Favorites and leftovers on the menu of scavenging seabirds: modelling spatio-temporal variation in discard consumption
| Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 2016-09 | ||||||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||||||
| Author(s) | Depestele Jochen1, 2, Rochet Marie-Joelle3, Doremus Ghislain4, Laffargue Pascal 3, Stienen Eric Willem Maria5 |
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| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Inst Agr & Fisheries Res ILVO, Ankerstr 1, B-8400 Oostende, Belgium. 2 : Univ Ghent, Marine Biol, Krijgslaan 281-S8, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. 3 : IFREMER, BP 21105, F-44311 Nantes 03, France. 4 : Univ La Rochelle, Observ PELAGIS, 5 Allee Ocean, F-17000 La Rochelle, France. 5 : Res Inst Nat & Forest INBO, Klin Str 25, B-1070 Brussels, Belgium. |
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| Source | Canadian Journal Of Fisheries And Aquatic Sciences (0706-652X) (Canadian Science Publishing, Nrc Research Press), 2016-09 , Vol. 73 , N. 9 , P. 1446-1459 | ||||||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1139/cjfas-2015-0326 | ||||||||||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 19 | ||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Fishery discards subsidise the food supply of a large community of scavenging seabirds, thus significantly influencing seabird ecology. Seabird preference for certain types of discards determines the number and composition of discards available for non-avian marine scavengers. To quantify both portions of discards temporally as well as spatially, we have used a modelling framework that integrates the spatial and temporal variation in seabird distribution, seabird attraction to fishing vessels and discard distribution. The framework was applied to a case study in the Bay of Biscay, where a wide variation in discard consumption was observed across seabird foraging guilds, discard types, periods and locations. Seabirds removed about one-quarter of the Bay of Biscay discards. The remaining sinking discards have limited potential to subsidize scavenging benthic communities on a large scale, but they may contribute substantially to scavenger diets on a local scale. Changes in food subsidies caused by discard mitigation measures, such as the ‘landing obligation’ in the European Common Fisheries Policy, are likely to have ecosystem effects on both scavenging seabirds and non-avian marine scavengers. | ||||||||||||||||
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