FN Archimer Export Format PT J TI Seabird‐induced natural mortality of forage fish varies with fish abundance: Evidence from five ecosystems BT AF Saraux, Claire Sydeman, William J. Piatt, John F. Anker‐Nilssen, Tycho Hentati‐Sundberg, Jonas Bertrand, Sophie Cury, Philippe M. Furness, Robert W. Mills, James A. Österblom, Henrik Passuni, Giannina Roux, Jean-Paul Shannon, Lynne J. Crawford, Robert J. M. AS 1:1,2;2:3;3:4;4:5;5:6;6:7;7:7;8:8;9:9,10;10:11;11:12;12:13,14;13:15;14:16; FF 1:PDG-RBE-MARBEC-LHM;2:;3:;4:;5:;6:;7:;8:;9:;10:;11:;12:;13:;14:; C1 IPHC CNRS Université de Strasbourg Strasbourg, France MARBEC CNRS IRD IFREMER Université de Montpellier Sète ,France Farallon Institute for Advanced Ecosystem Research Petaluma CA ,USA US Geological Survey Alaska Science Center Anchorage AK ,USA Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Trondheim, Norway Department of Aquatic Resources Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Lysekil ,Sweden IRD UMR MARBEC (Université de Montpellier/CNRS/IRD/IFREMER) Sète, France University of Glasgow Glasgow, UK Kaikoura, New Zealand Corning NY ,USA Stockholm Resilience centre Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden Institute of Hydrobiology and Fisheries Science University of Hamburg Hamburg ,Germany Namibia Nature Fundation and SEACODE Lüderitz ,Namibia Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Lüderitz, Namibia Department of Biological Sciences University of Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Branch Oceans and Coasts Cape Town, South Africa C2 UNIV STRASBOURG, FRANCE IFREMER, FRANCE FARALLON INST, USA US GEOL SURVEY, USA NINA, NORWAY UNIV SWEDISH SLU, SWEDEN IRD, FRANCE UNIV GLASGOW, UK Kaikoura, New Zealand Corning NY ,USA UNIV STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN UNIV HAMBURG, GERMANY NAMIBIA NATUR FND, NAMIBIA MINIST FISHERIES & MARINE RESOURCES, NAMIBIA UNIV CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA OCEAN & COASTS, SOUTH AFRICA SI SETE SE PDG-RBE-MARBEC-LHM UM MARBEC IN WOS Ifremer UMR WOS Cotutelle UMR copubli-france copubli-p187 copubli-europe copubli-univ-france copubli-int-hors-europe copubli-sud IF 7.401 TC 11 UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00655/76693/77892.pdf LA English DT Article DE ;Benguela;Baltic Sea;Humboldt;predator-prey;prey consumption;Shetland AB Forage fish populations often undergo large and rapid fluctuations in abundance. However, most of their predators are buffered against such fluctuations owing to their slower pace of life, which allows them to maintain more stable populations, at least during short periods of food scarcity. In this study, we investigated top‐down processes exerted by seabirds on forage fish stocks in five contrasted marine ecosystems, compiling numerous data sets on seabird counts, diets, energetic needs and prey energy content and abundance. Off Norway, South Africa, Peru, Sweden and Scotland, we found that predation pressure—estimated as the proportion of a fish stock consumed by seabirds—was generally low (median = 1%), but increased sharply at low levels of prey abundance. When prey biomass decreased below 15–18% of its maximum recorded value, predation by seabirds became a source of important additional pressure on prey stocks (~20% of prey biomass is consumed by seabirds). An earlier empirical study advocated for keeping forage stocks from falling below a threshold of 33% of long‐term maximum prey biomass in order to safeguard seabird breeding success, but here we further suggest that a threshold of 18% should be considered as a limit not to be exceeded for the sake of the forage fish themselves, and below which extra cautious management of fisheries may be required. Nevertheless, despite exceptionally high rates of predation on some occasions, predation pressure was not correlated with prey dynamics, suggesting an absence of prey entrapment due to seabirds alone in these five ecosystems. PY 2021 PD MAR SO Fish And Fisheries SN 1467-2960 PU Wiley VL 22 IS 2 UT 000579174800001 BP 262 EP 279 DI 10.1111/faf.12517 ID 76693 ER EF