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Mucientes, G, Alonso-Fernández, A, Vedor, M, Sims, DW and Queiroz, N 2025 Discovery of a potential open ocean nursery for the endangered shortfin mako shark in a global fishing hotspot. Nature Scientific Reports, 2190. 10.1038/s41598-025-85572-4
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract/Summary
Populations of large pelagic sharks are declining worldwide due to overfishing. Determining the overlap between shark populations and fishing activities is important to inform conservation measures. However, for many threatened sharks the whereabouts of particularly vulnerable life-history stages – such as pregnant females and juveniles – are poorly known. Here, we investigated the spatial distribution of size classes, energy transfer and reproductive states of pregnant females of the endangered shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus, using spatially resolved catch data from a Spanish surface longline vessel (1996 − 2009) in the South-east Pacific Ocean. Our results suggest a general eastward gradient of occurrence of pregnant females of thousands of kilometers from western oceanic feeding grounds towards the eastern Pacific, where we observed an aggregation area of small juveniles. Moreover, the potential nursery likely overlapped a longline fishing hotspot, increasing the vulnerability of juveniles from fisheries. Our results suggest that limiting fishing pressure in this area could reduce mortality of early life stages and contribute to the conservation of this endangered shark species
| Item Type: | Publication - Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Keywords: | conservation, fisheries management, Isurus oxyrinchus, nursery, size distribution, South Pacific |
| Subjects: | Ecology and Environment Marine Sciences |
| Divisions: | Marine Biological Association of the UK > Ocean Biology |
| Depositing User: | Ms Kristina Hixon |
| Date made live: | 07 Feb 2025 16:18 |
| Last Modified: | 07 Feb 2025 16:18 |
| URI: | https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/10372 |
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