Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T00:44:04.635Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Limited potential to recover from overfishing raises concerns for deep-sea sharks, rays and chimaeras

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2009

COLIN A. SIMPFENDORFER  and
PETER M. KYNE
COLIN A. SIMPFENDORFER*
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia.
PETER M. KYNE
Affiliation:
School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
*
*Correspondence: Colin Simpfendorfer e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

As global fishing effort increasingly expands into deeper water, concerns exist over the ability of deep-sea fishes to sustain fisheries. There is however little quantitative evidence to support these concerns for the deep-sea cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes: sharks, rays and chimaeras). This paper compiled available life history data for this group to analyse their ability to rebound from population declines relative to continental shelf and pelagic species. Deep-sea cartilaginous fishes have rates of population increase that are on average less than half those of shelf and pelagic species, and include the lowest levels observed to date. Population doubling times indicate that once a stock has been depleted, it will take decades, and potentially centuries, before it will recover. Furthermore, population recovery rates decrease with increasing depth, suggesting species that occur deepest are those most vulnerable to fishing. These results provide the first assessment of the productivity of deep-sea chondrichthyans, highlighting that precautionary management of developing deep-sea fisheries is essential if stocks and biodiversity are to be maintained.

Keywords

Chondrichthyeselasmobranchsintrinsic rebound potentiallife historypopulation doubling time
Type
Report
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , June 2009 , pp. 97 - 103
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Au, D.W. & Smith, S.E. (1997) A demographic method with population density compensation for estimating productivity and yield per recruit of the leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54: 415–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berestovskii, E.G. (1994) Reproductive biology of skates of the family Rajidae in the seas of the far north. Journal of Ichthyology 34: 26–37.Google Scholar
Cailliet, G.M., Andrews, A.H., Burton, E.J., Watters, D.L., Kline, D.E. & Ferry-Graham, L.A. (2001) Age determination and validation studies of marine fishes: do deep-dwellers live longer? Experimental Gerontology 36: 739–764.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calis, E., Jackson, E.H., Nolan, C.P. & Jeal, F. (2005) Preliminary age and growth estimates of the rabbitfish, Chimaera monstrosa, with implications for future resource management. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science 35: 15–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cannizzaro, L., Rizzo, P., Levi, D. & Gancitano, S. (1995) Age determination and growth of Squalus blainvillei (Risso, 1826). Fisheries Research 23: 113–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, M.W., Connolly, P.L. & Bracken, J.J. (2001) Aspects of reproduction of the deep water sharks Centroscymnus coelolepis and Centrophorus squamosus from west of Ireland and Scotland. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 81: 1019–1029.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, M.W., Connolly, P.L. & Bracken, J.J. (2002 a) Age estimation of the exploited deepwater shark Centrophorus squamosus from the continental slopes of the Rockall Trough and Porcupine Bank. Journal of Fish Biology 60: 501–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, M.W., Connolly, P.L. & Bracken, J.J. (2002 b) Catch, discarding, age estimation, growth and maturity of the squalid shark Deania calceus west and north of Ireland. Fisheries Research 56: 139–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daley, R., Stevens, J. & Graham, K. (2002) Catch analysis and productivity of the deepwater dogfish resource in Southern Australia. Fisheries Research and Development Corporation Final Report, 1998/108. Canberra, Australia.Google Scholar
Devine, J.A., Baker, K.D. & Haedrich, R.L. (2006) Deep-sea fishes qualify as endangered. Nature 439: 29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Du Buit, M.H. (1976) The ovarian cycle of the cuckoo ray, Raja naevus (Müller and Henle), in the Celtic Sea. Journal of Fish Biology 8: 199–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dulvy, N.K. & Reynolds, J.D. (2002) Predicting extinction vulnerability in skates. Conservation Biology 16: 440–450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebert, D.A. (2005) Reproductive biology of skates, Bathyraja (Ishiyama), along the eastern Bering Sea continental slope. Journal of Fish Biology 66: 618–649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebert, D.A. & Davis, C.D. (2007) Descriptions of skate egg cases (Chondrichthyes: Rajiformes: Rajoidei) from the eastern North Pacific. Zootaxa 1393: 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fowler, C.W. (1988) Population dynamics as related to rate of increase per generation. Evolutionary Ecology 2: 197–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, M.J., Nolan, C.P. & Jeal, F. (2004) Age, growth and maturity of the commercial ray species from the Irish Sea. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science 35: 47–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García, V.B., Lucifora, L.O. & Myers, R.A. (2008) The importance of habitat and life history to extinction risk in sharks, skates, rays and chimaeras. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B 275: 83–89.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graham, K.J., Andrew, N.L. & Hodgson, K.E. (2001) Changes in relative abundance of sharks and rays on Australian South East Fishery trawl grounds after twenty years of fishing. Marine and Freshwater Research 52: 549–561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guallart, J. (1998) Contribución al conocimientto de la taxonomía y la biología del tiburón batial Centrophorus granulosus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Elasmobranchii, Squalidae) en el Mar Balear (Mediterráneo occidental). PhD Thesis, Universitat de Valencia, Spain.Google Scholar
Guallart, J. & Vicent, J.J. (2001) Changes in composition during embryo development of the gulper shark, Centrophorus granulosus (Elasmobranchii, Centrophoridae): an assessment of maternal-embryonic nutritional relationships. Environmental Biology of Fishes 61: 135–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haedrich, R.L., Merrett, N.R. & O'Dea, N.R. (2001) Can ecological knowledge catch up with deep-water fishing? A North Atlantic perspective. Fisheries Research 51: 113–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoenig, J.M. (1983) Empirical use of longevity data to estimate mortality rates. Fishery Bulletin 82: 898–903.Google Scholar
Irvine, S.B. (2004) Age, growth and reproduction of deepwater dogfishes from southeastern Australia. PhD Thesis, Deakin University, Australia.Google Scholar
Irvine, S.B., Stevens, J.D. & Laurenson, L.J.B. (2006 a) Comparing external and internal dorsal-spine bands to interpret the age and growth of the giant lantern shark, Etmopterus baxteri (Squaliformes: Etmopteridae). Environmental Biology of Fishes 77: 253–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Irvine, S.B., Stevens, J.D. & Laurenson, L.J.B. (2006 b) Surface bands on deepwater squalid dorsal-fin spines: an alternative method for ageing Centroselachus crepidater. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63: 617–627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, A.L. (1996) Beverton and Holt life history invariants result from optimal trade-off of reproduction and survival. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53: 820–822.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, B.C. & Geen, G.H. (1977) Reproduction and embryonic development of spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 34: 1286–1292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koslow, J.A., Boehlert, G.W., Gordon, J.D.M., Haedrich, R.L., Lorance, P. & Parin, N. (2000) Continental slope and deep-sea fisheries: implications for a fragile ecosystem. ICES Journal of Marine Science 57: 548–557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyne, P.M. & Simpfendorfer, C.A. (2009) Deepwater chondrichthyans. In: Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives. Volume 2, ed. Carrier, J.C., Musick, J.A. & Heithaus, M.R. (in press). Boca Raton, USA: CRC Press.Google Scholar
McFarlane, G.A. & Beamish, R.J. (1987) Validation of the dorsal spine method of age determination for spiny dogfish. In: Age and Growth of Fish, ed. Summerfelt, R.C. & Hall, G.E., pp. 287–300. Ames, USA: The Iowa State University Press.Google Scholar
McFarlane, G.A. & King, J.R. (2006) Age and growth of big skate (Raja binoculata) and longnose skate (Raja rhina) in British Columbia waters. Fisheries Research 78: 169–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morato, T., Watson, R., Pitcher, T.J. & Pauly, D. (2006) Fishing down the deep. Fish and Fisheries 7: 24–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moura, T., Figueiredo, I., Bordalo Machado, P. & Serrano Gordo, L. (2004) Growth pattern and reproductive strategy of the holocephalan Chimaera monstrosa along the Portuguese continental slope. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 84: 801–804.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musick, J.A. (1999) Ecology and conservation of long-lived marine animals. In: Life in the Slow Lane: Ecology and Conservation of Long-lived Marine Animals, ed. Musick, J.A., pp. 1–10. Bethesda, USA: American Fisheries Society Symposium 23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musick, J.A., Harbin, M.M., Berkeley, S.A., Burgess, G.H., Eklund, A.M., Findley, L., Gilmore, R.G., Golden, J.T., Ha, D.S., Huntsman, G.R., McGovern, J.C., Parker, S.J., Poss, S.G., Sala, E., Schmidt, T.W., Sedberry, G.R., Weeks, H. & Wright, S.G. (2001) Marine, estuarine, and diadromous fish stocks at risk of extinction in North America (exclusive of Pacific salmonids). Fisheries 25: 6–30.Google Scholar
Priede, I.G., Froese, R., Bailey, D.M., Aksel Bergstad, O., Collins, M.A., Erik Dyb, J., Henriques, C., Jones, E.G. & King, N. (2006) The absence of sharks from the abyssal regions of the world's oceans. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B 273: 1435–1441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, C.M. (2002) Deep impact: the rising toll of fishing in the deep sea. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 17: 242–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saunders, M.W. & McFarlane, G.A. (1993) Age and length at maturity of the spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias, in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada. Environmental Biology of Fishes 38: 49–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpfendorfer, C.A. (1999) Mortality estimates, and demographic analysis for the Australian sharpnose shark, Rhizoprionodon taylori, from northern Australia. Fishery Bulletin 97: 978–986.Google Scholar
Sion, L., D'Onghia, G., Tursi, A. & Mytilineou, Ch. (2003) First data on distribution and biology of Squalus blainvillei (Risso, 1826) from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science 31: 213–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, S.E., Au, D.W. & Show, C. (1998) Intrinsic rebound potentials of 26 species of Pacific sharks. Marine and Freshwater Research 49: 663–678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sulikowski, J.A., Kneebone, J., Elzey, S., Jurek, J., Danley, P.D., Howell, W.H. & Tsang, P.C.W. (2005) Age and growth estimates of the thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) in the western Gulf of Maine. Fishery Bulletin 103: 161–168.Google Scholar
Sulikowski, J.A., Kneebone, J., Elzey, S., Jurek, J., Howell, W.H. & Tsang, P.C.W. (2006) Using the composite variables of reproductive morphology, histology and steroid hormones to determine age and size at sexual maturity for the thorny skate Amblyraja radiata in the western Gulf of Maine. Journal of Fish Biology 69: 1449–1465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taniuchi, T. & Tachikawa, H. (1999) Geographical variation in age and growth of Squalus mitsukurii (Elasmobranchii: Squalidae) in the North Pacific. In: Proceedings 5th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference, Noumea, New Caledonia, 3–8 November 1997, ed. Séret, B. & Sire, J.-Y., pp. 321–328. Paris, France: Société Française d'Ichthyologie.Google Scholar
Taniuchi, T., Tachikawa, H., Shimizu, M. & Nose, Y. (1993) Geographical variations in reproductive parameters of shortspine spurdog in the North Pacific. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 59: 45–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, G. & Smale, M.J. (1998) Reproductive biology of shortnose spiny dogfish, Squalus megalops, from the Agulhas Bank, South Africa. Marine and Freshwater Research 49: 695–703.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, G. & Smale, M.J. (1999) Age and growth of the shortnose spiny dogfish Squalus megalops from the Agulhas Bank, South Africa. South African Journal of Marine Science 21: 9–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, C.D. & Seki, M.P. (1994) Biology and population characteristics of Squalus mitsukurii from a seamount in the central North Pacific Ocean. Fishery Bulletin 92: 851–864.Google Scholar