Habitat suitability of the Atlantic bluefin tuna by size class: An ecological niche approach
| Type | Article | ||||||||||||
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| Date | 2016-03 | ||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||
| Author(s) | Druon Jean-Noel1, Fromentin Jean-Marc 2, Hanke Alex R.3, Arrizabalaga Haritz4, Damalas Dimitrios1, Ticina Vjekoslav5, Quilez-Badia Gemma6, Ramirez Karina7, Arregui Igor4, Tserpes George8, Reglero Patricia9, Deflorio Michele10, Oray Isik11, Karakulak F. Saadet11, Megalbfonou Persefoni12, Ceyhan Tevfik13, Grubisic Leon5, Mackenzie Brian R.14, Lamkin John15, Afonso Pedro16, Addis Piero17 |
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| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Commiss European Communities, Inst Protect & Secur Citizen, Maritime Affairs Unit, Joint Res Ctr, Via Enrico Fermi 2749, I-21027 Ispra, VA, Italy. 2 : IFREMER, Stn Sete, Ave Jean Monnet,CS 30171, F-34203 Sete, France. 3 : Fisheries & Oceans Canada, St Andrews Biol Stn, 531 Brandy Cove Rd, St Andrews, NB E5B 2L9, Canada. 4 : AZTI Tecnalia, Div Marine Res, Pasaia 20110, Basque Country, Spain. 5 : Inst Oceanog & Fisheries, Mestrovica 63, Setaliste Ivana 21000, Split, Croatia. 6 : WWF Mediterranean Programme Off, C Canuda 37 3Er, Barcelona 08002, Spain. 7 : Inst Nacl Pesca, Direcc Gen Invest Pesquera Atlantico, Sonora, Mexico. 8 : Hellen Ctr Marine Res, Inst Marine Biol Resources & Inland Waters, POB 2214, Iraklion 71003, Greece. 9 : Inst Espanol Oceanog, Moll Ponent S-N, Palma De Mallorca 07015, Balearic Island, Spain. 10 : Univ Bari Aldo Moro, Dipartimento Sci Suolo Pianta & Alimenti DISSPA, Campus Univ,Via Amendola 165-A, I-70126 Bari, Italy. 11 : Istanbul Univ, Fac Fisheries, Ordu St 200, TR-34470 Istanbul, Turkey. 12 : Univ Athens, Fac Biol, Dept Zool Marine Biol, Athens 15784, Greece. 13 : Ege Univ, Fac Fisheries, TR-35100 Izmir, Turkey. 14 : Tech Univ Denmark, Natl Inst Aquat Resources DTU Aqua, DK-2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark. 15 : NOAA NMFS SEFSC, 75 Virginia Beach Dr, Miami, FL 33149 USA. 16 : Univ Acores, Dept Oceanog & Pescas, Rua Prof Dr Frederico Machado, P-9901862 Horta, Portugal. 17 : Univ Cagliari, Dipartimento Sci Vita & Ambiente, Via Fiorelli 1, I-09126 Cagliari, Italy. |
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| Source | Progress In Oceanography (0079-6611) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2016-03 , Vol. 142 , P. 30-46 | ||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1016/j.pocean.2016.01.002 | ||||||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 59 | ||||||||||||
| Abstract | An ecological niche modelling (ENM) approach was used to predict the potential feeding and spawning habitats of small (5-25kg, only feeding) and large (> 25kg) Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT), Thunnus thynnus, in the Mediterranean Sea, the North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The ENM was built bridging knowledge on ecological traits of ABFT (e.g. temperature tolerance, mobility, feeding and spawning strategy) with patterns of selected environmental variables (chlorophyll-a fronts and concentration, sea surface current and temperature, sea surface height anomaly) that were identified using an extensive set of precisely geo-located presence data. The results highlight a wider temperature tolerance for larger fish allowing them to feed in the northern – high chlorophyll levels – latitudes up to the Norwegian Sea in the eastern Atlantic and to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in the western basin. Permanent suitable feeding habitat for small ABFT was predicted to be mostly located in temperate latitudes in the North Atlantic and in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in subtropical waters off north-west Africa, while summer potential habitat in the Gulf of Mexico was found to be unsuitable for both small and large ABFTs. Potential spawning grounds were found to occur in the Gulf of Mexico from March-April in the south-east to April-May in the north, while favourable conditions evolve in the Mediterranean Sea from mid-May in the eastern to mid-July in the western basin. Other secondary potential spawning grounds not supported by observations were predicted in the Azores area and off Morocco to Senegal during July and August when extrapolating the model settings from the Gulf of Mexico into the North Atlantic. The presence of large ABFT off Florida and the Bahamas in spring was not explained by the model as is, however the environmental variables other than the sea surface height anomaly appeared to be favourable for spawning in part of this area. Defining key spatial and temporal habitats should further help in building spatially-explicit stock assessment models, thus improving the spatial management of bluefin tuna fisheries. | ||||||||||||
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