Since March 2001, samples of the remaining oil from the wreck of the “Erika” have been collected along the Atlantic coastline in order to assess the natural degradation rate. Four years after the sinking of the tanker, chemical analyses of the oil revealed the influence of environmental parameters on the degradation kinetics. Among the diverse parameters controlling the fate of oil in the environment, biodegradation by microorganisms is known to play an important role. To investigate the role of microorganisms on “Erika” oil degradation, microbial mats from the Guérande salt marches were maintained in slurries containing the pollutant. From these slurries experiments, a low biodegradation rate of the “Erika” oil was detected indicating the degradation capacities of microbial mats. Biodiversity studies were conducted to further understand the biodegradation processes. Microbial mats from the Guérande salterns were maintained in microcosms to evaluate the impact of “Erika” oil on bacterial communities. Molecular analysis based on 16S rRNA and pufM encoding genes allowed fingerprinting of the bacterial and purple anoxygenic bacterial (PAB) communities respectively. These studies revealed bacterial diversity and communities changes showing the adaptation of microorganisms to the “Erika”.

The impact of Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck) on particle removal from the water column under different flow velocities was measured in the laboratory within a recirculating flume. At 20 °C, the filtration rates increased with current velocity up to 20−25 cm·s−1. Filtration rates remained the same at 26 °C. At high phytoplankton concentration (Cryptophyceae: 8 500−11 000 Cryptomonas sp. cells·mL−1), filtration rates were low (0.2−0.4 L·h−1 per standard individual of 1 g dry weight), whereas higher filtration rates (0.5−2.5 L·h−1 per standard individual) were observed with lower concentrations of the algae Prorocentrum minimum (Dinophyceae : 1 300−5 800 cells·mL−1). The filtration rates of M. galloprovincialis were affected by high phytoplankton loads, and exhibited a maximum related to current velocity. Our results suggest that mussels, feeding over a wide range of seston concentrations and flow velocities, show an adaptive behaviour in an area where environmental conditions are known to vary drastically.

Reared sea bass were submitted to six stressful situations: hyperoxia with or without hypercapnia, increased stocking density in an open flow or recirculating system, transfer to another tank and nodavirus injection. The potentially negative impact of these factors on the lives of sea bass was investigated by measuring 9 water parameters and 19 fish parameters including total serum protein (TSP). TSP has already been used to evaluate stress. The present study investigates data of previous and new experiments, concentrating on the potential use of TSP as a routine indicator to assess welfare in sea bass reared on fish farms. In the current experiment, oxygen and carbon dioxide were seen to affect levels of TSP, but alterations were too erratic to enable proper comparison, probably because they are normal components of the fish environment and become toxic only by dose increase. TSP decreased when stocking density increased. After transfer to another tank, TSP decreased to 14% for three weeks and then increased during the fourth week through compensative overproduction, before returning to normal levels after 2 months. The results confirmed that transfer is an important stress factor for fish, with cumulative effects for successive transfers. TSP alteration of nodavirus-injected fish depends on the type of symptoms, which can be divided into 3 groups: (i) dying fish, in which TSP increased sharply due to over-production of protein involved in non-specific defences and inflammation, then decreased dramatically before death; (ii) whirling fish, a group that included both fish that later died, in which TSP decreased, and fish that subsequently survived, in which TSP increased due to development of specific immunity; and (iii) asymptomatic fish, in which TPS was similar to control levels and which were probably insensitive to nodavirus and/or had developed defences. In this paper, different mechanisms of TSP alteration are proposed and the interest of TSP as a field parameter is discussed. TSP is a non-destructive parameter that is robust, easy to measure everywhere and cheap, representing a suitable way of monitoring the overall welfare of fish by its regular increase. It can be used only as a “warning” of poor rearing conditions, however, and further investigations would be needed to identify the specific stress or health disorder.

The main characteristics of the reproductive biology of Tilapia guineensis and Sarotherodon melanotheron have been studied in Ebrié lagoon (Ivory Coast), with a comparison between natural and cultured populations. In this lagoon, the two species breed throughout the year without interruption. However, seasonal variations in the intensity of the sexual activity have been observed and are more pronounced at the Layo aquaculture station, where the hydroclimate is more unstable than in other lagoon sectors studied. The proportion of mature individuals, the mean GSI, the relative fecundity and the spawning frequency are higher during the dry season than during the rainy season. In rearing enclosures, both species reach sexual maturity at a smaller size, and produce smaller but more numerous oocytes than in the wild. On the other hand, the relationship between the spawn weight and the female body weight are remarkably similar under both situations. For S. melanotheron, which is a male mouthbreeder, the number of brooded eggs or fry is positively related to the male body weight. In 2 m3 concrete tanks, the mean elapsed time between two successive spawnings is about 2 weeks for S. melanotheron and about 3 weeks for T. guineensis.

A 200 kHz digital echosounder (HTI) with two split-beam transducers was aimed horizontally to monitor the upstream migration activity of fish, from 24 April to 28 June, in Äijälänsalmi channel (mean width 35 m, length 700 m, and maximum depth 5 m) from large mesotrophic Lake Päijänne to small eutrophic Lake Jyväsjärvi. This study was part of a larger project which aims to analyse the movement of commercially unimportant fish species and reduce the abundance of these fish in L. Jyväsjärvi. Catch samples were collected with a trap net located immediately upstream from the acoustic beams. The most common species in the catch were roach (Rutilus rutilus), perch (Perca fluviatilis), bream (Abramis brama), ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus), and white bream (Abramis bjoerkna). The upstream migration of fish was correlated with water temperature (r = 0.40) with time lag of 1 d. In spring, L. Jyväsjärvi warmed faster than L. Päijänne, causing spawning migration from L. Päijänne to L. Jyväsjärvi. Clear diurnal rhythm in activity was observed. The migration rate through the channel peaked around dawn and dusk. Catch per unit effort of the trap net suggested that the peak of the spawning migration of different species was separate. Upstream migration was induced by the temperature difference between two lakes, and the activity of the migration was regulated by temperature changes and light rhythm.

A split-beam hydroacoustic system with automatic tracking of individual fish is being used to estimate the number of upstream migrating adult Pacific salmon in the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada. To determine the bias and variance of the estimates of migrating fish numbers produced by this system, we compare simultaneous acoustic and visual estimates. These data demonstrate that, as fish densities increased, both a 4° × 10° and an 8° transducer produced lower estimates than the visual count. However, in the region of fish densities typically observed for migrating salmon, the 4° × 10° transducer estimates did not differ significantly from the visual count. A detailed description of the experimental configuration is given, including how the acoustic and video data were synchronized. Analyses of the data indicate that the size and shape of the acoustic beam has a pronounced effect on the bias of the acoustic estimates. In addition, the performance of the tracking software deteriorates as fish densities become very high.

Hydroacoustic split-beam techniques have been applied to enumerate salmon migrating in the river Tana (northern Norway) during the summers 1998 and 1999. Analysing data by single echo detection and tracking was difficult. Missing echoes in tracks from fish, combined with noise in the output from the single echo detector was seen as reasons for this. An improved counting method is presented. Contours from moving targets are detected by image analysis. Then, detected single echoes within these contours are combined into tracks. This procedure reduces problems related to noise, and to tracking fish with few accepted single echoes.

We propose a simple method to quantify the morphology of 2-3-year-old carps (Cyprinus carpio) which is related to their fillet yield. This method is based on the automated image analysis of the lateral projection of the fish (mask). Seven morphological measurements specifically related to fillet yield of carps were defined. The comparison between this method and the conventional quantification of fish shape, based on measurements of skeletal landmarks, increases the significance of this fitting. From the analysis of the morphometric data, we propose a profitable carp morphotype which is defined by four angles and two distances which quantify the shape of the head and the position of the caudal peduncle, respectively. The main characteristic of this morphotype is the absence of a large dorsal development, and the ventral position of the caudal peduncle.

Bonamiosis is a parasitic disease (causative agent: Bonamia ostreae) affecting the European flat oyster Ostrea edulis, responsible for a drastic decline in its aquaculture production. Selective breeding programs for resistance to bonamiosis have been undertaken to counter this disease. In the present study, a 6-month cohabitation challenge experiment was performed in order to transmit the disease from wild oysters injected with the parasite to two tested families of oysters (20 and 8-month old at the beginning of the experiment, with different genetic backgrounds) originating from a selective breeding program developed by IFREMER in France. Mortalities were checked daily and ventricular heart smears were performed on dying or moribund oysters to detect the level of infection by B. ostreae. Mortality started after 4 months of cohabitation in the tested oysters. The cumulative mortalities after 6 months were 58% for the wild oysters, 9% for Family 1 (20-month old) and 20% for Family 2 (8-month old). In the dying oysters, the parasite could be detected in 67% of the wild oysters, 68% of Family 1 and 89% of Family 2. It was detected in only 11% of the surviving oysters of Family 2. The mortality and the level of infection by the parasite were significantly higher in Family 2 than in Family 1. Our results demonstrate that prespawning oysters as young as 1 year-old can become infected with the parasite and, most importantly, can die from bonamiosis. This result is inconsistent with the commonly accepted critical age of 2 years-old for the disease development. Additionally, no clear relationship between shell length and level of infection was observed. We also review the different methods for infection of the European flat oyster O. edulis with B. ostreae under experimental conditions and their main results.

Self-feeding systems allow fish to freely express feeding activity. A simple rod at the water surface can act as a trigger and provide fish with a way of obtaining pellets from a feeder. Such a rod presented to experienced European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, may lead to feed wastage, probably as a result of unintentional fish contacts with the trigger. Trigger protection screens have been designed to prevent fish contacting the trigger by chance, and the efficacy of such screens was tested. Nocturnal and diurnal feed delivery and feed wasted were compared under conditions where the rod was unprotected or protected by semi-cylindrical or cylindrical screens. Tests were conducted using an unrestricted self-feeding regime (reward: 0.2 g pellet per kg of body weight and per fish contact) in juvenile seabass (57 g body weight) fed for 28 days at 21.3 °C. Fish were subjected to a 4-h L:20-h D (light:dark) photoperiod. The daily feed demand pattern and the nocturnal and diurnal feed wastage were recorded. Fish activated the trigger predominantly at night, except in the case of one group exposed to a trigger protected by a semi-cylindrical screen. in the latter, triggering activity was progressively distributed throughout the light:dark cycle. The cylindrical screens markedly reduced feed wastage and seabass were able to locate and activate the trigger (even in total darkness) to obtain a reward.

Les pêcheries du delta central du Niger font l'objet d'une exploitation intensive depuis de nombreuses années. L'analyse des débarquements de poisson pendant les deux dernières décennies laisse apparaître de fortes fluctuations dans la production qui décroît régulièrement de 87 000 t en 1969–70 à 37 000 t en 1984–85. Deux causes peuvent être évoquées pour expliquer ce phénomène : l'apparition de la sécheresse en Afrique et/ou l'augmentation de la pression de pêche. Dans le premier cas, les captures annuelles et l'indice d'inondation des plaines, calculés en fonction du cycle hydrologique du delta (de juillet à juin), sont bien corrélés, ce qui s'explique a posteriori par la composition des captures qui s'effectuent à 69 % sur des poissons de moins de 1 an. Dans le second cas, certains éléments suggèrent qu'il y a eu une intensification importante de la pression de pêche sans que celle-ci puisse être chiffrée. La chute des captures totales ne semble pourtant pas due à une mauvaise exploitation des ressources. Les difficultés ressenties par les pêcheurs : réduction des prélèvements individuels qui passent de 1 900 kg/an en 1966 à 740 kg/an en 1989, nécessité de diversifier les activités en pratiquant l'agriculture ou de migrer vers les lacs de barrage ou à l'étranger, seraient donc dues à des phénomènes naturels (sécheresse) ayant entraîné par la suite des complications d'ordre sociologique et économique. De fait, la réduction des zones en eau provoque une diminution des sites exploitables et l'émergence de conflits entre villages ou familles pour l'accès à la ressource. Par ailleurs, un certain relâchement du contrôle des autorités traditionnelles lié à un accroissement démographique important aurait provoqué une augmentation du nombre de pêcheurs en vingt ans de l'ordre de 20 000 personnes (43 000 en 1966 contre 63 000 en 1989) conduisant à un partage difficile des captures par ailleurs en baisse.

This study was based on wild-caught blacklip abalone Haliotis rubra L., from Port Fairy waters, south eastern Australia (142°15'E; 38°21'S), from July 1998 to November 1999, and was initiated to evaluate the spawning season and other aspects of its reproductive biology. The shell length and body weight of female and male abalone sampled ranged from 12.0 to 18.6 and 12 to 15 cm, and 137 to 529 and 148 to 585 g, respectively. The sex ratio did not vary significantly from 1:1 through the year. The gonadosomatic index (GSI) ranged from 3.0% to 8.4% in males, and 2.5% to 14.1% for females, and the highest GSI as well as the highest proportion of mature animals were recorded from September to October. During these months the hepatosomatic index (HSI) was low, and an inverse correlation between GSI and HSI (P < 0.05) was evident. Fecundity of blacklip abalone ranged from 1.09 to 7.5 million eggs for females of 12–14.5 cm in length, and 115–487 g in total body weight, respectively. The lipid content of the female gonad increased significantly from about July to November, and an opposite trend was observed for lipid content of the digestive gland. Seasonal changes in the protein and ash contents of the gonad and/or the digestive gland were not always significant.

Adult, healthy Manila clams, Ruditapes philippinarum, were inoculated in the laboratory with different, possibly pathogenic bacteria species to study the cellular immune responses. Challenging the clams with Vibrio P1, the causative agent of brown ring disease, induced significant increased total hemocyte counts three days post-challenge. The triggering role of the number of bacteria in the inoculum suggested a threshold for inducing the host response. In addition, a significant decrease of hyalinocytes and an increase of granulocytes revealed a modification in hemocyte population balance. No response was observed in individuals that received either heat killed-Vibrio P1, V. anguillarum or V. pelagius. These experiments demonstrate in R. philippinarum the influence of bacterial parameters on the selective induction of host immunodefence mechanisms. The biological processes by which intra-pallial inoculation of Vibrio P1 stimulates the internal defence system of the host has not yet been identified but the role of some bacterial factors (toxins, adherence capacity) is discussed.

The depuration kinetics of the domoic acid from three body parts (i) digestive gland, (ii) adductor muscle+gonad+kidney+foot and (iii) gills+mantle of the scallop Pecten maximus was studied over 154 days. The scallops, which had accumulated the toxins during a Pseudo-nitzschia australis outbreak, were obtained from a natural bed and hung from a mussel raft in two locations (front and centre) and at three depths (2, 6 and 10 m). The time course of the depuration of domoic acid (DA), as well as the environmental variables, were monitored throughout the experiment. The whole body depurated the toxin very slowly (ca 0.007 day−1) decreasing its concentration from ca. 3200 µg DA g−1. Its kinetics was driven mostly by the digestive gland, which accounted for ca. 95% of the total toxin burden from the start of the experiment. Suspending the scallops from a raft increased the depuration rate of the whole body and digestive gland (ca. 30%) and of the edible tissues (15%). Increases of the depuration rate of domoic acid seem to be related to the pair of covariating variables temperature-salinity. Food amount does not seem to have a significant effect.

The paper explores the apparent contradiction between a high trawling pressure on juveniles and sustained production of hake that has occurred over the last decade in many Mediterranean fisheries. The practical consequences are followed of assuming rapid declines in natural mortality rate M in the first few years of life to a low, constant adult natural mortality, as well as the observation, for small-mesh trawl cod ends, of declining availability with age. Several approaches are proposed for fitting declining M-with-age with a reciprocal function for hake, using criteria based on mean life-time fecundity, mean age at egg production, existing estimates of adult M, and vectors based on stock productivity assumptions. All vectors of M-at-age were similar to MSVPA estimates of North Sea stocks.

The implications of the changes in mortality with age for stocks harvested by fine-mesh trawls wereexplored in yield per recruit calculations under 2 different hypotheses: 1) using current estimates of growth and adult mortality, 2) M-at-age vectors for juveniles, dropping rapidly from age 0+, and declining availability to trawling for older fish. These hypotheses were compared within yield per recruit analyses. Under the new assumptions, given current F>>M (adults), yield isopleths predict no significant increases in Y/R with stretched mesh > 40 mm, but a substantial decline in fecundity per recruit with small increases in effort by gill nets or longlines, aimed at mature fish. These results are linked to the refugium concept for older fish, and it is speculated that this may be in part responsible for the continued productivity of other sustained fisheries for juvenile resources elsewhere.

Sturgeon lack external sexual dimorphism and have longer-than-annual ovarian cycles. Using gonadal biopsy of marked fish, we identified sex and monitored ovarian development in one cohort of cultured Siberian sturgeon over the age interval 8.5-12.5 year. Sex ratio in the population did not differ from 1:1 (268 females and 286 males). Each November, the females were separated into two groups: one with ovarian follicle diameter ≥ 2.8 mm (Group 2, spawnable) and another with smaller follicles in previtellogenic or vitellogenic growth (Group 1). During the 5 year period of observations, 11.2 % of the initial 268 females were lost. The oocytes of Group 2 exhibited migratory germinal vesicle but its position in animal hemisphere was not peripheral in November. The annual changes in proportions of Group 2 females, from 34.6 to 63.3 %, reflected ovarian cycles of different duration. Majority of 196 females, matured two or more times during a period of study, exhibited biennial ovarian cycle or recurring cycles of 1 and 2 years in the same individual. Annual and triennial cycles were also observed. Some abnormalities in oocyte pigmentation are described.

Genetic parameters for carcass quality traits were estimated in 27 families of sea bass (3 dams × 9 sires factorial mating design), raised mixed in the same tanks starting before hatching. Offspring parentage was determined a posteriori using 6 microsatellite loci. Carcass quality traits were recorded at 818 days post fertilization (mean standard length: 32.6 ± 3.1 cm). Genetic parameters were estimated from the sire half sib variance and covariance components. Heritability of body weight (BW) and carcass processing traits (standardized to body weight) percent head weight (Head%), percent viscera weight (Viscera%) and percent visceral fat weight (VisceFat%) were relatively high ranging from 0.48 ± 0.15 (Viscera%) to (Head%); the estimate of heritability for fillet yield (Fillet%) was lower (0.25 ± 0.10) but was significantly greater than zero. Body weight was positively correlated to Fillet%, Viscera%, and VisceFat%, and negatively correlated to Head%. These results indicate that these carcass processing traits can be modified by directional selection and that selection for greater BW would lead to an increase of Fillet%, Viscera% and VisceFat% and a decrease of Head%.

Muscle lipid content (MuscleLipid%) was determined using two indirect methods: measurements with a Torry Fish Fatmeter® (TorryLipid) and determination of the percentage of dry matter content (MuscleDry%) via desiccation. Both measures were highly correlated to chemical measurements of MuscleLipid%. Regression analysis indicated a superior predictive value of TorryLipid suggesting that MuscleLipid% may be evaluated via rapid, non lethal measurements with a Torry Fish Fatmeter. Heritability estimates of TorryLipid and MuscleDry% differed significantly from zero (TorryLipid: 0.28 ± 0.12, MuscleDry%: 0.36 ± 0.14) indicating that MuscleLipid% could be lowered by directional selection. TorryLipid and MuscleDry% were weakly correlated to body weight and carcass processing traits suggesting that simultaneous improvement of MuscleLipid% and other carcass quality traits may require definition of multi-trait selection indices.

The Central Mediterranean provides important neritic habitats for loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta), but Mediterranean bottom trawlers catch an estimated 30 000 turtles a year, with 25% mortality. Mortality by trawling is mainly due to enforced apnoea during towing activity. In order to reduce the submergence time and consequent turtle mortality, a specific technical modification was developed in the early 1980s: the Turtle Excluder Device (TED). In this paper, we field-tested a typical Supershooter TED and three new types of low-cost TED, built with different designs and materials, incorporating aspects of US and Australian TEDs, as well as design features to improve handling and catch rates. The performance of the TEDs was investigated under commercial fishing conditions in diverse trawling grounds in the Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean). All TEDs were easy to operate and did not require changes to normal fishing operations. Due to lack of entry of turtles it was not possible to evaluate the ability of the different TEDs to release turtles, but one large loggerhead turtle (C. caretta) was captured during the experimental tows and was successfully excluded by the Supershooter. The TEDs reduced anthropogenic debris and, consequently, sorting operations on board. Among the four TEDs tested, both the semi-rigid TED and the Supershooter performed in accordance with the design objectives: total discards were reduced but total commercial catches were not significantly reduced. With the Supershooter, all European hake (Merluccius merluccius) individuals equal to or above 16 cm were found in the codend and 10–15% of those between 5.0 and 15.5 cm were released. In general, the total discard rate of the TED-equipped nets was reduced to around 20–60%. Since the Council Regulation (EC) No. 1967/2006 called for a discard reduction policy in waters under the jurisdiction of the European Union, TEDs may have some broader value in this context.

The eastern English Channel, the narrow channel of water separating northern France and southeast England is an area of intense human use of the array of resources concentrated into its relative small area. The vulnerability of living resources and their habitats brought together French and British maritime experts within a common project (called CHARM): to create an atlas of marine resource habitats in the eastern English Channel so as to provide planners and decision-makers with the necessary information to help managing the use of its living and non-living resources. This multidisciplinary and richly illustrated atlas provides abundant information on the legal framework and physical environment; benthic invertebrates, fish and their habitats; fishing activities; and a first attempt at developing a trophic network model (using ECOPATH software) and a marine conservation planning exercise (using MARXAN software, at a spatial resolution of 25 km $^{2})$ . Although most of the data used were collected elsewhere, some were collected especially for the project. Similarly, most of the analyses performed on the data where entirely original for this geographical area. The CHARM atlas has significantly improved the knowledge about the eastern Channel while contributing to the recognition that such holistic or multidisciplinary approaches to exploited marine systems are necessary to efficiently and durably manage their resources use.

Distribution and relative abundance of blue sharks (Prionace glauca) in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean was modeled based on catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) per 1000 hooks and length frequencies of blue sharks caught by the Brazilian pelagic tuna longline fleet. As a measure of relative abundance, CPUE of blue sharks caught in 58 238 fishing sets by the Brazilian pelagic tuna longline fleet (national and chartered), from 1978 to 2009, was standardized by a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) using three different approaches: i) a negative binomial error structure (log link); ii) the traditional delta lognormal model; and iii) the Tweedie distribution, recently proposed to adjust models with a high proportion of zeros. A cluster analysis using the K-means method was used to identify target species and incorporate it as a factor into the GLM. Cluster analysis grouped the data into six different fishing clusters according to the percentage of target species. Target factor (cluster) was the most important factor explaining the variance in all three CPUE models. The Tweedie model showed a relatively better fit compared to the other models. Blue shark nominal and standardized CPUE showed a relatively stable trend from 1978 to 1995. From 1995 onwards, however, there was an increasing trend in the standardized CPUE, up to a maximum value in 2008. In general, nominal CPUE and standardized CPUE tracked well up until 2000, after which standardized CPUE’s values were at a noticeably lower level than nominal CPUE. Length frequency data were analyzed for 11 932 blue sharks measured as part of the Brazilian onboard observer program operating on the pelagic tuna longline fleet between 2006 and 2008, with sizes ranging from 91 to 224 cm fork length. Overall, blue shark size data showed clear spatial and seasonal distributions for males and females in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, with juveniles predominantly concentrated in the most southerly latitudes.