Ivone Figueiredo

Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera | IPMA · Unidade de Recursos Marinhos e Sustentabilidade

A practical and theoretically interesting problem in the context of point processes are marked point patterns where the statistical properties of marks depend locally on point intensity. Such dependence can be observed, for example, in fishery data, where catches (marks) are certainly associated with the locations where the fisheries take place (po...

In Portugal, the spatial distribution and abundance of the black scabbardfish (BSF) is mostly unknown, the existing information relying on data from commercial fisheries. Available data refers to areas where fisherman expect to have higher catches of the species, resulting in fishing locations that are not selected randomly but preferentially. The...

This report summarizes current threats to the Tagus estuary and adjacent ecosystems, presented in Lisbon in June 2021, and prioritizes actions to maintain or improve ecosystem services for a densely populated area close to the deep ocean.

The spatial distribution of deep-sea fishes is commonly related to major water masses or regional circulatory features that in turn may reflect differences in food-web structure and productivity. Aphanopus carbo is a benthopelagic species that undergoes horizontal and vertical migrations driven by spawning and by feeding, and for which a large-scal...

Growth and reproductive parameters were estimated for Scyliorhinus canicula from the southwestern Portuguese coast. The sample consisted of 148 specimens with total length ranging from 187 to 580 mm (82 males and 66 females). Maximum ages assigned to males and females were 12 and 13 years, respectively. Linf and k were estimated as 63.6 cm and 0.16...

Marine fisheries management models have traditionally considered biological parameters and geopolitical boundaries. The result is the existence of fisheries management units that do not match genetic populations. However, this panorama is changing with the contribution of genetic and genomic data. Pagellus bogaraveo is a commercially important spar...

To assess the exploitation status of marine resources and to formulate scientific advice for fisheries management, reliable fishery data are required. When dealing with data-poor stocks, like skates and rays (Rajiformes) caught by multispecies and multigear fisheries in Portugal, strategies need to be defined to surpass data limitations, like speci...

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive is undergoing its second implementation cycle while work is ongoing to promote further harmonization, especially regarding the European Commission standards on datasets, metrics, and thresholds. Even though spatial scales for Biodiversity descriptor criteria concerning fish are set by the Directive at subdivi...

The Black Scabbardfish is a deep-water fish species that lives at depths greater than 700 m. In Portugal mainland, this is an important commercial resource which is exploited by longliners that operate at specific fishing grounds located off the coast. The monitoring of the population status mainly relies on the fishery data as no independent scien...

The Portuguese continental coast is influenced by several oceanographic processes and is located near the confluence of three biogeographic realms (from the North Atlantic, South Atlantic and Mediterranean). Given these features, the topography of the Portuguese coast, possible variations in fishing effort and reported increasing sea surface temper...

Black scabbardfish, Aphanopus carbo, is a commercially important species that takes distant migrations throughout its life cycle. Sex steroids were measured by radioimmunoassay in the blood plasma of specimens caught off the Madeira Archipelago and mainland Portugal to link this species migratory path with its reproductive cycle. Furthermore, a pil...

The undulate ray Raja undulata Lacepède is a coastal species common along the north‐eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and is highly accessible to coastal fisheries. Between 2009 and 2015, the species was under a European Union (EU) fisheries moratorium that hampered the collection of data to assess its stock status in Portuguese waters....

ICES WGEF meets annually, with advice for a subset of stocks drafted in alternating years. Work in 2019 focused on those stocks for which it was an advisory year: (i) skate stocks in the North Sea ecoregion, the Azores and MAR; (ii) catsharks (Scyliorhinidae) in the Greater North Sea, Celtic Seas and Bay of Biscay and Iberian Coast ecoregions; (iii...

ICES Scientific Reports/Rapports scientifiques du CIEM

The activity of the Portuguese fishing fleet operating near seamounts of the Madeira Tore geologic complex was analyzed. The main objective is to identify the different fisheries taking place in the area, characterize the spatial patterns of vessels activity and estimate the fishing intensity, thus contributing to better inform management decisions...

The ICES Working Group on Elasmobranch Fishes (Co-chairs, Samuel Shephard, Ire-land and Paddy Walker, Netherlands) was held at IPMA, Lisbon, Portugal from 31st May to 7th June 2016.

Abstract The European Union banned fishing operations with trammel, entangling and gillnets in Portuguese continental waters at depths >200 m in consideration of the potential impact of fisheries on deep-sea sharks. Derogation could be considered if Member States demonstrate that by-catch mortality does not adversely affect this group of species. T...

A number of Portuguese longliners based on the mainland develop a part of their activity in the vicinity of Atlantic seamounts located at the geological complex Madeira Tore, covering long distances to visit a number of different seamounts in fishing trips lasting two to three weeks. The fishing pattern for these vessels is still poorly documented,...

Sharks are a diverse group of mobile predators that forage across varied spatial scales and have the potential to influence food web dynamics. The ecological consequences of recent declines in shark biomass may extend across broader geographic ranges if shark taxa display common behavioural traits. By tracking the original site of photosynthetic fi...

The influence of the environmental conditions during larval development on the resulting recruitment strength was investigated for European sardine (Sardina pilchardus) at Atlanto-Iberian waters. Satellite-derived Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Chlorophyll-a concentration (Chla) data from the previous spawning seasons (January to March/April and...

This is a brief guide for students on the way to use R (www.r-project.org): a free Statistics software that allows to carry out statistical analyses in an interactive mode, as well as allowing simple programming.

WKSHARKS met in Lisbon, Portugal, 19–22 January 2016, to examine the management of landings data of elasmobranchs (sharks and skates). ICES provides advice for 55 elasmobranch stocks (18% of all ICES stocks) and 16 ICES countries catch elasmobranchs. To complicate matters further, over 150 generic or species-specific codes may be used for submissio...

Egg capsules of Rajidae species vary in size, shape and adornments. These differences can be used as a taxonomic tool to differentiate species. Furthermore, since egg capsule external morphology is adapted to the environment where they are laid, it can be used make inferences on egg-laying grounds. In the present study, oviducal glands and egg caps...

The present work provides a detailed analysis of the reproductive strategy of the undulate ray Raja undulata in Portuguese mainland waters. The species was found mostly between 30 and 40 m deep on sandy bottoms. Egg-laying sites were observed in the north, centre and south-west regions, mainly at depths below 30 m. The peak of the reproductive seas...

Most deep-water chondrichthyans occurring off mainland Portugal are distributed worldwide. There are many closely related species with similar morphology, and the lack of diagnostic characters that unambiguously allow species discrimination has led to extensive identification problems. Here, DNA barcodes were used to evaluate the suitability of cyt...

Black scabbardfish (Aphanopus carbo Lowe, 1839) is a widely distributed species across the Atlantic ocean. In Portuguese mainland waters the existing specimens are immature (not able to reproduce). It is admitted that they have migrated from the West of the British Isles and that they remain in the area for some years, until they attain an adequate...

The Workshop on Sampling Design and Optimization (WKSDO), chaired by Cristina Silva and Manuela Azevedo (IPMA-PT) and Jon H. Vølstad (IMR-NO) met in Lisbon, 17–20 November 2014, to focus on the analysis of the current Portuguese sampling designs under PNAB/DCF (Programa Nacional de Amostragem Biológica/Data Collection Framework) with the aim to opt...

In Portugal, the purse-seine fleet is responsible for the capture of small pelagic fish (sardines, mackerel, horse mackerel, anchovy), the main prey species of seabirds. Interactions between the purse seine fishery and seabirds is therefore likely but data on their occurrence is scarce. Between 2006 and 2012, data on sightings and interaction of se...

The black scabbardfish (Aphanopus carbo) is a benthopelagic species widely distributed across the NE Atlantic, where it is admitted to perform a clockwise migration throughout its life cycle stimulated by feeding and reproduction. To overcome the limitations of direct observation of this species, fatty acids profile (FA) and 15N and 13C stable...

Understanding of spatio-temporal patterns of sensitive fish species such as skates (Rajidae) is essential for implementation of conservation measures. With insufficient survey data available for these species in Portuguese Continental waters, this study shows that fishery-dependent data associated with fishers' knowledge can be used to identify pot...

The black scabbardfish (Aphanopus carbo) is a benthopelagic species widely distributed across the NE Atlantic, where it is admitted to perform a clockwise migration throughout its life cycle stimulated by feeding and reproduction. To overcome the limitations of direct observation of this species, fatty acids profile (FA) and δ15N and δ13C stable is...

A statistical approach to evaluate the temporal trends in the abundance of female Centroscymnus coelolepis in Portuguese waters of ICES division IXa is presented. A state space model is used, which integrates all the available information of the species’ life history as well as knowledge of its biological dynamics. The model involves two processes...

Information about the spatial distribution of bycatch species and their spatial overlap with the target species is essential for fisheries management. The present study used fishery-dependent data (vessel monitoring systems, logbooks and official daily landings) to study the spatial distribution and overlap between black scabbardfish Aphanopus carb...

The biology, ecology, and dynamics of the deep-sea teleost black scabbardfish in the northeast Atlantic are reviewed. The black scabbardfish is a commercial bathypelagic species found in the NE Atlantic mostly from Iceland to the Canary Islands and Western Sahara, at depths from 800 to 1300 m. The spatial structure of its population is still uncert...

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Scientific interest in deep-water marine resources has increased dramatically over the last 10–20 years as management bodies have sought advice on how to manage deep-water fisheries and protect deep-water ecosystems. The strengths and weaknesses of the management and monitoring of deep-water stocks, fisheries, and ecosystems in various areas of the...

The present study is the first to provide data on the reproductive biology of cuckoo ray Leucoraja naevus in Portuguese continental waters. No difference in size at maturity was detected between sexes, which was estimated as 56 cm total length. Spawning occurs all year round, but maximum activity was during winter months. Maximum fecundity is c. 63...

The reproductive processes of chondrichthyans are complex. Knowledge of the development and maturation of the oviducal gland is vital for understanding the reproductive biology of a species. This study represents the first contribution of this subject for skates. In the oviparous thornback ray, Raja clavata, oviducal gland development begins early...

In Portuguese waters, thornback ray Raja clavata spawns mainly between May and January, although females and males in spawning condition are found throughout the year. The maturation process can be divided into three main phases by using information on gonad weight, oviducal gland and uterus width in females and on gonad weight, clasper length and...

Lorance, P., Agnarsson, S., Damalas, D., des Clers, S., Figueiredo, I., Gil, J., and Trenkel, V. M. 2011. Using qualitative and quantitative stakeholder knowledge: examples from European deep-water fisheries. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1815–1824. Stakeholder knowledge was collected through questionnaires and cognitive maps and used to su...

Sperm storage in males and females was studied for the deepwater shark Portuguese dogfish Centroscymnus coelolepis. In males, sperm is stored in the seminal vesicle from early maturity stages until mating. The epithelium of the seminal vesicle secretes an acid mucopolysaccharide that might preserve sperm until it is released. The oviducal gland (OG...

There is a need for a unified terminology to describe reproductive phase assignment across fish taxa, regardless of the reproductive strategy involved. Reproductive terminology already adopted for teleosts has been applied to oviparous elasmobranchs of both sexes. A historical review of the terminologies used by previous authors and how these corre...

Serra-Pereira, B., Moura, T., Griffiths, A. M., Gordo, L. S. & Figueiredo, I. (2010). Molecular barcoding of skates (Chondrichthyes: Rajidae) from the southern Northeast Atlantic. —Zoologica Scripta, 40, 76–84. Due to their vulnerability to fishing pressure, many species of skate (Rajidae) in the Northeast Atlantic are undergoing declines in abunda...

Due to their vulnerability to fishing pressure, many species of skate (Rajidae) in the Northeast Atlantic are undergoing declines in abundance. The assessment of stock status and subsequent proposal of management measures are often complicated by high levels of species diversity and endemism, coupled with morphological and ecological conservatism,...

Serra-Pereira, B., Farias, I., Moura, T., Gordo, L. S., Santos, M., and Figueiredo, I. 2010. Morphometric ratios of six commercially landed species of skate from the Portuguese continental shelf, and their utility for identification. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1596–1603. European skate landings have traditionally been reported under a ge...

The embryonic development and the level of dependency of the embryos from the maternal organism were investigated for Centroscymnus coelolepis. During the development, there is a 22–32% loss of organic matter and gains of 95–122% and 29–46% on moisture and inorganic matter, respectively. Only 28–48% of the initial yolk energy is conserved in embryo...

Trachipterus is a genus of the family Trachipteridae that comprises rare fish with no commercial value usually spread along the offshore epipelagic community (Heemstra and Kannemeyer, 1986). Maximum total length reported for this genus is 300 cm (Aguiar and Queo, 1990). Two ribbonfish specimens were caught by longline commer-cial vessels and brough...

In statistical analysis of failure data of brittle materials, the use of maximum likelihood estimators shows many advantages compared to other methods. The applicability and the robustness of the maximum likelihood method to analyze and to distinguish the data in several mixtures of two Weibull populations is demonstrated in this work. Estimations...

34rh Plenary meeting of the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (PLEN-10-02), Jully 2010, Copenhaguen

The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries gave its opinion by written procedure in March 2011 on request by the European Commission on complementary in-year management advice for sandeel in the North Sea and Skagerrak.

Total mercury (THg), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) concentrations were investigated in muscle, liver and gonad tissue of black scabbardfish (Aphanopus carbo) from the southern northeast Atlantic at three Portuguese locations: the mainland and the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira. Particular emphasis was placed on the comparison of metal levels b...

Black scabbardfish stock structure is still unknown in European waters where, due to the scarcity of biological information, the ICE S considers that there is a single stock unit. This study is the final outcome of a scientific project that applies a holistic approach to research on the population structure of the black scabbardfish and aims to def...

Gonads of the NE Atlantic black scabbardfish were examined to give an insight into the reproductive biology of this species. It was concluded that black scabbardfish had determinate fecundity because: (i) a distinct hiatus in oocyte size was observed between pre-vitellogenic and vitellogenic oocytes; (ii) vitellogenic oocytes increased in size duri...

Though whole otoliths are commonly adopted in age assignment of black scabbardfish, this study showed that sectioned otoliths are more appropriate because growth increments are more evident and ageing of larger specimens is easier. Vertebrae are not the most appropriate structure for ageing but, in the absence of otoliths, this structure may be use...

The variability in otolith contour shape of black scabbardfish (Aphanopus carbo) from Portuguese waters was analysed for stock discrimination purposes. the contour shape of otoliths from specimens caught off mainland Portugal, Madeira and azores archipelagos was digitised and extracted according to the closed-form Fourier analysis technique. Mainla...