensitive to encirclement and release operations, is essential to further assess whale shark post-release survival rates in tuna purse-seine fisheries. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Torres-Irineo, E., Dreyfus-Leon, M., Gaertner, D., Salas, S., & Marchal, P. (2017). Adaptive responses of tropical tuna purse-seiners under temporal regulations. Ambio, 46(1), 88–97.
Résumé: The failure to achieve fisheries management objectives has been broadly discussed in international meetings. Measuring the effects of fishery regulations is difficult due to the lack of detailed information. The yellowfin tuna fishery in the eastern Pacific Ocean offers an opportunity to evaluate the fishers' responses to temporal regulations. We used data from observers on-board Mexican purse-seine fleet, which is the main fleet fishing on dolphin-associated tuna schools. In 2002, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission implemented a closed season to reduce fishing effort for this fishery. For the period 1992-2008, we analysed three fishery indicators using generalized estimating equations to evaluate the fishers' response to the closure. We found that purse-seiners decreased their time spent in port, increased their fishing sets, and maintained their proportion of successful fishing sets. Our results highlight the relevance of accounting for the fisher behaviour to understand fisheries dynamics when establishing management regulations.
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Pons, M., Branch, T. A., Melnychuk, M. C., Jensen, O. P., Brodziak, J., Fromentin, J. M., et al. (2017). Effects of biological, economic and management factors on tuna and billfish stock status. Fish Fish, 18(1), 1–21.
Résumé: Commercial tunas and billfishes (swordfish, marlins and sailfish) provide considerable catches and income in both developed and developing countries. These stocks vary in status from lightly exploited to rebuilding to severely depleted. Previous studies suggested that this variability could result from differences in life-history characteristics and economic incentives, but differences in exploitation histories and management measures also have a strong effect on current stock status. Although the status (biomass and fishing mortality rate) of major tuna and billfish stocks is well documented, the effect of these diverse factors on current stock status and the effect of management measures in rebuilding stocks have not been analysed at the global level. Here, we show that, particularly for tunas, stocks were more depleted if they had high commercial value, were long-lived species, had small pre-fishing biomass and were subject to intense fishing pressure for a long time. In addition, implementing and enforcing total allowable catches (TACs) had the strongest positive influence on rebuilding overfished tuna and billfish stocks. Other control rules such as minimum size regulations or seasonal closures were also important in reducing fishing pressure, but stocks under TAC implementations showed the fastest increase of biomass. Lessons learned from this study can be applied in managing large industrial fisheries around the world. In particular, tuna regional fisheries management organizations should consider the relative effectiveness of management measures observed in this study for rebuilding depleted large pelagic stocks.
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