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Mescouto N, Peixoto UI, Trindade DG, Moura H, Bentes B. Caribbean red snapper fishing performance indicators in Brazilian amazon shelf: Is it the beginning of the end of a fishing system? PLoS One 2024; 19:e0300820. [PMID: 38691535 PMCID: PMC11062544 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Red snapper fishing (Lutjanus purpureus) is an important fishing activity for the Brazilian economy due to its export. The scarcity of up-to-date information on this system's ecology, economy, and social characteristics contributes to inefficient management. We analyze whether the commercial snapper fishery on the Amazon continental shelf is socioecologically sustainable. For this, an assessment tool was used that can be applied to fishing systems with little data, the Fisheries Performance Indicators (FPI). The results showed that the critical points of this activity are mainly related to the Ecological indicator (2.3) and the Economic indicator (2.8). The best indicator was the Community (3.8). The problems that put at risk the permanence of the activity and its maintenance are: (i) fishing for juveniles; (ii) illegal vessels; (iii) lack of collaboration of the fishing sector with science, and (iv) unreliability of data supplied. All the points mentioned make the snapper fishery on the north coast of Brazil socio-ecologically unsustainable in the long term.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niedja Mescouto
- Postgraduate Program in Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries, Center for Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries in the Amazon, Laboratory of Fisheries Biology and Management of Aquatic Resources, Group for Ecology and Fisheries Management in the Amazon, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Ualerson Iran Peixoto
- Postgraduate Program in Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries, Center for Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries in the Amazon, Laboratory of Fisheries Biology and Management of Aquatic Resources, Group for Ecology and Fisheries Management in the Amazon, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Diego Gomes Trindade
- Postgraduate Program in Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries, Center for Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries in the Amazon, Laboratory of Fisheries Biology and Management of Aquatic Resources, Group for Ecology and Fisheries Management in the Amazon, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Hanna Moura
- Postgraduate Program in Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries, Center for Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries in the Amazon, Laboratory of Fisheries Biology and Management of Aquatic Resources, Group for Ecology and Fisheries Management in the Amazon, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Bianca Bentes
- Postgraduate Program in Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries, Center for Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries in the Amazon, Laboratory of Fisheries Biology and Management of Aquatic Resources, Group for Ecology and Fisheries Management in the Amazon, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
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Couture F, Christensen V, Walters C. The combined effects of predation, fishing, and ocean productivity on salmon species targeted by marine mammals in the northeast Pacific. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0296358. [PMID: 38483870 PMCID: PMC10939214 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Along the northeast Pacific coast, the salmon-eating southern resident killer whale population (SRKW, Orcinus orca) have been at very low levels since the 1970s. Previous research have suggested that reduction in food availability, especially of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), could be the main limiting factor for the SRKW population. Using the ecosystem modelling platform Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE), this study evaluated if the decline of the Pacific salmon populations between 1979 and 2020 may have been impacted by a combination of factors, including marine mammal predation, fishing activities, and climatic patterns. We found that the total mortality of most Chinook salmon populations has been relatively stable for all mature returning fish despite strong reduction in fishing mortality since the 1990s. This mortality pattern was mainly driven by pinnipeds, with increases in predation between 1979 and 2020 mortality ranging by factors of 1.8 to 8.5 across the different Chinook salmon population groups. The predation mortality on fall-run Chinook salmon smolts originating from the Salish Sea increased 4.6 times from 1979 to 2020, whereas the predation mortality on coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) smolts increased by a factor of 7.3. The model also revealed that the north Pacific gyre oscillation (NPGO) was the most important large-scale climatic index affecting the stock productivity of Chinook salmon populations from California to northern British Columbia. Overall, the model provided evidence that multiple factors may have affected Chinook salmon populations between 1979 and 2020, and suggested that predation mortality by marine mammals could be an important driver of salmon population declines during that time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fanny Couture
- Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Marine Mammals Research Program, Ocean Wise Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Villy Christensen
- Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Carl Walters
- Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Stock A, Murray CC, Gregr EJ, Steenbeek J, Woodburn E, Micheli F, Christensen V, Chan KMA. Exploring multiple stressor effects with Ecopath, Ecosim, and Ecospace: Research designs, modeling techniques, and future directions. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 869:161719. [PMID: 36693571 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the cumulative effects of multiple stressors is a research priority in environmental science. Ecological models are a key component of tackling this challenge because they can simulate interactions between the components of an ecosystem. Here, we ask, how has the popular modeling platform Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) been used to model human impacts related to climate change, land and sea use, pollution, and invasive species? We conducted a literature review encompassing 166 studies covering stressors other than fishing mostly in aquatic ecosystems. The most modeled stressors were physical climate change (60 studies), species introductions (22), habitat loss (21), and eutrophication (20), using a range of modeling techniques. Despite this comprehensive coverage, we identified four gaps that must be filled to harness the potential of EwE for studying multiple stressor effects. First, only 12% of studies investigated three or more stressors, with most studies focusing on single stressors. Furthermore, many studies modeled only one of many pathways through which each stressor is known to affect ecosystems. Second, various methods have been applied to define environmental response functions representing the effects of single stressors on species groups. These functions can have a large effect on the simulated ecological changes, but best practices for deriving them are yet to emerge. Third, human dimensions of environmental change - except for fisheries - were rarely considered. Fourth, only 3% of studies used statistical research designs that allow attribution of simulated ecosystem changes to stressors' direct effects and interactions, such as factorial (computational) experiments. None made full use of the statistical possibilities that arise when simulations can be repeated many times with controlled changes to the inputs. We argue that all four gaps are feasibly filled by integrating ecological modeling with advances in other subfields of environmental science and in computational statistics.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Stock
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, AERL Building, 429-2202 Main Mall, Vancouver V6T 1Z4, BC, Canada.
| | - C C Murray
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Institute of Ocean Sciences, 9860 West Saanich Road, Sidney, BC V8L 5T5, Canada
| | - E J Gregr
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, AERL Building, 429-2202 Main Mall, Vancouver V6T 1Z4, BC, Canada; SciTech Environmental Consulting, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - J Steenbeek
- Ecopath International Initiative (EII) Research Association, Barcelona, Spain
| | - E Woodburn
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, AERL Building, 429-2202 Main Mall, Vancouver V6T 1Z4, BC, Canada
| | - F Micheli
- Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA; Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
| | - V Christensen
- Ecopath International Initiative (EII) Research Association, Barcelona, Spain; Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - K M A Chan
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, AERL Building, 429-2202 Main Mall, Vancouver V6T 1Z4, BC, Canada; Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Assessing the Trophic Impact of Bleaching: The Model Pair Berghia stephanieae/ Exaiptasia diaphana. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:ani13020291. [PMID: 36670832 PMCID: PMC9854479 DOI: 10.3390/ani13020291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2022] [Revised: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Bleaching events associated with climate change are increasing worldwide, being a major threat to tropical coral reefs. Nonetheless, the indirect impacts promoted by the bleaching of organisms hosting photosynthetic endosymbionts, such as those impacting trophic interactions, have received considerably less attention by the scientific community. Bleaching significantly affects the nutritional quality of bleached organisms. The consequences promoted by such shifts remain largely overlooked, namely on specialized predators that have evolved to prey upon organisms hosting photosynthetic endosymbionts and benefit nutritionally, either directly or indirectly, from the available pool of photosynthates. In the present study, we advocate the use of the model predator-prey pair featuring the stenophagous nudibranch sea slug Berghia stephanieae that preys upon the photosymbiotic glass anemone Exaiptasia diaphana to study the impacts of bleaching on trophic interactions. These model organisms are already used in other research fields, and one may benefit from knowledge available on their physiology, omics, and culture protocols under controlled laboratory conditions. Moreover, B. stephanieae can thrive on either photosymbiotic or aposymbiotic (bleached) glass anemones, which can be easily maintained over long periods in the laboratory (unlike photosymbiotic corals). As such, one can investigate if and how nutritional shifts induced by bleaching impact highly specialized predators (stenophagous species), as well as if and how such effects cascade over consecutive generations. Overall, by using this model predator-prey pair one can start to truly unravel the trophic effects of bleaching events impacting coral reef communities, as well as their prevalence over time.
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Effects of Hypoxia on Coral Photobiology and Oxidative Stress. BIOLOGY 2022; 11:biology11071068. [PMID: 36101446 PMCID: PMC9312924 DOI: 10.3390/biology11071068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Global ocean oxygen (O2) content is decreasing as climate change drives declines in oxygen solubility, strengthened stratification of seawater masses, increased biological oxygen consumption and coastal eutrophication. Studies on the biological effects of nocturnal decreased oxygen concentrations (hypoxia) on coral reefs are very scarce. Coral reefs are fundamental for supporting one quarter of all marine species and essential for around 275 million people worldwide. This study investigates acute physiological and photobiological responses of a scleractinian coral (Acropora spp.) to overnight hypoxic conditions (<2 mg/L of O2). Bleaching was not detected, and visual and physical aspects of corals remained unchanged under hypoxic conditions. Most photobiological-related parameters also did not show significant changes between treatments. In addition to this, no significant differences between treatments were observed in the pigment composition. However, hypoxic conditions induced a significant decrease in coral de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle pigments and increase in DNA damage. Although the present findings suggest that Acropora spp. is resilient to some extent to short-term daily oxygen oscillations, long-term exposure to hypoxia, as predicted to occur with climate change, may still have deleterious effects on corals.
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Ullah H, Fordham DA, Nagelkerken I. Climate change negates positive CO 2 effects on marine species biomass and productivity by altering the strength and direction of trophic interactions. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 801:149624. [PMID: 34419906 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2020] [Revised: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
One of the biggest challenges in more accurately forecasting the effects of climate change on future food web dynamics relates to how climate change affects multi-trophic species interactions, particularly when multiple interacting stressors are considered. Using a dynamic food web model, we investigate the individual and combined effect of ocean warming and acidification on changes in trophic interaction strengths (both direct and indirect) and the consequent effects on biomass structure of food web functional groups. To do this, we mimicked a species-rich multi-trophic-level temperate shallow-water rocky reef food web and integrated empirical data from mesocosm experiments on altered species interactions under warming and acidification, into food-web models. We show that a low number of strong temperature-driven changes in direct trophic interactions (feeding and competition) will largely determine the magnitude of biomass change (either increase or decrease) of high-order consumers, with increasing consumer biomass suppressing that of prey species. Ocean acidification, in contrast, alters a large number of weak indirect interactions (e.g. cascading effects of increased or decreased abundances of other groups), enabling a large increase in consumer and prey biomass. The positive effects of ocean acidification are driven by boosted primary productivity, with energy flowing up to higher trophic levels. We show that warming is a much stronger driver of positive as well as negative modifications of species biomass compared to ocean acidification. Warming affects a much smaller number of existing trophic interactions, though, with direct consumer-resource effects being more important than indirect effects. We conclude that the functional role of consumers in future food webs will be largely regulated by alterations in the strength of direct trophic interactions under ocean warming, with ensuing effects on the biomass structure of marine food webs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadayet Ullah
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and the Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Damien A Fordham
- School of Biological Sciences and the Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Ivan Nagelkerken
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences and the Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia; School of Biological Sciences and the Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
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Xu P, Xie M, Zhou W, Suo A. Research on Fishery Resource Assessment and Sustainable Utilization (FRASU) during 1990–2020: A bibliometric review. Glob Ecol Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
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Loeffler CR, Tartaglione L, Friedemann M, Spielmeyer A, Kappenstein O, Bodi D. Ciguatera Mini Review: 21st Century Environmental Challenges and the Interdisciplinary Research Efforts Rising to Meet Them. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:3027. [PMID: 33804281 PMCID: PMC7999458 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18063027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Revised: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Globally, the livelihoods of over a billion people are affected by changes to marine ecosystems, both structurally and systematically. Resources and ecosystem services, provided by the marine environment, contribute nutrition, income, and health benefits for communities. One threat to these securities is ciguatera poisoning; worldwide, the most commonly reported non-bacterial seafood-related illness. Ciguatera is caused by the consumption of (primarily) finfish contaminated with ciguatoxins, potent neurotoxins produced by benthic single-cell microalgae. When consumed, ciguatoxins are biotransformed and can bioaccumulate throughout the food-web via complex pathways. Ciguatera-derived food insecurity is particularly extreme for small island-nations, where fear of intoxication can lead to fishing restrictions by region, species, or size. Exacerbating these complexities are anthropogenic or natural changes occurring in global marine habitats, e.g., climate change, greenhouse-gas induced physical oceanic changes, overfishing, invasive species, and even the international seafood trade. Here we provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century regarding the many facets of ciguatera, including the complex nature of this illness, the biological/environmental factors affecting the causative organisms, their toxins, vectors, detection methods, human-health oriented responses, and ultimately an outlook towards the future. Ciguatera research efforts face many social and environmental challenges this century. However, several future-oriented goals are within reach, including digital solutions for seafood supply chains, identifying novel compounds and methods with the potential for advanced diagnostics, treatments, and prediction capabilities. The advances described herein provide confidence that the tools are now available to answer many of the remaining questions surrounding ciguatera and therefore protection measures can become more accurate and routine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher R. Loeffler
- National Reference Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins, Department Safety in the Food Chain, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Max-Dohrn-Str. 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany; (A.S.); (O.K.); (D.B.)
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Napoli Federico II, Via D. Montesano 49, 80131 Napoli, Italy;
| | - Luciana Tartaglione
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Napoli Federico II, Via D. Montesano 49, 80131 Napoli, Italy;
- CoNISMa—National Inter-University Consortium for Marine Sciences, Piazzale Flaminio 9, 00196 Rome, Italy
| | - Miriam Friedemann
- Department Exposure, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Max-Dohrn-Str. 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany;
| | - Astrid Spielmeyer
- National Reference Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins, Department Safety in the Food Chain, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Max-Dohrn-Str. 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany; (A.S.); (O.K.); (D.B.)
| | - Oliver Kappenstein
- National Reference Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins, Department Safety in the Food Chain, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Max-Dohrn-Str. 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany; (A.S.); (O.K.); (D.B.)
| | - Dorina Bodi
- National Reference Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins, Department Safety in the Food Chain, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Max-Dohrn-Str. 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany; (A.S.); (O.K.); (D.B.)
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Han M, Zhang R, Yu K, Li A, Wang Y, Huang X. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in corals of the South China Sea: Occurrence, distribution, bioaccumulation, and considerable role of coral mucus. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2020; 384:121299. [PMID: 31585293 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2019] [Revised: 09/09/2019] [Accepted: 09/22/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Coral reefs have suffered degradation from climate change and water quality deterioration. Studies have shown that PAHs are present widely in some coastal seawater and coral tissues. However, no studies have focused on the PAHs in coastal coral mucus and offshore coral tissues. Targeting the South China Sea, this study for the first time investigated the occurrence, tissue-mucus partitioning, and bioaccumulation of PAHs in coastal and offshore corals. The tissue and mucus of the corals were processed separately. The results indicated that the total concentration of 15 of the 16 PAHs that are prioritized by U.S. EPA (excluding naphthalene) (∑15PAHs) was significantly higher in the coastal tissues (173 ± 314 ng g-1 dw) than in the offshore tissues (71 ± 109 ng g-1 dw), as well as in coastal seawater (196 ± 96 ng L-1) than in the offshore water (54 ± 9 ng L-1). ∑15PAHs is two orders of magnitude higher in the mucus (3200 ± 6470 ng g-1 dw) than in the tissues (128 ± 43 ng g-1 dw). By average, 29% of ∑15PAHs were accumulated in the mucus. The results suggest that mucus plays an important role in the bioaccumulation of PAHs by corals from ambient seawater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minwei Han
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Ruijie Zhang
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China; Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago 60612, USA.
| | - Kefu Yu
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.
| | - An Li
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago 60612, USA
| | - Yinghui Wang
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Xueyong Huang
- Guangxi Laboratory on the Study of Coral Reefs in the South China Sea, Coral Reef Research Center of China, School of Marine Sciences, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
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Fourriére M, Alvarado JJ, Cortés J, Taylor MH, Ayala-Bocos A, Azofeifa-Solano JC, Arauz R, Heidemeyer M, López-Garro A, Zanella I, Wolff M. Energy flow structure and role of keystone groups in shallow water environments in Isla del Coco, Costa Rica, Eastern Tropical Pacific. Ecol Modell 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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