Congruent trends in long-term zooplankton decline in the north-east Atlantic and basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus ) fishery catches off west Ireland

Sims, DW and Reid, PC 2002 Congruent trends in long-term zooplankton decline in the north-east Atlantic and basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus ) fishery catches off west Ireland. Fisheries Oceanography, 11 (1). 59-63. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2419.2002.00189.x

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Abstract/Summary

Trends in basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) fishery catches off Achill Island, west Ireland between 1949 and 1975 were examined in relation to zooplankton (total copepod) abundance in four adjacent sea areas over a 27-year period. The numbers of basking sharks caught and copepod abundance showed downward trends and were positively correlated (r-value range, 0.44–0.74). A possible explanation for the downward trend in shark catches was that progressively fewer basking sharks occurred there between 1956 and 1975 because fewer copepods, their food resource, occurred near the surface off west Ireland over the same period. We suggest that the decline in basking sharks may have been due to a distributional shift of sharks to more productive areas, rather than a highly philopatric, localized stock that was over-exploited.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Additional Keywords:	Zooplankton Abundance Food availability Geographical distribution
Subjects:
Divisions:	Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science > Other (SAHFOS) (expired) Marine Biological Association of the UK > Other (MBA)
Depositing User:	EPrints Services
Date made live:	20 Sep 2006
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2020 09:55
URI:	https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/1718

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