Two sympatric, not externally discernible, and heavily exploited deepwater species with coastal migration during spawning season: implications for sustainable stocks management of Aphanopus carbo and Aphanopus intermedius around Madeira

• Autor(a) principal: Vasconcelos, Joana
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Sousa, Ricardo, Henriques, Paulo, Amorim, Antonieta, Delgado, João, Riera, Rodrigo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/4371
• topic: Small-scale fisheries; Deep sea; Reproductive; Aphanopus; Atlantic Ocean; Madeira (Portugal); .; Faculdade de Ciências da Vida

Several artisanal fisheries target deep species. These stocks are highly sensitive to overfishing because of their slow growth and late maturation. This vulnerability is higher if species concentrate during spawning season in coastal areas, as occur with scabbardfish (Aphanopus spp.). We herein explore if two Aphanopus species (A. carbo and A. intermedius) that coexist show migration patterns to coastal areas during spawning. We analysed specimens of both species throughout 4 years (2014-2017) in a weekly basis and compare morphological parameters to the distance of the coast [coastal (< 12 nm) vs. offshore (> 12 nm)]. Both species showed coastal patterns of migration during the spawning season (October-December), with 65.90% of total specimens of A. carbo and 51.60% of A. intermedius being caught at < 12 nm during this season. Fishing events were also more numerous at < 12 nm to the coast during spawning season (46.6%) relative to non-spawning season (32.6%). A series of management measures, e.g. October 46 December season, were developed to preserve Aphanopus stocks in the NE Atlantic Ocean.