Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons^™

Assessing The Activity Of Antimicrobial Peptides Against Common Marine Bacteria Located In Rotifer (Brachionus Plicatilis) Cultures, Chelsea Woods, Lindsey Woolley, Gavin Partridge, Mengqi Chen, Evan F. Haney, Robert E.W. Hancock, Nicky Buller, Andrew Currie

Fisheries Research Articles

Rotifers are used as the first feed for marine fish larvae and are grown in large cultures that have high loads of organic matter and heterotrophic bacteria; these bacteria are passed on to the developing fish larvae and can potentially lead to bacterial infections. A modified minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) protocol for antimicrobial peptides was used to determine the potency of ten antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in artificial seawater relevant to a rotifer culture (salinity of 25‰) against common marine pathogens. All of the AMPs had antimicrobial activity against the bacterial isolates when the salt concentration was approximately zero. However, in …

Development Of Monoclonal Antibodies Against Perkinsus Olseni Using Whole Cells, Eliot Hanrio, Jacqueline Batley, Kathleen Davern, Cecile Dang

Fisheries Research Articles

The genus Perkinsus is comprised of multiple species, notably P. olseni and P. marinus that are on the list of notifiable pathogens of the World Organisation for Animal Health. These protozoans are responsible for mass mortalities in mollusc populations worldwide. Current diagnostic tests for these parasites include incubation in Ray’s fluid thioglycollate medium associated with microscopy, and molecular assays such as PCR or qPCR using species-specific primers, which can be time and labour consuming. To simplify the detection of Perkinsus spp. infections, the current study developed monoclonal antibodies with strong potential for diagnostic use in immunoassays. Mice were immunised with …

Maximization Of Fitness By Phenological And Phenotypic Plasticity In Range Expanding Rabbitfishes (Siganidae), Salvador Zarco-Perello, David Fairclough, Chris Dowling, Joey Dibattista, Rachel Austin, Thomas Wernberg, Brett Taylor

Fisheries Research Articles

1. Global warming is modifying the phenology, life-history traits and biogeography of species around the world. Evidence of these effects have increased over recent decades; however, we still have a poor understanding of the possible outcomes of their interplay across global climatic gradients, hindering our ability to accurately predict the consequences of climate change in populations and ecosystems.
2. We examined the effect that changes in biogeography can have on the life-history traits of two of the most successful range-extending fish species in the world: the tropical rabbitfishes Siganus fuscescens and Siganus rivulatus. Both species have established abundant populations at higher …

Climate-Assisted Persistence Of Tropical Fish Vagrants In Temperate Marine Ecosystems, Laura Gajdzik, Thomas M. Decarlo, Adam Koziol, Mahsa Mousavi-Derazmahalleh, Megan Coghlan, Matthew W. Power, Michael Bunce, David Fairclough, Michael J. Travers, Glenn I. Moore, Joseph D. Dibattista

Fisheries Research Articles

Rising temperatures and extreme climate events are propelling tropical species into temperate marine ecosystems, but not all species can persist. Here, we used the heatwave-driven expatriation of tropical Black Rabbitfish (Siganus fuscescens) to the temperate environments of Western Australia to assess the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that may entail their persistence. Population genomic assays for this rabbitfish indicated little genetic differentiation between tropical residents and vagrants to temperate environments due to high migration rates, which were likely enhanced by the marine heatwave. DNA metabarcoding revealed a diverse diet for this species based on phytoplankton and algae, as well …

Integrated Analyses Of Snp-Genotype And Environmental Data In A Continuously Distributed Snapper Species (Lutjanus Johnii, Bloch, 1792) Reveals A Mosaic Of Populations And A Challenge For Sustainable Management, Laura Taillebois, Danielle Davenport, Diane P. Barton, David Alexander Cook, Thor Saunders, Mark Hearnden, Richard J. Saunders, Stephen J. Newman, Michael J. Travers

Fisheries Research Articles

Understanding population structure is important for predicting the outcomes of anthropogenic development, harvest, and environmental change on the abundance of fisheries species. Logically, the use of several data sources is best for delineating population structure, but combining across data types adds extra challenges as results can be incongruent. Here, genetic and environmental markers were used to test hypotheses about population structure in a collection of 523 tropical inshore finfish (Lutjanus johnii) across northern Australia from 20 locations. Redundancy analyses (RDA) were used to statistically test for correlations among data sources providing a basis for reconciliation and insights into ecological and …

Continental-Scale Network Reveals Cross-Jurisdictional Movements Of Sympatric Sharks With Implications For Assessment And Management, Charlie Huveneers, Yuri Niella, Michael Drew, Rory Mcauley, Paul A. Butcher, Victor Peddemors, Daniela Waltrick, Chris Dowling, Silas Mountford, Ian S. Keay, Matias Braccini

Fisheries Research Articles

Understanding the movement ecology of marine species and connectivity of populations is required for effective fisheries management. This is especially the case for species with wide-ranging distributions for which movement can span across several jurisdictions with different management regulations. We used the Australian national network of acoustic receivers facilitated by the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) to describe the extent and frequency of movements for two large epipelagic shark species, the bronze whaler (Carcharhinus brachyurus) and dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus). A total of 210 sharks (117 bronze whalers and 93 dusky sharks) were tracked for a …

Effects Of Human Footprint And Biophysical Factors On The Body-Size Structure Of Fished Marine Species, Nestor E. Bosch, Jacquomo Monk, Jordan Goetze, Shaun K. Wilson, Russell C. Babcock, Neville Barrett, Jock Clough, Leanne M. Currey-Randall, David Fairclough, Rebecca Fisher, Brooke A. Gibbons, David Harasti, Euan S. Harvey, Michelle R. Heupel, Jamie Hicks, Thomas H. Holmes, Charlie Huveneers, Daniel Ierodiaconou, Alan Jordan, Nathan A. Knott, Hamish A. Malcolm, Dianne L. Mclean, Mark G. Meekan, Stephen J. Newman, Ben Radford, Matthew J. Rees, Benjamin J. Saunders, Conrad W. Speed, Michael J. Travers, Corey Wakefield, Thomas Wernberg, Tim Langlois

Fisheries Research Articles

Marine fisheries in coastal ecosystems in many areas of the world have historically removed large-bodied individuals, potentially impairing ecosystem functioning and the long-term sustainability of fish populations. Reporting on size-based indicators that link to food-web structure can contribute to ecosystem-based management, but the application of these indicators over large (cross-ecosystem) geographical scales has been limited to either fisheries-dependent catch data or diver-based methods restricted to shallow waters (<20 m) that can misrepresent the abundance of large-bodied fished species. We obtained data on the body-size structure of 82 recreationally or commercially targeted marine demersal teleosts from 2904 deployments of baited remote underwater stereo-video (stereo-BRUV). Sampling was at up to 50 m depth and covered approximately 10,000 km of the continental shelf of Australia. Seascape relief, water depth, and human gravity (i.e., a proxy of human impacts) were the strongest predictors of the probability of occurrence of large fishes and the abundance of fishes above the minimum legal size of capture. No-take marine reserves had a positive effect on the abundance of fishes above legal size, although the effect varied across species groups. In contrast, sublegal fishes were best predicted by gradients in sea surface temperature (mean and variance). In areas of low human impact, large fishes were about three times more likely to be encountered and fishes of legal size were approximately five times more abundant. For conspicuous species groups with contrasting habitat, environmental, and biogeographic affinities, abundance of legal-size fishes typically declined as human impact increased. Our large-scale quantitative analyses highlight the combined importance of seascape complexity, regions with low human footprint, and no-take marine reserves in protecting large-bodied fishes across a broad range of species and ecosystem configurations.

Testing A Global Standard For Quantifying Species Recovery And Assessing Conservation Impact, Molly K. Grace, H Resit Akcakaya, Elizabeth L. Bennett, Thomas M. Brooks, Anna Heath, Simon Hedges, Craig Hilton-Taylor, Michael Hoffmann, Axel Hochkirch, Richard Jenkins, David A. Keith, Barney Long, David P. Mallon, Erik Meijaard, E J. Milner-Gulland, Jon Paul Rodriguez, P J. Stephenson, Simon N. Stuart, Richard P. Young, David Fairclough

Fisheries Research Articles

Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a “Green List of Species” (now the IUCN Green Status of Species). A draft Green Status framework for assessing species’ progress toward recovery, published in 2018, proposed 2 separate but interlinked components: a standardized method (i.e., measurement against benchmarks of species’ viability, functionality, and preimpact distribution) to determine current species recovery status (herein species recovery score) and application of that method to estimate past and potential future impacts of conservation based on 4 metrics ( …

A Large-Scale Experiment Finds No Evidence That A Seismic Survey Impacts A Demersal Fish Fauna, Mark G. Meekan, Conrad W. Speed, Robert D. Mccauley, Rebecca Fisher, Matthew J. Birt, Leanne M. Currey-Randall, Jayson M. Semmens, Stephen J. Newman, Katherine Cure, Marcus Stowar, Brigit Vaughan, Miles J G Parsons

Fisheries Research Articles

Seismic surveys are used to locate oil and gas reserves below the seabed and can be a major source of noise in marine environments. Their effects on commercial fisheries are a subject of debate, with experimental studies often producing results that are difficult to interpret. We overcame these issues in a large-scale experiment that quantified the impacts of exposure to a commercial seismic source on an assemblage of tropical demersal fishes targeted by commercial fisheries on the North West Shelf of Western Australia. We show that there were no short-term (days) or long-term (months) effects of exposure on the composition, …

Markedly Similar Growth And Longevity Of Green Jobfish Aprion Virescens Over An Expansive Geographic Range Between The Hawaiian Archipelago And The Eastern Indian Ocean, Joseph M. O'Malley, Corey B. Wakefield, Michael J. Kinney, Stephen J. Newman

Fisheries Research Articles

The Green Jobfish Aprion virescens supports important commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries throughout its Indo-Pacific range. Concerns with previous estimates of age and growth from fish in Hawaii, along with evidence of variability in these parameters from locations outside the Pacific Ocean, limits their reliability as input parameters for assessments of this species, particularly in Hawaii. Previously validated aging criterion were applied to fish collected from within the Hawaiian Archipelago (main Hawaiian Islands and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands) and the eastern Indian Ocean to provide length-at-age, growth, and longevity information for stock assessment and management purposes as well as to further …

Increased Connectivity And Depth Improve The Effectiveness Of Marine Reserves, Jordan Goetze, Shaun K. Wilson, Ben Radford, Rebecca Fisher, Tim Langlois, Jacquomo Monk, Nathan A. Knott, Hamish A. Malcolm, Leanne M. Currey-Randall, Daniel Ierodiaconou, David Harasti, Neville Barrett, Russell C. Babcock, Nestor E. Bosch, Danny Brock, Joachim Claudet, David Fairclough, Stephen J. Newman, Michael J. Travers, Corey Wakefield

Fisheries Research Articles

Marine reserves are a key tool for the conservation of marine biodiversity, yet only ~2.5% of the world's oceans are protected. The integration of marine reserves into connected networks representing all habitats has been encouraged by international agreements, yet the benefits of this design has not been tested empirically. Australia has one of the largest systems of marine reserves, providing a rare opportunity to assess how connectivity influences conservation success. An Australia-wide dataset was collected using baited remote underwater video systems deployed across a depth range from 0 to 100 m to assess the effectiveness of marine reserves for protecting …

Fish Associations With Shallow Water Subsea Pipelines Compared To Surrounding Reef And Soft Sediment Habitats, Karl D. Schramm, Michael J. Marnane, Travis S. Elsdon, Christopher M. Jones, Benjamin J. Saunders, Stephen J. Newman, Euan S. Harvey

Fisheries Research Articles

Offshore decommissioning activities are expected to increase as oil and gas subsea infrastructure becomes obsolete. Decisions on decommissioning alternatives will benefit from quantifying and understanding the marine communities associated with these structures. As a case study, fish assemblages associated with an inshore network of subsea pipelines located on the North West shelf of Western Australia were compared to those in surrounding natural reef and soft sediment habitats using remotely operated vehicles fitted with a stereo-video system (stereo-ROVs). The number of species, the abundance, biomass, feeding guild composition and the economic value of fishes were compared among habitats. The community composition …

Fish Associations With Shallow Water Subsea Pipelines Compared To Surrounding Reef And Soft Sediment Habitats, Karl D. Schramm, Michael J. Marnane, Travis S. Elsdon, Christopher M. Jones, Benjamin J. Saunders, Stephen J. Newman, Euan S. Harvey

Fisheries Research Articles

Offshore decommissioning activities are expected to increase as oil and gas subsea infrastructure becomes obsolete. Decisions on decommissioning alternatives will benefit from quantifying and understanding the marine communities associated with these structures. As a case study, fish assemblages associated with an inshore network of subsea pipelines located on the North West shelf of Western Australia were compared to those in surrounding natural reef and soft sediment habitats using remotely operated vehicles fitted with a stereo-video system (stereo-ROVs). The number of species, the abundance, biomass, feeding guild composition and the economic value of fishes were compared among habitats. The community composition …

Isolated Reefs Support Stable Fish Communities With High Abundances Of Regionally Fished Species, Matthew J. Birt, Katherine Cure, Shaun Wilson, Stephen J. Newman, Euan S. Harvey, Mark G. Meekan, Conrad W. Speed, Andrew Heyward, Jordan Goetze, James Gilmour

Fisheries Research Articles

Anthropogenic impacts at isolated and inaccessible reefs are often minimal, offering rare opportunities to observe fish assemblages in a relatively undisturbed state. The remote Rowley Shoals are regarded as one of the healthiest reef systems in the Indian Ocean with demonstrated resilience to natural disturbance, no permanent human population nearby, low visitation rates, and large protected areas where fishing prohibitions are enforced. We used baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) to quantify fish assemblages and the relative abundance of regionally fished species within the lagoon, on the slope and in the mesophotic habitat at the Rowley Shoals at three times …

Large-Scale Edna Metabarcoding Survey Reveals Marine Biogeographic Break And Transitions Over Tropical North-Western Australia, Katrina M. West, Michael J. Travers, Michael Stat, Euan S. Harvey, Zoe T. Richards, Joseph D. Dibattista, Stephen J. Newman, Alastair V. Harry, Craig L. Skepper, Matthew Heydenrych, Michael Bunce

Fisheries Research Articles

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has demonstrated its applicability as a highly sensitive biomonitoring tool across small spatial and temporal scales in marine ecosystems. However, it has rarely been tested across large spatial scales or biogeographical barriers. Here, we scale up marine eDNA metabarcoding, test its ability to detect a major marine biogeographic break and evaluate its use as a regional biomonitoring tool in Australia.

Limitations On Inferring Shark Vulnerability From Spatial Habitat Protection. Response To Shark Conservation Hindered By Lack Of Habitat Protection, Matias Braccini, Stephen J. Newman

Fisheries Research Articles

Birkmanis et al. (2020a) used occurrence data obtained from commercial fisheries to infer the suitable habitat for eight shark species within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Australia, and quantify the amount of suitable habitat contained within existing no-fishing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The authors state that shark conservation is hindered because suitable habitat is mostly unprotected from commercial fishing, therefore increasing the vulnerability of the assessed species. In doing so, the authors imply that shark conservation depends predominantly on establishing MPAs in highly suitable habitats; this, unfortunately, would disregard the broad range of other measures available in the fisheries …

Bleaching Susceptibility Of Aquarium Corals Collected Across Northern Australia, Morgan S. Pratchett, Ciemon F. Caballes, Stephen J. Newman, Shaun Wilson, Vanessa Messmer, Deborah J. Pratchett

Fisheries Research Articles

There are a wide range of Scleractinian corals that are collected for the global reef aquarium market, often from non-reefal environments. The sustainability of coral harvesting is potentially threatened by increasing anthropogenic disturbances and climate change, though it is unknown to what extent many commonly harvested corals are susceptible to environmental change, or actually bleach during marine heatwaves. In this study, we experimentally tested the temperature sensitivity and bleaching susceptibility of six coral species (Homophyllia australis, Micromussa lordhowensis, Catalaphyllia jardinei, Trachyphyllia geoffroyi, Duncanopsammia axifuga, and Euphyllia glabrescens), which are important components of the …

New Insights Into Prime Southern Ocean Forage Grounds For Thriving Western Australian Humpback Whales, Sophie Bestley, Virginia Andrews-Goff, Esmee Van Wijk, Stephen R. Rintoul, Michael Double, Jason How

Fisheries Research Articles

Humpback whale populations migrate extensively between winter breeding grounds and summer feeding grounds, however known links to remote Antarctic feeding grounds remain limited in many cases. New satellite tracks detail humpback whale migration pathways from Western Australia into the Southern Ocean. These highlight a focal feeding area during austral spring and early summer at the southern Kerguelen plateau, in a western boundary current where a sharp northward turn and retroflection of ocean fronts occurs along the eastern plateau edge. The topographic steering of oceanographic features here likely supports a predictable, productive and persistent forage ground. The spatial distribution of whaling …

Comments On Edgar Et Al. (2018) Paper For South-Western Australia, Daniel J. Gaughan, Nick Caputi, Brett W. Molony, Brent S. Wise, Gavin Begg, Stephen Mayfield, Michael Steer, Tim M. Ward, Adrian Linnane, Ben Stobart, Sean Sloan, Thor Saunders

Fisheries Research Articles

Edgar, Ward, and Stuart-Smith (2018) argue that Australian fishery stocks are suffering rapid declines and that to meet sustainability targets an expanded network of ‘no-fishing’ reserves is required. The three lines of evidence used were underwater visual surveys (UVSs), Australian catches, and one case study.

Contrasting Population Genetic Structure In Three Aggregating Groupers (Percoidei: Epinephelidae) In The Indo-West Pacific: The Importance Of Reproductive Mode, Ka Yan Ma, Lynne Van Herwerden, Stephen J. Newman, Michael L. Berumen, John Howard Choat, Ka Hou Chu, Yvonne Sadovy De Mitcheson

Fisheries Research Articles

Background

Understanding the factors shaping population genetic structure is important for evolutionary considerations as well as for management and conservation. While studies have revealed the importance of palaeogeographic changes in shaping phylogeographic patterns in multiple marine fauna, the role of reproductive behaviour is rarely considered in reef fishes. We investigated the population genetics of three commercially important aggregating grouper species in the Indo-West Pacific, namely the camouflage grouper Epinephelus polyphekadion, the squaretail coral grouper Plectropomus areolatus, and the common coral trout P. leopardus, with similar life histories but distinct spatio-temporal characteristics in their patterns of forming spawning aggregations. …

Bottom Trawl Fishing Footprints On The World’S Continental Shelves, Ricardo O. Amoroso, C Roland Pitcher, Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, Robert A. Mcconnaughey, Ana M. Parma, Petri Suuronen, Ole R. Eigaard, Francois Bastardie, Niels T. Hintzen, Franziska Althaus, Susan Jane Baird, Jenny Black, Lene Buhl-Mortensen, Alexander B. Campbell, Rui Catarino, Jeremy Collie, James H. Cowan Jr., Dean Durholtz, Nadia Engstrom, Tracey P. Fairweather, Heino O. Fock, Richard Ford, Patricio A. Galvez, Hans Gerritsen, Maria Eva Gongora, Jessica A. Gonzalez, Jan G. Hiddink, Kathryn M. Hughes, Steven S. Intelmann, Chris Jenkins, Patrik Jonsson, Paulus Kainge, Mervi I. Kangas, Johannes N. Kathena, Stefanos Kavadas, Rob W. Leslie, Steve G. Lewis, Mathieu Lundy, David Makin, Julie Martin, Tessa Mazor, Genoveva Gonzalez-Mirelis, Stephen J. Newman, Nadia Papadopoulou, Paulette E. Posen, Wayne Rochester, Tommaso Russo, Antonello Sala, Jayson M. Semmens, Christina Silva, Angelo Tsolos, Bart Vanelslander, Corey B. Wakefield, Brent A. Wood, Ray Hilborn, Michael J. Kaiser, Simon Jennings

Fisheries Research Articles

Bottom trawlers land around 19 million tons of fish and invertebrates annually, almost one-quarter of wild marine landings. The extent of bottom trawling footprint (seabed area trawled at least once in a specified region and time period) is often contested but poorly described. We quantify footprints using high-resolution satellite vessel monitoring system (VMS) and logbook data on 24 continental shelves and slopes to 1,000-m depth over at least 2 years. Trawling footprint varied markedly among regions: from < 10 % of seabed area in Australian and New Zealand waters, the Aleutian Islands, East Bering Sea, South Chile, and Gulf of Alaska to > 50% in some European seas. Overall, 14 % of the 7.8 million-km2 study area was trawled, and 86% was not trawled. Trawling activity …

The Microbiome Of The Gastrointestinal Tract Of A Range-Shifting Marine Herbivorous Fish, Jacquelyn Jones, Joseph D. Dibattista, Michael Stat, Michael Bunce, Mary C. Boyce, David Fairclough, Michael J. Travers, Megan J. Huggett

Fisheries Research Articles

Globally, marine species’ distributions are being modified due to rising ocean temperatures. Increasing evidence suggests a circum-global pattern of poleward extensions in the distributions of many tropical herbivorous species, including the ecologically important rabbitfish Siganus fuscescens. Adaptability of a species to such new environments may be heavily influenced by the composition of their gastrointestinal microbe fauna, which is fundamentally important to animal health. Siganus fuscescens thus provides an opportunity to assess the stability of gastrointestinal microbes under varying environmental conditions. The gastrointestinal microbial communities of S. fuscescens were characterized over 2,000 km of Australia’s western coast, from tropical to …

Combined Use Of Edna Metabarcoding And Video Surveillance For The Assessment Of Fish Biodiversity, Michael Stat, Jeffrey John, Joseph D. Dibattista, Stephen J. Newman, Michael Bunce, Euan S. Harvey

Fisheries Research Articles

Monitoring communities of fish is important for the management and sustainability of fisheries and marine ecosystems. Baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVs) are among the most effective nondestructive techniques for sampling bony fishes and elasmobranchs (sharks, rays, and skates). However, BRUVs sample visually conspicuous biota; hence, some taxa are undersampled or not recorded at all. We compared the diversity of fishes characterized using BRUVs with diversity detected via environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding. We sampled seawater and captured BRUVs imagery at 48 locales that included reef and seagrass beds inside and outside a marine reserve (Jurien Bay in Western Australia). Eighty-two …

Management Strategies To Minimize The Dredging Impacts Of Coastal Development On Fish And Fisheries, Amelia S. Wenger, Christopher A. Rawson, Shaun K. Wilson, Stephen J. Newman, Michael J. Travers, Scott Atkinson, Nicola Browne, Douglas Clarke, Martial Depczynski, Paul L A Erftemeijer, Richard D. Evans, Jean-Paul A. Hobbs, Jennifer L. Mcilwain, Dianne Mclean, Benjamin J. Saunders, Euan S. Harvey

Fisheries Research Articles

Accelerating coastal development and shipping activities dictate that dredging operations will intensify, increasing potential impacts to fishes. Coastal fishes have high economic, ecological, and conservation significance and there is a need for evidence-based, quantitative guidelines on how to mitigate the impacts of dredging activities. We assess the potential risk from dredging to coastal fish and fisheries on a global scale. We then develop quantitative guidelines for two management strategies: threshold reference values and seasonal restrictions. Globally, threatened species and nearshore fisheries occur within close proximity to ports. We find that maintaining suspended sediment concentrations below 44 mg/L (15–121 bootstrapped CI) …

Geography And Island Geomorphology Shape Fish Assemblage Structure On Isolated Coral Reef Systems, Scott Bennett, Andrew R. Halford, Howard Choat, Jean-Paul A. Hobbs, Julia Santana-Garcon, Anthony M. Ayling, Euan S. Harvey, Stephen J. Newman

Fisheries Research Articles

We quantify the relative importance of multi-scale drivers of reef fish assemblage structure on isolated coral reefs at the intersection of the Indian and Indo-Pacific biogeographical provinces. Large (>30 cm), functionally-important and commonly targeted species of fish, were surveyed on the outer reef crest/front at 38 coral reef sites spread across three oceanic coral reef systems (i.e. Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and the Rowley Shoals), in the tropical Indian Ocean (c. 1.126 x 106 km2). The effects of coral cover, exposure, fishing pressure, lagoon size and geographical context, on observed patterns of fish assemblage structure were …

Oceanic, Latitudinal, And Sex-Specific Variation In Demography Of A Tropical Deepwater Snapper Across The Indo-Pacific Region, Ashley J. Williams, C. Wakefield, Stephen J. Newman, Elodie Vourey, Francisco J. Abascal, Tuikolongahau Halafihi, Jeremie Kaltavara, Simon J. Nicol

Fisheries Research Articles

Deepwater tropical fisheries provide an important source of income and protein to Pacific and Indian Ocean coastal communities who are highly dependent on fish for food security. The development of quantitative assessments and management strategies for these deepwater fisheries has been hindered by insufficient biological and fisheries data. We examine the age-specific demography of the pygmy ruby snapper Etelis carbunculus, an important target species in tropical deepwater fisheries, across 90° of longitude and 20° of latitude in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Our results show that growth of E. carbunculus varies significantly between oceans and sexes and across latitudes …

The Utility Of Bioenergetics Modelling In Quantifying Predation Rates Of Marine Apex Predators: Ecological And Fisheries Implications, A. Barnett, M. Braccini, C. L. Dudgeon, N. L. Payne, K. G. Abrantes, M. Sheaves, E. P. Snelling

Fisheries Research Articles

Predators play a crucial role in the structure and function of ecosystems. However, the magnitude of this role is often unclear, particularly for large marine predators, as predation rates are difficult to measure directly. If relevant biotic and abiotic parameters can be obtained, then bioenergetics modelling offers an alternative approach to estimating predation rates, and can provide new insights into ecological processes. We integrate demographic and ecological data for a marine apex predator, the broadnose sevengill shark Notorynchus cepedianus, with energetics data from the literature, to construct a bioenergetics model to quantify predation rates on key fisheries species in …

Ecosystem Biomonitoring With Edna: Metabarcoding Across The Tree Of Life In A Tropical Marine Environment, Michael Stat, Megan J. Huggett, Rachele Bernasconi, Joseph D. Dibattista, Tina Berry, Stephen J. Newman, Euan S. Harvey, Michael Bunce

Fisheries Research Articles

Effective marine management requires comprehensive data on the status of marine biodiversity. However, efficient methods that can document biodiversity in our oceans are currently lacking. Environmental DNA (eDNA) sourced from seawater offers a new avenue for investigating the biota in marine ecosystems. Here, we investigated the potential of eDNA to inform on the breadth of biodiversity present in a tropical marine environment. Directly sequencing eDNA from seawater using a shotgun approach resulted in only 0.34% of 22.3 million reads assigning to eukaryotes, highlighting the inefficiency of this method for assessing eukaryotic diversity. In contrast, using ‘tree of life’ (ToL) metabarcoding …

Genomic Signatures Of Local Adaptation Reveal Source-Sink Dynamics In A High Gene Flow Fish Species, Katherine Cure, Luke Thomas, Jean-Paul A. Hobbs, David V. Fairclough, Winn Jason Kennington

Fisheries Research Articles

Understanding source-sink dynamics is important for conservation management, particularly when climatic events alter species’ distributions. Following a 2011 ‘marine heatwave’ in Western Australia, we observed high recruitment of the endemic fisheries target species Choerodon rubescens, towards the cooler (southern) end of its distribution. Here, we use a genome wide set of 14 559 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to identify the likely source population for this recruitment event. Most loci (76%) showed low genetic divergence across the species’ range, indicating high levels of gene flow and confirming previous findings using neutral microsatellite markers. However, a small proportion of loci showed strong …

Strong Population Structure Deduced From Genetics, Otolith Chemistry And Parasite Abundances Explains Vulnerability To Localized Fishery Collapse In A Large Sciaenid Fish, Protonibea Diacanthus, Laura Taillebois, Diane P. Barton, David Crook, Thor Saunders, Jonathan Taylor, Mark Hearnden, Richard J. Saunders, Stephen J. Newman, Michael J. Travers, David J. Welch, Alan Greig, Christine Dudgeon, Safia Maher, Jennifer Ovenden

Fisheries Research Articles

As pressure on coastal marine resources is increasing globally, the need to quantitatively assess vulnerable fish stocks is crucial in order to avoid the ecological consequences of stock depletions. Species of Sciaenidae (croakers, drums) are important components of tropical and temperate fisheries and are especially vulnerable to exploitation. The black-spotted croaker, Protonibea diacanthus, is the only large sciaenid in coastal waters of northern Australia where it is targeted by commercial, recreational and indigenous fishers due to its food value and predictable aggregating behaviour. Localized declines in the abundance of this species have been observed, highlighting the urgent requirement by managers …