Preprint
Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Structure Fisheries Interaction Risk for an Endangered Seabird
Social Science Research Network (SSRN) , Vol.18 December 2024
Elsevier
2024
Abstract
Fisheries bycatch is a major threat to many marine predators and a global barrier to fisheries sustainability. Conservation and management strategies can be informed by identifying zones of overlap between fishing efforts and threatened, endangered or protected species, or existing bycatch hotspots. However, few studies have incorporated ocean data when considering such overlap, and even fewer have considered separate juvenile and adult life stages. Here, we characterise the biophysical conditions (i.e., thermal-front frequency, Finite-Size Lyapunov Exponents and eddy kinetic energy) underlying hotspots of interaction risk for an endangered seabird, the Antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis). Underlying data include a large (n = 192), high-resolution tracking data set covering all life-history stages, complemented by Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data. Overall, interaction risk was significantly higher during the Austral autumn and winter (May-August) and among juveniles. Over broad, climatological scales, the likelihood of interaction is spatially structured by zones in which thermal fronts occur frequently. At finer scales, interaction risk was intensified in association with aggregative Lagrangian Coherent Structures. Our findings show that immediate steps could be taken by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, e.g., extending mitigation measures in addition to the current obligation between 25 – 30°S, to reduce bycatch risk for this endangered seabird. Our study also illustrates that incorporating measures of mesoscale ocean dynamics in delineating zones of interaction risk for species of conservation concern provides a potential step forward for dynamic threat management.
Details
- Title
- Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Structure Fisheries Interaction Risk for an Endangered Seabird
- Authors
- Ho Fung Wong - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringDavid Schoeman - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringPeter I Miller - Plymouth Marine LaboratoryLily K. Bentley - The University of QueenslandLuke Halpin - Monash UniversityJohannes FischerIgor DebskiSamhita BoseGraeme ElliotKath WalkerKylie Scales - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Publication details
- Social Science Research Network (SSRN) , Vol.18 December 2024
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.2139/ssrn.5062159
- ISSN
- 1556-5068
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991103243402621
- Output Type
- Preprint
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