scholarly journals Effects of fishing disturbance on benthic communities and secondary production within an intensively fished area

2009 ◽  
Vol 394 ◽  
pp. 201-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Reiss ◽  
SPR Greenstreet ◽  
K Sieben ◽  
S Ehrich ◽  
GJ Piet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Production ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Fishing Disturbance

scholarly journals Defining thresholds of sustainable impact on benthic communities in relation to fishing disturbance

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. I. Lambert ◽  
L. G. Murray ◽  
J. G. Hiddink ◽  
H. Hinz ◽  
H. Lincoln ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Fishing Disturbance

scholarly journals Impact of a large-scale area closure on patterns of fishing disturbance and the consequences for benthic communities

2003 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.A Dinmore ◽  
D.E Duplisea ◽  
B.D Rackham ◽  
D.L Maxwell ◽  
S Jennings
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fishery Management ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate ◽  
Homogeneous Distribution ◽  
Cumulative Impacts ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Fishing Vessels ◽  
Fishing Disturbance

Abstract Seasonal area closures of fisheries are primarily used to reduce fishing mortality on target species. In the absence of effort controls, fishing vessels displaced from a closed area will impact fish populations and the environment elsewhere. Based on the observed response of the North Sea beam trawl fleet to the closure of the “cod box” and an existing size-based model of the impacts of beam trawling, we predict the effects of seasonal area closures on benthic communities in the central North Sea. We suggest that repeated seasonal area closures would lead to a slightly more homogeneous distribution of annual trawling activity, although the distribution would remain patchy rather than random. The increased homogeneity, coupled with the displacement of trawling activity to previously unfished areas, is predicted to have slightly greater cumulative impacts on total benthic invertebrate production and lead to localized reductions in benthic biomass for several years. To ensure the effective integration of fisheries and environmental management, the wider consequences of fishery management actions should be considered a priori. Thus, when seasonal closures increase the homogeneity of overall disturbance or lead to the redistribution of trawling activity to environmentally sensitive or previously unfished areas, then effort reductions or permanent area closures should be considered as a management option. The latter would lead to a single but permanent redistribution of fishing disturbance, with lower cumulative impacts on benthic communities in the long run.

scholarly journals Natural vs. fishing disturbance: drivers of community composition on traditional king scallop, Pecten maximus, fishing grounds

2015 ◽  
Vol 73 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. i70-i83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire L. Szostek ◽  
Lee G. Murray ◽  
Ewen Bell ◽  
Gemma Rayner ◽  
Michel J. Kaiser
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
English Channel ◽  
Physical Disturbance ◽  
Biological Communities ◽  
System Data ◽  
Fishing Disturbance

Abstract Scallop dredging is considered to be one of the most damaging forms of fishing to benthic habitats, although these effects vary among different habitats. The present study characterizes the biological communities that occur within the spatial limits of the English Channel king scallop dredge fishery in relation to key environmental drivers [mean seabed temperature; seabed temperature range; interannual temperature variation; bed shear stress (BSS); substrate characteristics; and depth] and across a gradient of scallop dredging intensity derived from vessel monitoring system data. Dredge fishing intensity was not correlated with species richness, species diversity, or species composition. However, increasing tidal BSS had a significant negative correlation with species richness and diversity. This outcome indicates that it is not possible to demonstrate that there is an effect of scallop fishing within the current spatial limits of the king scallop dredge fishery. This may be because historical dredge fishing could have already altered the benthic communities within the area of the scallop fishery to those that are resilient to scallop dredging, or that fishing disturbance has no impact over and above natural physical disturbance within the fishery. An analysis of biological and life history traits revealed that there was no relationship between recent fishing intensity, or BSS, and the functional composition of the communities present. However, even the lowest BSS values in the present study could be considered relatively high compared with areas outside the spatial boundaries of the fishery. Two distinct habitat groups were identified, based on the environmental drivers. These two groups were largely characterized by depth: deep (western) and shallow (eastern) sites. Species with traits that increase resilience to physical disturbance were abundant across all sample sites. Management concerning the environmental impacts of the fishery is discussed in terms of the spatial footprint of the fishery and predicted recovery time-scales for the associated benthic communities.

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