Résumé: Albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) exhibit patchy concentrations associated with biological process at a wide range of spatial scales, resulting in variations in their catchability by fishing gears. Here, we investigated the association of catch variation for pelagic longlines in the South Pacific Ocean with oceanographic mesoscale structures (in horizontal dimension) and ambient conditions (in vertical dimension). The distribution of albacore tuna as indicated by catch per unit effort (CPUE) of longlines was significantly related to the presence of mesoscale structures, with higher CPUE found at locations closer to thermal fronts and with greater gradient magnitudes, as well as areas marked by peripheral contour line of the anticyclone indicated by Sea Surface Height Anomalies 0.05 m. Surface mesoscale current velocity had the negative effect on the catch, probably as a result of decreased catchability by shoaling the hook depth. Vertical distribution of albacore in the survey region of South Pacific Ocean was hardly restricted by ambient temperature and oxygen concentration, though effect of ambient temperature was relevant and showed a negatively linear correlation with CPUE at the range of 20–24°C. On the contrary, albacore distribution was evidently dominated by the water depth and showed strong preference on water depth of 200 m, which was likely a representative feeding layer. The presence of prey resources and their accessibility by albacore revealed by mesoscale structures in the biological and physical processes, and catchability determined by the location of the baited hooks comprehensively contribute to the variability of catch.

Résumé: An ecological niche modelling (ENM) approach was used to predict the potential feeding and spawning habitats of small (5-25kg, only feeding) and large (> 25kg) Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT), Thunnus thynnus, in the Mediterranean Sea, the North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The ENM was built bridging knowledge on ecological traits of ABFT (e.g. temperature tolerance, mobility, feeding and spawning strategy) with patterns of selected environmental variables (chlorophyll-a fronts and concentration, sea surface current and temperature, sea surface height anomaly) that were identified using an extensive set of precisely geo-located presence data. The results highlight a wider temperature tolerance for larger fish allowing them to feed in the northern – high chlorophyll levels – latitudes up to the Norwegian Sea in the eastern Atlantic and to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in the western basin. Permanent suitable feeding habitat for small ABFT was predicted to be mostly located in temperate latitudes in the North Atlantic and in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in subtropical waters off north-west Africa, while summer potential habitat in the Gulf of Mexico was found to be unsuitable for both small and large ABFTs. Potential spawning grounds were found to occur in the Gulf of Mexico from March-April in the south-east to April-May in the north, while favourable conditions evolve in the Mediterranean Sea from mid-May in the eastern to mid-July in the western basin. Other secondary potential spawning grounds not supported by observations were predicted in the Azores area and off Morocco to Senegal during July and August when extrapolating the model settings from the Gulf of Mexico into the North Atlantic. The presence of large ABFT off Florida and the Bahamas in spring was not explained by the model as is, however the environmental variables other than the sea surface height anomaly appeared to be favourable for spawning in part of this area. Defining key spatial and temporal habitats should further help in building spatially-explicit stock assessment models, thus improving the spatial management of bluefin tuna fisheries.

Résumé: Understanding how external pressures impact ecosystem structure and functioning is essential for ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management. We quantified the relative effects of fisheries exploitation and environmental conditions on ecological indicators derived from two different data sources, fisheries catch data (catch-based) and fisheries independent survey data (survey-based) for 12 marine ecosystems using a partial least squares path modeling approach (PLS-PM). We linked these ecological indicators to the total biomass of the ecosystem. Although the effects of exploitation and environmental conditions differed across the ecosystems, some general results can be drawn from the comparative approach. Interestingly, the PLS-PM analyses showed that survey-based indicators were less tightly associated with each other than the catch-based ones. The analyses also showed that the effects of environmental conditions on the ecological indicators were predominantly significant, and tended to be negative, suggesting that in the recent period, indicators accounted for changes in environmental conditions and the changes were more likely to be adverse. Total biomass was associated with fisheries exploitation and environmental conditions; however its association with the ecological indicators was weak across the ecosystems. Knowledge of the relative influence of exploitation and environmental pressures on the dynamics within exploited ecosystems will help us to move towards ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management. PLS-PM proved to be a useful approach to quantify the relative effects of fisheries exploitation and environmental conditions and suggest it could be used more widely in fisheries oceanography.