DSpace Repository

Population dynamics and fishery of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) in the western Mediterranean

Show simple item record

dc.creator Morales-Nin, Beatriz
dc.creator Massutí, Enric
dc.creator Deudero Company, María de la Salud
dc.creator Reñones, Olga
dc.creator Lleonart, Jordi
dc.date 2008-06-25T07:26:12Z
dc.date 2008-06-25T07:26:12Z
dc.date 1999
dc.date.accessioned 2017-01-31T01:47:24Z
dc.date.available 2017-01-31T01:47:24Z
dc.identifier Sci. Mar. 63(3-4): 447-457
dc.identifier 0214 - 8358 (print edition)
dc.identifier 1886 - 8134 (online edition)
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10261/5281
dc.identifier.uri http://dspace.mediu.edu.my:8181/xmlui/handle/10261/5281
dc.description Publicación online disponible en: http://www.icm.csic.es/scimar/index.php
dc.description The dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) fishery based on the island of Majorca (western Mediterranean) and the population dynamics of the species were studied between 1995 and 1996. Fishing effort, landings and length composition of the catches during the sampling period, as well as the historic catch data series and fleet were analysed. Virtual Population Analysis (VPA), taking as the time unit the week in 1995 and the fortnight in 1996, were also carried out. Dolphinfish is fished from August to December, with main catches in September-October, using anchored fish aggregation devices (FADs) and surrounding net. The mooring areas, placed from 70 to 1200 m depth, are distributed among the boats registered for the year´s fishery. A total of 46 boats took part in this fishery in 1995 and 37 in 1996, with a catch of 128 and 52 metric tons respectively. These wide fluctuations are also shown in the annual catches of the 16year series, which ranged from 2 to more than 120 metric tons, showing a slightly increasing trend (4 tons per year). The comparison of different measures of effort (FADs, days and hours) showed similar values of CPUE, although the number of FADs showed the lowest variation, with normal variances and average values not significantly different between harbours. The length composition of the catches ranged from 20 to 64 cm fork length, which corresponds to juveniles between 2 and 6 months of age. The main results of the VPA, which must be regarded in relative rather than absolute values, showed that the available population and the recruitment in 1995 are greater (around one order of magnitude) than in 1996. For both years, the number of individuals declined in the course of the fishing season, while biomass increased during the first 5 weeks. The fact that the exploited fraction of the dolphinfish population is composed of 0-age class suggests that catch fluctuations might be related to environmental parameters and to the migratory behaviour pattern of the species. These two interrelated factors can produce failures of its annual spawning in the western Mediterranean, and/or of the recruitment of the species to the fishery.
dc.description This paper is a result of the research projects “Biology and fishery of dolphinfish in the western Mediterranean and Canary Islands area” and “Dolphinfish biological and fishing data in the western Mediterranean”, funded by Directorate General XIV of the European Commission (Refs. 94/031 and 95/73 respectively).
dc.description Peer reviewed
dc.format 339782 bytes
dc.format application/pdf
dc.language eng
dc.publisher CSIC - Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM)
dc.rights openAccess
dc.subject Coryphaena hippurus
dc.subject Fishery
dc.subject FADs
dc.subject VPA
dc.title Population dynamics and fishery of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) in the western Mediterranean
dc.type Artículo


Files in this item

Files Size Format View

There are no files associated with this item.

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search DSpace


Advanced Search

Browse

My Account