Science & Fishery Collaboration A new approach for evaluating elasmobranch stocks Stuart J. Hetherington, Victoria A. Bendall & Paul Trebilcock FDI symposium, Rome 3 rd 6 th March 2014
Why elasmobranchs? Current State of UK Shark fisheries
So why involve stakeholders in participatory management and data collection? Rather than relying solely upon traditional approaches to fisheries science... V We work directly with fishermen who regularly encounter elasmobranches Scientific platform skippers knowledge, appropriate gear. Rapidly & efficiently collect data in real-time Provides evidence to inform policy
What do we mean by a participatory approach? Define the question to determine which participatory approach is best Scientist led Self collection Self recording Self sampling UK Fisheries Science Partnership Dutch self collecting discards programme Shark Trust s Shark Fisheries Project Shark By-Watch UK NEPTUNE Scientific Bycatch Fishery
Commercial Fishing Vessels as Scientific Platforms
The issue Bycatch & discards 2 fishery-dependent programmes in 2 very different fisheries Shark By-Watch UK Southeast UK inshore mixed fishery A restricted quota of thornback ray (Raja clavata), leading to substantial discarding. Value = 2.7M > 100 vessels NEPTUNE Shark, Skate and Ray Scientific bycatch fishery The Southwest UK off-shore gill net fishery A bycatch and discards of spurdog (Squalus acanthias), porbeagle (Lamna nasus), and common skate (Dipturus batis complex ). Value = 2.3M in 2011, ~12 vessels
How is Shark By-Watch different? Forward thinking pilot project, supported by scientists, but led by fishermen
How Shark By-Watch UK works Action based meetings & workshops - To share and develop knowledge - Identify important issues & potential solutions - Guide the direction & future of the project. Co-operative shark & ray tagging programmes. - To help map species abundance (e.g. size, sex & maturity) - Survival prior to discarding (condition scoring) Fishery-dependent surveys - Fisher lead sampling - To promote greater industry involvement in future shark and ray assessments and to help determine ways to conserve local stocks.
Continuous engagement
So how has Shark By-Watch UK improved monitoring for policy and management? July 2012 Sept 2013 Six under 10m inshore vessels, across fishing gears >140 locations / 60 sea trips New biological data for 8000 sharks & rays 5184 (65%) were thornback ray Map Seasonal Highlighting Data importance 2,310 (29%) of region of Shark & Ray captures were scored for health prior to Species 1808 composition healthy sharks discard. & rays High tagged discard & released survivorship Spatial abundance across gear types: Stock residency 99% = Longlines Maturity 98% = Otter trawl Sex ratios 94% = Fixed Nets 11% Sluggish during QTR2 &QTR3
Current Status of Thames Estuary Thornback Ray June 2012 Sept 2013 28 Seasonal Surveys QTR 1: 6 QTR 2: 10 QTR 3: 12 114 Fishing Stations Wide area of Thames Estuary Surveyed
Evidence of Juvenile & Mature thornback ray within Thames Estuary Region
Identified egg laying & nursery grounds
Shark By-Watch UK has improved thornback ray monitoring for policy & management Thames Estuary is of significant importance to all life history stages of thornback ray in the southern North Sea Egg laying & nursery areas identified Egg bearing females (March May) 0yr group juveniles (July Sept & February) Feeding aggregations identified The next step: Evaluate the fisheries management strategies to achieve a sustainable thornback ray fishery in the Thames Estuary, free of regulatory discards, in line with CFP reform.
Impacting policy Keen to see if thornback ray can be classed as a single stock and be managed locally.
NEPTUNE Shark, Skate & Ray Scientific By-catch Fishery Hybrid
FV Govenek of Ladram Fishing zones 8 th 13 th October 2013 In Gill Net Zone >10 tonnes of commercial catch landed In Trammel Net Zone >1.7 tonnes of commercial catch landed 4 porbeagle bycaught (1 Gill net; 1 & 2 Trammel net) 77 spurdog bycaught (25 & 20 Gill; 8 & 22 Trammel) 147 Blue Skate (all Trammel) (34, 17 & 102 Unk) 6 Flapper Skate (all Trammel) (3 & 3 Unk)
How does this improve monitoring for policy and management? Unrivalled data collection on the level of spurdog bycatch, discard Rates, discard survival and other biological information to better inform on stock status Aligning zero quota species and improving fisheries management a spurdog case study A UK lead initiative for the alignment of spurdog management measures with a reformed CFP, for the NE Atlantic
FISHERMAN R&D SCIENTIST New collaborative roles POLICY ADVISOR
THANK YOU Fishermen, the Cefas team, the Defra team European Fisheries Fund