Marine Conservation

Fish Is Food - The FAO’s Fish Price Index

by Sigbjorn Tveteras

Co-authored with Frank Asche, Marc F. Bellemare, Martin D. Smith, Atle G. Guttormsen, Audun Lem, Kristin Lien, Stefania Vannuccini

World food prices hit an all-time high in February 2011 and are still almost two and a half times those of 2000.... more World food prices hit an all-time high in February 2011 and are still almost two and a half times those of 2000. Although three billion people worldwide use seafood as a key source of animal protein, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations–which compiles prices for other major food categories–has not tracked seafood prices. We fill this gap by developing an index of global seafood prices that can help to understand food crises and may assist in averting them. The fish price index (FPI) relies on trade statistics because seafood is heavily traded internationally, exposing non-traded seafood to price competition from imports and exports. Easily updated trade data can thus proxy for domestic seafood prices that are difficult to observe in many regions and costly to update with global coverage. Calculations of the extent of price competition in different countries support the plausibility of reliance on trade data. Overall, the FPI shows less volatility and fewer price spikes than other food price indices including oils, cereals, and dairy. The FPI generally reflects seafood scarcity, but it can also be separated into indices by production technology, fish species, or region. Splitting FPI into capture fisheries and aquaculture suggests increased scarcity of capture fishery resources in recent years, but also growth in aquaculture that is keeping pace with demand. Regionally, seafood price volatility varies, and some prices are negatively correlated. These patterns hint that regional supply shocks are consequential for seafood prices in spite of the high degree of seafood tradability.

Fortress conservation at sea: a commentary on the Chagos Marine Protected Area

by Elizabeth De Santo

Co-authored with Peter JS Jones and Alice MM Miller

The world’s largest no-take Marine Protected Area in Chagos is examined in light of the Convention on Biological... more The world’s largest no-take Marine Protected Area in Chagos is examined in light of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s provisions on Access and Benefit Sharing, as well as terrestrial experiences with fortress conservation. It is acknowledged that this closure presents a unique opportunity to preserve an ecologically ‘pristine’ area. However, the means by which the political process unfolded are brought into question. In particular, the fact that the UK proceeded with designating the area whilst the European Court of Human Rights was deliberating the right of native Chagossians to return to the island is questioned. In addition it is argued that the scale of the area poses significant management and enforcement challenges, which are not necessarily taken into consideration in the rush for large, no-take
Marine Protected Areas.

Implications of the Tenth Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10) for coastal management and MPAs

by Elizabeth De Santo

In considering the implications of COP 10 for coastal one management and marine protected areas, this article provides... more In considering the implications of COP 10 for coastal one management and marine protected areas, this article provides a summary of key areas of discussion at the COP concerned with marine and coastal biodiversity, including protected areas. This article also explores the COP's implications for furthering marine and coastal biodiversity in the run-up to Rio+20 in 2012, as well as its contribution to the international regime for marine spatial planning currently under development.

From paper parks to private conservation: the role of NGOs in adapting marine protected area strategies to climate change.

by Elizabeth De Santo

This article focuses on the politics of protected areas in the marine environment, examining the influence exerted by... more This article focuses on the politics of protected areas in the marine environment, examining the influence exerted by large international environmental NGOs as drivers of the international political process for marine conservation, especially with regard to the creation of increasingly largeMPAs and the growing trend toward private conservation initiatives.

NOAA in the Caribbean Newsletter

by Simon J. Pittman

Editor-in-Chief: Dr Simon Pittman; Production Editor: Alicia Clarke

This is the 1st Issue of a new tri-annual publication called NOAA in the Caribbean Newsletter.  It is a product... more This is the 1st Issue of a new tri-annual publication called NOAA in the Caribbean Newsletter.  It is a product of the NOAA in the Caribbean Initiative and it aims to engage and educate regional stakeholders about on-the-ground science, management and operations led by NOAA throughout the Caribbean. Content includes stories on NOAA and partner activities; partnership profiles; new data and geoportals with Caribbean data; news from around the Caribbean and announcements of upcoming events and funding opportunities.

Sustainable Use of European Seas and the role of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

by Corinne Baulcomb

This is a technical report on the state of Europe's regional seas to which I contributed

Rapid population level responses to the closure of a lobster fishery via a no-take zone.

by Ross Coleman

Co-authored by Miles Hoskin, Elizabeth von Carlshausen, and Chris Davis. Published in Canadian Journal of Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries

In 2003, an area adjacent to Lundy Island was designated as the United Kingdom’s first no-take zone (NTZ) for more In 2003, an area adjacent to Lundy Island was designated as the United Kingdom’s first no-take zone (NTZ) for
nature conservation. The only significant fishery at Lundy was for lobster (Homarus gammarus L.) and various crabs. The
Lundy NTZ provided an opportunity to test hypotheses about the recovery of crustacean populations from fishing. Using
an experimental potting program, we simultaneously compared changes in the crustacean populations within the NTZ with
those in proximal control (Near Control) locations and two distant control (Far Control) locations. Comparisons were replicated
over 4 years, and the results analysed using asymmetrical analysis of variance. There was evidence of a rapid, large
increase in the abundance and sizes of legal-sized lobsters within the NTZ, and evidence of spillover of sublegal lobsters
from the NTZ to adjacent areas. The NTZ also appeared to cause a small, but significant increase in the size of brown
crab (Cancer pagurus L.) and a decrease in the abundance of velvet crabs (Necora puber L.) (the latter potentially owing
to predation and (or) competition from lobsters). Unlike many previous studies, these results are unambiguous, owing to a
robust asymmetrical experimental design. We suggest that regulatory and conservation agencies use this approach, which
we have demonstrated to be relatively straightforward, whenever the NTZ requiring evaluation cannot be replicated.

Effects of small, Fijian community-based marine protected areas on exploited reef fishes

by Cody Clements

Co-authored with: Victor Bonito, Rikki Grober-Dunsmore, and Milika Sobey
Published in: Marine Ecology Progress Series (2012)

No-take marine protected areas (MPAs) are commonly applied in community-based management schemes to sustain and... more No-take marine protected areas (MPAs) are commonly applied in community-based management schemes to sustain and enhance coral-reef fisheries. However, many MPAs in Fiji and the South Pacific are relatively small (≤1 km2), and few data exist regarding the effects of these MPAs on populations of exploited species. We used hook-and-line fishing surveys to assess whether 4 relatively small (<1 km2) community-based MPAs in Fiji (3 current, 1 former) were providing any commonly sought benefits to exploited reef-fish stocks. All of the MPAs had maintained no-take status for over 4 yr, although the former MPA was opened to fishing 4 mo before this study. The current MPAs exhibited significantly greater catch and biomass per unit effort, individual fish biomass, and/or percentage of reproductive-size fish than paired, adjacent fished areas, while this was not the case with the former MPA. Sites with intact MPAs also exhibited greater catch diversity than the former MPA site. Additionally, tag and recapture data from the 17 recaptured of 2650 tagged fish suggest site fidelity of these fishes, although fishes initially captured in the MPA at all 4 sites were later caught in fished areas, indicating that there is movement of fishes from the MPAs to fished areas. While the combination of these findings supports the utility of even relatively small MPAs as effective tools for the conservation of certain target species, it also suggests that MPA benefits may be quickly depleted and that even closures of extended duration may be insufficient for long-term fisheries management if the MPAs are not maintained.

Range-edge genetic diversity: locally poor extant southern patches maintain a regionally diverse hotspot in the seagrass Zostera marina

by Onno Diekmann

Molecular Ecology (2012) doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05500.x

Refugial populations at the rear edge are predicted to contain higher genetic diversity
than those resulting from... more Refugial populations at the rear edge are predicted to contain higher genetic diversity
than those resulting from expansion, such as in post-glacial recolonizations. However,
peripheral populations are also predicted to have decreased diversity compared to the
centre of a species’ distribution. We aim to test these predictions by comparing genetic
diversity in populations at the limits of distribution of the seagrass Zostera marina, with
populations in the species’ previously described central diversity ‘hotspot’. Zostera
marina populations show decreased allelic richness, heterozygosity and genotypic
richness in both the ‘rear’ edge and the ‘leading’ edge compared to the diversity ‘hotspot’
in the North Sea ⁄ Baltic region. However, when populations are pooled, genetic diversity
at the southern range is as high as in the North Sea ⁄ Baltic region while the ‘leading edge’
remains low in genetic diversity. The decreased genetic diversity in these southern
Iberian populations compared to more central populations is possibly the effect of drift
because of small effective population size, as a result of reduced habitat, low sexual
reproduction and low gene flow. However, when considering the whole southern edge of
distribution rather than per population, diversity is as high as in the central ‘hotspot’ in
the North Sea ⁄ Baltic region. We conclude that diversity patterns assessed per population
can mask the real regional richness that is typical of rear edge populations, which have
played a key role in the species biogeographical history and as marginal diversity
hotspots have very high conservation value.

Williams, J. P., J. T. Claisse, D. J. Pondella, L. Medeiros, C. F. Valle and M. A. Shane. 2012. Patterns of Life History and Habitat Use of an Important Recreational Fishery Species, Spotfin Croaker, and Their Potential Fishery Implications. Marine and Coastal Fisheries 4(1):71-84.

by Jeremy T. Claisse

Abstract Spotfin croakers Roncador stearnsii, a prized recreational catch, were collected throughout the Southern... more Abstract Spotfin croakers Roncador stearnsii, a prized recreational catch, were collected throughout the Southern California Bight, primarily as bycatch from a long-term, scientific gill-net collection effort. The maximum otolith-based age in the present study was 24 years?14 years greater than in a previous scale-based aging study. Multiple models were used to estimate mean length at age, including models that utilize larvae as well as juveniles and adults, and the model selection results suggest sexual dimorphism in growth patterns. The juvenile and adult catch per unit effort reflected a clear pattern of habitat selectivity, with fish strongly preferring soft-bottom habitats. Catches in rocky-reef areas were limited but tended to increase with water temperature. The data also suggest that spotfin croakers segregate themselves sexually during the spawning season, when recreational fishing from jetties will target males and fish caught in bays and estuaries are more likely to be spawning females. These results provide further evidence for the importance of protection and restoration efforts for estuaries and bays along this well-developed coastline. The growth of larvae captured in plankton tows in July and September 2004 was substantially faster than that of larvae sampled in May, which coincided with warmer sea surface temperatures, highlighting a potentially important relationship relating temperature (and therefore geography) and settlement success

The Hunt: Changes in the Cultural Importance of Whales Amongst Canadian Inuit between 1982-2008

by Knut Tjensvoll Kitching

Statistical power and sea turtle nesting beach surveys: How long and when?

by Michelle Sims

Biological Conservation, 2008

Identifying long-term population trends is essential for the conservation of species of concern. With money and... more Identifying long-term population trends is essential for the conservation of species of concern. With money and personnel often in short supply, the success of a monitoring program to provide an estimate of population trend requires an efficient survey design that can detect biologically important changes within some prescribed budgetary framework. In this paper we illustrate how costs can be reduced while maintaining an efficient design using a nesting beach survey of female hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the Eastern Caribbean as a specific example. We compared the statistical power of the current, intensive protocol with those of shorter duration and differing start date to generate general guidelines on sampling. Counts of individual turtles from 1987–2003 were analyzed using Poisson log-linear regression and models with both fixed and random effects describing the temporal variability were explored. We estimate that the current 20 week saturation-tagging survey design could detect a 3% per annum growth with acceptable statistical power (>0.8) in less than 14 years. However, by changing the current survey start date and counting for only 10 weeks, it is possible to detect similar trends with little loss of power while reducing monitoring costs by 25–50%. Our analyses indicate that the statistical power of surveys for hawksbills is influenced by the timing and duration of the survey because of their effect on the proportion of the annual number of nesting females that the survey captures. This simplifies estimating the power of a prospective survey program.

Dynamic habitat models: using telemetry data to project fisheries bycatch

by Michelle Sims

Proceedings of the Royal society B, 2011

Fisheries bycatch is a recognized threat to marine megafauna. Addressing bycatch of pelagic species however is... more Fisheries bycatch is a recognized threat to marine megafauna. Addressing bycatch of pelagic species however is challenging owing to the dynamic nature of marine environments and vagility of these organisms. In order to assess the potential for species to overlap with fisheries, we propose applying dynamic habitat models to determine relative probabilities of species occurrence for specific oceanographic conditions. We demonstrate this approach by modelling habitats for Laysan (Phoebastria immutabilis) and black-footed albatrosses (Phoebastria nigripes) using telemetry data and relating their occurrence probabilities to observations of Hawaii-based longline fisheries in 1997–2000. We found that modelled habitat preference probabilities of black-footed albatrosses were high within some areas of the fishing range of the Hawaiian fleet and such preferences were important in explaining bycatch occurrence. Conversely, modelled habitats of Laysan albatrosses overlapped little with Hawaii-based longline fisheries and did little to explain the bycatch of this species. Estimated patterns of albatross habitat overlap with the Hawaiian fleet corresponded to bycatch observations: black-footed albatrosses were more frequently caught in this fishery despite being 10 times less abundant than Laysan albatrosses. This case study demonstrates that dynamic habitat models based on telemetry data may help to project interactions with pelagic animals relative to environmental features and that such an approach can serve as a tool to guide conservation and management decisions.

Leatherback nests increasing significantly in Florida, USA; trends assessed over 30 years using multilevel modeling

by Michelle Sims

Ecological Applications, 2011

Understanding population status for endangered species is critical to developing and evaluating recovery plans... more Understanding population status for endangered species is critical to developing and evaluating recovery plans mandated by the Endangered Species Act. For sea turtles, changes in abundance are difficult to detect because most life stages occur in the water. Currently, nest counts are the most reliable way of assessing trends. We determined the rate of growth for leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) nest numbers in Florida (USA) using a multilevel Poisson regression. We modeled nest counts from 68 beaches over 30 years and, using beach-level covariates (including latitude), we allowed for partial pooling of information between neighboring beaches. This modeling approach is ideal for nest count data because it recognizes the hierarchical structure of the data while incorporating variables related to survey effort. Nesting has increased at all 68 beaches in Florida, with trends ranging from 3.1% to 16.3% per year. Overall, across the state, the number of nests has been increasing by 10.2% per year since 1979. Despite being a small population (probably ,1000 individuals), this nesting population may help achieve objectives in the federal recovery plan. This exponential growth rate mirrors trends observed for other Atlantic populations and may be driven partially by improved protection of nesting beaches. However, nesting is increasing even where beach protection has not been enhanced. Climate variability and associated marine food web dynamics, which could enhance productivity and reduce predators, may be driving this trend.

Multiple Origins of Vagrant Subantarctic Fur Seals: a Long Journey to the Brazilian Coast Detected by Molecular Markers

by Felipe Martins

Conservation planning and viability: problems associated with identifying priority sites in Swaziland using species list data

by Bob Smith

Smith, RJ, Monadjem, A, Magagula, CN, Mahlaba, TAM (2010). Conservation planning and viability: problems associated with identifying priority sites in Swaziland using species list data. African Journal of Ecology, 48, 709-717.

Conservation planning assessments based on species atlas data are known to select planning units containing ecotones... more Conservation planning assessments based on species atlas data are known to select planning units containing ecotones because these areas are relatively species-rich. However, this richness is often dependent on the presence of adjoining core habitat, so populations within these ecotones might not be viable. This suggests that atlas data may also fail to distinguish between planning units that are highly transformed by agriculture or urbanization with those from neighbouring untransformed units. These highly transformed units could also be identified as priority sites, based solely on the presence of species that require adjoining habitat patches to persist. This potential problem was investigated using bird and mammal atlas data from Swaziland and a landcover map and found that: (i) there was no correlation between planning unit species richness and proportion of natural landcover for both taxa; (ii) the priority areas that were identified for both birds and mammals were no less transformed than if the units had been chosen at random and (iii) an approach that aimed to meet conservation targets and minimize transformation levels failed to identify more viable priority areas. This third result probably arose because 4.8% of the bird species and 22% of the mammal species were recorded in only one planning unit, reducing the opportunity to choose between units when aiming to represent each species. Therefore, it is suggested that using species lists to design protected area networks at a fine spatial scale may not conserve species effectively unless population viability data are explicitly included in the analysis.

Mapping the Extent of Coastal Regulation Zone Violations of the Indian Coast

by Nandakumar D

Fury, C.A. and Reif, J. (2012) Dolphin poxvirus-like lesions linked to flood events. Science of the Total Environment. 416:536-540

by Christine Fury

We report on the incidence of poxvirus-like lesions assessed by photographic identification in two estuarine... more We report on the incidence of poxvirus-like lesions assessed by photographic identification in two estuarine populations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in Australia over a 3-year period. Poxvirus infections of odontocetes are characterized by pinhole or ring-like skin lesions that appear as solitary or coalesced circular gray blemishes. Environmental and physiological stressors are believed to contribute to their manifestation (Van Bressem et al., 2009b). A total of 187 boat-based surveys were completed from October 2003 to September 2006 in the Clarence River (CR) and Richmond River (RR) estuaries, with 720 dolphins sighted. Forty-six individuals, including calves, were identified in the CR and 23 in the RR. We investigated the temporal relationship between four flood events that occurred in the region during the study period and the occurrence of poxvirus-like skin lesions. Dolphin poxvirus-like lesions were not observed in these populations prior to 2004. Following flood events in 2004, 2005 and 2006, a total of 10 new cases were observed, 6 in the CR and 4 in the RR. Our data suggest that the occurrence of dolphin poxvirus-like lesions may be an indicator for climatic events such as flooding. Long-term follow-up of these estuarine populations is required to further clarify the factors leading to ‘outbreaks’ of poxvirus infections.

Historical Ecology of Late Holocene Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris) from Northern British Columbia: Isotopic and Zooarchaeological Perspectives

by Iain McKechnie

Szpak, Paul, Trevor J. Orchard, Iain McKechnie and Darren R. Gröcke
(2012) Historical Ecology of Late Holocene Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris) from Northern British Columbia: Isotopic and Zooarchaeological Perspectives. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(5):1553–1571.

Abstract:

We examined the isotopic composition of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bone collagen from ten late... more Abstract:

We examined the isotopic composition of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bone collagen from ten late Holocene (ca. 5200 years BP – AD 1900) archaeological sites in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada. Because sea otters are now extinct from much of this region and have not fully re-colonized their former range (e.g. Haida Gwaii and most of northern BC) these data represent an important first step towards better understanding sea otter foraging ecology in BC. The isotopic data suggest a diet composed primarily of benthic invertebrates, with a very low reliance on epibenthic fish. There is very low isotopic and thus inter-individual dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters during the late Holocene. Furthermore, zooarchaeological abundance data suggest that otters represented a widespread and significant focus of aboriginal hunting practices on the northern BC coast during the mid-to late-Holocene. The consistent reliance on a small number of low trophic level prey and limited dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters, may reflect top-down impacts on otter populations by aboriginal peoples. As part of our assessment of sea otter diet, we review trophic discrimination factors (Δ13C and Δ15N) for bone collagen from published literature and find marked variability, with mean values of 20 +3.7±1.6 for Δ13C (n=21) and +3.6±1.3 for Δ15N (n=15).

Keywords:
Sea Otter; British Columbia; Stable isotopes; Quantifying Isotopic Variability; Zooarchaeology; Historical ecology; Ecology of Fear

Coastal pollution limits pelagic larval dispersal

by Jon Puritz