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Cambios en un Ensamble de Peces del Océano Pacífico: la Influencia Potencial de la Explotación
Author(s) -
LEVIN PHILLIP S.,
HOLMES ELIZABETH E.,
PINER KEVIN R.,
HARVEY CHRIS J.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00400.x
Subject(s) - fishing , demersal fish , demersal zone , fishery , overexploitation , population , population size , catch per unit effort , geography , invertebrate , population dynamics of fisheries , ecology , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , demography , sociology
As in many regions of the world, marine fishes and invertebrates along the Pacific coast of the United States have long been subjected to overexploitation. Despite this history, however, we lack basic information on the current status of many fishes along this coastline. We used data from a quarter century of fishery‐independent, coast‐wide trawl surveys to study systematically the demersal fish assemblages along the U.S. Pacific coast. We documented fundamental shifts in this fish assemblage. Average fish size, across a diversity of species, has declined 45% in 21 years. There have been major shifts in the constituent species of the assemblage, with some species achieving annual population growth rates of >10% and others declining in excess of 10% per year. Annual rate of change in population size appeared to be a function of life history interacting with fishing pressure. Negative trends in population size were particularly apparent in rockfish ( Sebastes spp.). However, across all taxa examined, trends in population size were associated with size of maturity, maximum size, and growth rate. Trends in population size were associated inversely with harvest levels, but stocks that mature late tended to decline faster than would be predicted by catch rates alone. Our results are disquieting because they raise the possibility that fishing‐induced phase shifts in fish communities may affect the recovery of fishes, even after the implementation of severe fishing restrictions.