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Fisheries measures protect European seabass groups with distinct habitat use differently
Goossens, J.; Villagra, D.; De Putter, G.; Verhelst, P.; Torreele, E.; Moens, T.; Reubens, J. (2023). Fisheries measures protect European seabass groups with distinct habitat use differently. ICES J. Mar. Sci./J. Cons. int. Explor. Mer 80(7): 1899-1910. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsad116
In: ICES Journal of Marine Science. Academic Press: London. ISSN 1054-3139; e-ISSN 1095-9289
Related to:
Calonge, A.; Develter, R.; Muñiz, C.; Parcerisas, C.; Reubens, J.; Boone, W.; Deneudt, K.; Debusschere, E. (2026). Scalable low-cost seabed landers: The missing link for sustained, integrated, long-term observations in dynamic shallow seas. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation Online first: 1-9. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rse2.70072, more
Peer reviewed article  
Available in  Authors 
    Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Open access 392799 [ download pdf ]
Keywords
    Fisheries management
    Measurement > Telemetry > Acoustic telemetry
    Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    movement ecology, residency, site fidelity, network analysis
Authors  Top 
  • Goossens, J.
  • Villagra, D.
  • De Putter, G.
  • Verhelst, P.
  • Torreele, E.
  • Moens, T.
  • Reubens, J.
Abstract
    We investigated the movements of European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, to understand habitat use and connectivity to evaluate how individual seabass are protected by the spatiotemporal fisheries restrictions in place. We tagged seabass with acoustic transmitters in a study area in the Port of Zeebrugge (Belgium) in the southern North Sea. The 370,200 detections of 57 seabass in the study area revealed high residency in the period from late March–May to September–November, as well as high site fidelity (70.7%). Whereas the majority of seabass left the area in winter, 13 seabass stayed in the harbour experiencing temperatures as low as 2.8°C. Two groups of seabass were identified having different core movement areas in the inner and outer harbours, although movement between the two areas was possible. The distinct differences in habitat use between these groups resulted in a significantly different level of exposure to fisheries under the same policy framework. By quantifying the level of protection of seabass, based on the spatiotemporal fisheries management in place, our study underlines the importance of taking into account movement behaviour when evaluating conservation measures.
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