Xavier Corrales

AZTI · Marine Research Division

The mesopelagic or ocean twilight zone (OTZ) in the ocean contains huge numbers of fish in a relatively pristine environment and may therefore attract interest as a commercial fishery. In this study we evaluate in economic terms, the likely trade-offs between the different services provided by the mesopelagic layer in the Bay of Biscay and the soci...

Multispecies and ecosystem models, which are key for the implementation of ecosystem‐based approaches to fisheries management, require extensive data on the trophic interactions between marine organisms, including changes over time. DNA metabarcoding, by allowing the simultaneous taxonomic identification of the community present in hundreds of samp...

Multispecies and ecosystem models, which are key for the implementation of ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management, require extensive data on the trophic interactions between marine organisms, including changes over time. DNA metabarcoding (the simultaneous identification of all taxa in a sample by sequencing a short DNA region) could be...

This paper describes the parameterization and calibration of an end-to-end Atlantis model for the Bay of Biscay, characterising spatially the structure and functioning of the ecosystem. The Bay of Biscay is considered rich in terms of ecological diversity and different oceanographic events such as coastal upwelling, coastal run-off and river plumes...

Recent decades have witnessed declines in the amount of fishing catch due to changes in the marine ecosystem of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. These changes are mainly a consequence of direct human activities as well as global warming and the entry of invasive species. Therefore, there is a need to improve fisheries management so that it accounts f...

Within the context of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management, an ecosystem model was developed for the Balearic Islands in the early 2000s, covering from 0 to 800 m of depth. The aim of the study was to describe the structure and functioning of the ecosystem together with the fishing impacts. The results show that the biomass of the primary...

The European Commission tendered the study “Marine Biodiversity Modelling” [RTD/2021/MV/10] to pursue the identification and characterization of a subset of candidate biodiversity models that could contribute to the implementation of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean (EU DTO). The EU DTO will be an operational infrastructure for digital ocean...

Evidence of marine fish stock depletion in the eastern Mediterranean Sea due to the cumulative impact of anthropogenic activities has led to new fishing limits. In the first-ever evaluation of the Israeli fish stock and fisheries resource rents with the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) methodology, we apply a novel approach by com...

Understanding the linkages within complex and evolving marine food webs is essential to comprehend marine ecosystem structure and dynamics. Carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) stable isotope signatures are recognized to be powerful descriptors of the trophic ecology and trophic relationships within marine communities. Apex predators such as seabirds...

Characterizing the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems requires a deep understanding of the dynamics of its populations and the biotic interactions among them. To this end, we developed a mass-balanced food-web model of a regional sea in the Northeast Atlantic, the Bay of Biscay (BoB), considering one of the most important anthropogenic...

Among FAO's Major Fishing Areas, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea had the highest percentage (62.5%) of stocks fished at unsustainable levels, especially demersal stocks. Spatial-temporal restrictions of fishing activities are important measures used for the management of marine stocks. However, sometimes these regulations are not fully implemen...

Environmental stressors related to climate change and other anthropogenic activities are impacting Arctic marine ecosystems at exceptional rates. Within this context, predicting future scenarios of deep‐sea ecosystems and their consequences linked with the fate of coastal areas is a growing need and challenge. We used an existing food‐web model dev...

• The overexploitation of many marine resources and ecosystems calls for the development and implementation of measures to support their recovery and conservation. • The potential contributions to support fisheries and ecosystem recovery were assessed at the local level of the three multiple‐use marine protected areas (MPAs) of Cerbère‐Banyuls, Med...

The current alarming state of many coastal ecosystems and fisheries calls for the development of tools to support recovery of exploited stocks, ensure their sustainable exploitation and protect marine ecosystems. Multi-zone Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are often advocated to reconcile conservation and fisheries benefits. However, while there is a...

Invasive alien species (IAS) have become an important driver of biodiversity change and exert severe pressure on natural ecosystems. The development of modelling approaches to assess and predict their distributions and impacts, and evaluate management options has increased substantially. We reviewed these modelling approaches, applied in aquatic ec...

We developed a trophic mass-balance model to describe the structure and functioning of the insular shelf ecosystem of the Republic of Cyprus and assess the impact of fishing and alien species during the mid-2010s. A total of 40 functional groups were defined, ranging from producers and detritus to top predators and when possible, alien species were...

This study evaluates the fishing pressure exerted by the most common recreational and professional, small-scale fishing practices on vulnerable target and bycatch species in coastal and offshore waters of the western Mediterranean. By combining multiple data sources, we assembled a unique dataset on catches at multiple sites in these areas by recre...

Abstract Using a temporal-dynamic calibrated Ecosim food web model, we assess the effects of future changes on marine resources and ecosystem conditions of the Israeli Mediterranean continental shelf. This region has been intensely invaded by Indo-Pacific species. The region is exposed to extreme environmental conditions, is subjected to high rates...

The widely used Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) food web modelling approach has been extended with a new module to measure the impact of input parameter sensitivity on its results. Ecosampler records samples-alternate mass-balanced parameter sets for a food web model-from the built-in Monte Carlo routine, and replays these samples through all of EwE modu...

Biological invasions threaten biodiversity in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, requiring substantial conservation and management efforts. To examine how the conservation planning literature addresses biological invasions and if planning in the marine environment could benefit from experiences in the freshwater and terrestrial systems,...

An important challenge for conserving and managing marine ecosystems is to advance our understanding of how multiple human stressors, environmental factors and marine resources interact and influence each other. The ecosystems of the Israeli Mediterranean coast have undergone significant ecological changes in recent decades, caused primarily by the...

The ecosystems of the Israeli Mediterranean coast have undergone significant changes in recent decades mainly due to species invasions and fishing. In order to characterize the structure and functioning of the marine continental shelf of the Israeli Mediterranean coast and assess temporal changes, we developed a food web model representing two time...

We developed an ecological model to characterize the structure and functioning of the marine continental shelf and slope area of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea, from Toulon to Cape La Nao (NWM model), in the early 2000s. The model included previously modeled areas in the NW Mediterranean (the Gulf of Lions and the Southern Catalan Sea) and expa...