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Recapture locations of marked seabass recaptures (white text), coloured by period of recapture. For long-distance recaptures (for which the exact recapture date was available), the time at large was displayed in number of weeks (w, black text). Grey lines depict the boundaries of ICES zones.
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The movement ecology of European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, remains poorly understood, especially in the northern ranges of its distribution. To investigate migration patterns of seabass from the southern North Sea, we combined data from different projects from four countries using various tagging techniques. This resulted in 146 recaptures (ou...
Citations
... Additionally, international cooperation will be vital in managing migratory species like Atlantic mackerel and Atlantic herring, ensuring that conservation efforts are harmonized across borders (ICES, 2018). The importance of such cooperation is underscored by recent research by Goossens et al. (2024) on European seabass in the North Sea, which revealed complex migration patterns and finescale population structuring. This study shows the need for crossborder fisheries management strategies that consider the specific ecological behaviors of species like seabass, whose movements may not align with current seasonal fisheries closures. ...
Pelagic fish species, including Clupea harengus (Atlantic herring), Scomber scombrus (Atlantic mackerel) and Dicentrarchus labrax (European seabass), are integral to the ecological stability of European marine ecosystems. This study employs a mechanistic niche modelling approach to predict the distribution of these key pelagic species in European seas and to assess the impact of predicted changes in climate conditions on their suitable habitat range. By using fuzzy logic principles and mathematical descriptions of species’ niches, we analysed responses to changing temperature and salinity using climate prediction data from six Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) scenarios, predicting habitat suitability from the present (2010-2019) until 2100. Under the worst-case temperature climate scenario, all three species exhibited a consistent northward shift of suitable habitats by 2100. Specifically, the suitable habitat for C. harengus, S. scombrus and D. labrax is projected to shift approximately 638 km, 799 km and 13 km north, respectively. The independent contributions of temperature and salinity indicate a distinction in habitat suitability between northern European waters and the Mediterranean Sea, with higher suitability scores in the north. For example, by 2100, the habitat suitability index for non-spawning Atlantic herring in the North Atlantic Ocean is projected to be 0.63 ± 0.3 under SSP5-8.5 compared to the current habitat suitability index of 0.49 ± 0.36, while the index is projected to 0.02 ± 0.003 in the Mediterranean Sea-Western Basin with the current index at 0.01 ± 0.03. These findings suggest that northern latitudes, encompassing regions such as the North Sea and the Baltic Sea currently offer more favorable conditions compared to the lower latitudes of the Mediterranean region. The study’s findings should guide policy decisions in environmental and marine resource management, ensuring interventions are based on up-to-date information and account for anticipated climate change impacts.
... Individual residence and movement metrics by tagged Striped Bass within PIE were difficult to interpret (Fig. 4). Across the 26-receiver sites within PIE, mean residence times at specific receivers (hereafter referred to as receiver-specific residence) for the 50 tagged fish that stayed in PIE ≥ 30 days varied from high [(> 75%); very high: 3 receivers -numbers 9, 12, 13; high: 4 receivers -numbers 5,7,14,17] Fig. 4A]. Receiver-specific movements (i.e., movements at a specific receiver averaged across all 50 fish that stayed in PIE ≥ 30 days) ranged from high [(> 75%); very high: 4 receivers-numbers 5, 7, 9, 12; or high: 3 receivers -numbers 6,8,14] to intermediate [(51-74%); 6 receivers -numbers 11,13,15,16,17,18) to low [low (26-50%): 6 receivers -numbers 3, 4, 19, 20, 24, 25; or very low (< 25%): 7 receivers -numbers 1, 2, 10, 21, 22, 23, 26; Fig. 4B]. ...
... Across the 26-receiver sites within PIE, mean residence times at specific receivers (hereafter referred to as receiver-specific residence) for the 50 tagged fish that stayed in PIE ≥ 30 days varied from high [(> 75%); very high: 3 receivers -numbers 9, 12, 13; high: 4 receivers -numbers 5,7,14,17] Fig. 4A]. Receiver-specific movements (i.e., movements at a specific receiver averaged across all 50 fish that stayed in PIE ≥ 30 days) ranged from high [(> 75%); very high: 4 receivers-numbers 5, 7, 9, 12; or high: 3 receivers -numbers 6,8,14] to intermediate [(51-74%); 6 receivers -numbers 11,13,15,16,17,18) to low [low (26-50%): 6 receivers -numbers 3, 4, 19, 20, 24, 25; or very low (< 25%): 7 receivers -numbers 1, 2, 10, 21, 22, 23, 26; Fig. 4B]. ...
Developing and testing alternate hypotheses about patterns, mechanisms, and consequences of movement in geographically-large, heterogeneous, natural systems can advance the scientific understanding of animal migration and benefit the conservation of most mobile species. Within organismal movement trajectories, different combinations of residence and movement are predicted from existing ecological theories (e.g. long distance migration, site fidelity, central place foraging, ideal free distribution, habitat shifts). However, testing these conceptually-based, spatially-explicit hypotheses about animal movement and migration in the field can be logistically challenging. Here our purpose is to introduce Resmo, a framework of metrics and analyses that integrate site-specific RESidence and across-site MOvements. We illustrate the ecological insights from this framework using the empirical example of coastal Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) during their seasonal feeding migration. Our use of site-specific Resmo applied to empirical telemetry data enhanced the understanding of feeding behavior of migratory fish, suggested testable ecologically-meaningful hypotheses about foraging, and identified criteria on which to base the selection of future sampling locations. In summary, the Resmo approach provides a useful new direction for thinking about animal migration, animal movement, biological conservation, and future priorities for empirical field data collection related to understanding the distribution of mobile organisms.
