Atlantic Tarpon in Cuban fisheries: a historically exploited and very vulnerable species

IF 4.8 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 OCEANOGRAPHY

Ocean & Coastal Management Pub Date : 2024-09-27 DOI:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2024.107386

Zenaida María Navarro-Martínez , Dorka Cobián-Rojas , Servando Valle , Eddy García-Alfonso , Aaron Adams , Thomas K. Frazer , Jorge Angulo-Valdés

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Atlantic Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) is a well-known sport-fish species, but for most of the Cuban people it is best known for consumption. Currently, it is listed as vulnerable by Cuban fishery authorities, despite the lack of studies on its ecology and management. A critical knowledge gap is the characterization of the Atlantic Tarpon commercial fishery, including estimates of the fishery's distribution, catch yield, seasonality, historical trends, and size composition. Therefore, this contribution characterizes Cuban Atlantic Tarpon state and private commercial fisheries through the assessment of these factors. Firstly, we visited 42 Cuban fishing ports (and nearby areas) during 2016–2017 and recovered information from fishers about Atlantic Tarpon perceived abundance, seasonality, and incidence in fisheries. Secondly, we analyzed the Atlantic Tarpon captures from the state (1981–2021) and private (2014–2021) commercial fisheries in Cuba. Lastly, we analyzed captures from Villa Clara, where one of the enterprises with higher capture reports occurs (EPICAI), to assess Atlantic Tarpon size composition (2016–2022). Atlantic Tarpon is distributed and captured along all of Cuba's shelf, and the fishery is following a decreasing trend, similar to the Cuban total finfish fisheries. Site-specific dynamics were observed in historical trends and seasonality, with the northeastern and southeastern areas the most important in terms of Atlantic Tarpon captures. Villa Clara samples resulted in numerous Atlantic Tarpon smaller than both its minimum size at maturity (75% < 880 mm) and its minimum legal size for Cuban fisheries (36.77% < 430 mm). The sustainability of Atlantic Tarpon as a fishing resource is of huge concern since it is a very vulnerable species in Cuban fisheries, protected by minor and in some cases ineffective regulations (very small legal minimum size), with synergistic pressures occurring locally, and under the perspective of worse scenarios.

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古巴渔业中的大西洋鲢鱼：历史上曾被开发但非常脆弱的鱼种

大西洋鲢（Megalops atlanticus）是一种著名的运动鱼类，但对大多数古巴人来说，它最著名的用途是食用。目前，尽管缺乏对其生态和管理的研究，古巴渔业当局仍将其列为易危物种。一个关键的知识缺口是大西洋鲢商业渔业的特征，包括对渔业分布、渔获量、季节性、历史趋势和大小组成的估计。因此，本报告通过对这些因素的评估，描述了古巴大西洋鲢国营和私营商业渔业的特征。首先，我们在 2016-2017 年期间访问了 42 个古巴渔港（及附近地区），并从渔民处获取了有关大西洋鲢的认知丰度、季节性和渔业发生率的信息。其次，我们分析了古巴国营（1981-2021 年）和私营（2014-2021 年）商业渔业捕获的大西洋鲢鱼。最后，我们分析了捕获量报告较多的企业（EPICAI）之一比利亚克拉拉的捕获量，以评估大西洋鲢的体型组成（2016-2022 年）。大西洋鲢鱼分布在古巴所有大陆架上并被捕捞，其捕捞量呈下降趋势，与古巴有鳍鱼类渔业总量类似。在历史趋势和季节性方面观察到了特定地点的动态变化，东北部和东南部地区的大西洋鲢捕获量最大。在 Villa Clara 的样本中，有大量大西洋鲢鱼小于其成熟时的最小尺寸（75% < 880 毫米）和古巴渔业的最小合法尺寸（36.77% < 430 毫米）。大西洋鲢作为一种渔业资源，其可持续性令人极为担忧，因为在古巴渔业中，大西洋鲢是一种非常脆弱的鱼种，受到较小的保护，在某些情况下甚至受到无效法规的保护（法定最小尺寸非常小），在当地出现协同压力，并面临更糟糕的情况。

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来源期刊

Ocean & Coastal Management 环境科学-海洋学

CiteScore

8.50

自引率

15.20%

发文量

321

审稿时长

60 days

期刊介绍： Ocean & Coastal Management is the leading international journal dedicated to the study of all aspects of ocean and coastal management from the global to local levels. We publish rigorously peer-reviewed manuscripts from all disciplines, and inter-/trans-disciplinary and co-designed research, but all submissions must make clear the relevance to management and/or governance issues relevant to the sustainable development and conservation of oceans and coasts. Comparative studies (from sub-national to trans-national cases, and other management / policy arenas) are encouraged, as are studies that critically assess current management practices and governance approaches. Submissions involving robust analysis, development of theory, and improvement of management practice are especially welcome.