Even when fishing effort data are not available in a developing fishery, it is often still possible to develop a simple fishery indicator to obtain information about the status of the stock. Using catch data only, Grainger and Garcia, (FAO Fish. Tech. Pap. 359, 1996) showed that the changes over time in the relative rate of catch increase (RRCI) can be used to detect when a stock reaches its over-fishing level, i.e., the year when RRCI falls to zero. The method presupposes that fishing effort increased steadily over the period concerned. We propose a generalization of this method that consists in obtaining a crude estimate of the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by plotting the trend in catches against the smoothed RRCI. The yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) fishery in the Eastern Atlantic was used to show the bold relationship between MSY estimates obtained from standard equilibrium production models and from this method. Given that it is very difficult to estimate effective fishing effort for skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), we show how this simple fishery indicator can be used to obtain proxies of MSY for skipjack fisheries located in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and in the Indian Ocean.

Intense local fishing pressure is likely to induce significant local decreases in both resource biomass and fishing yields. This is what we term ‘local overfishing’. Such a phenomenon and its consequences for stock assessment are investigated with the fisheries simulator SHADYS (Simulateur halieutique de dynamiques spatiales: spatialized simulator of fisheries dynamics). In SHADYS, resource dynamic is based on an advection–diffusion–reaction equation. After a brief presentation, the simulator is used to characterize the ‘local overfishing’ phenomenon as a ‘wound’ of the population. The latter is subsequently able to ‘heal’ and to recover its initial distribution. We show that, associated with cooperation tactics of the fishing fleets, local overfishing may induce non-linear relationships between catches per unit of effort (CPUE) and fishing effort calculated locally. In particular, it is shown that there is a strictly decreasing relationship between catchability and effort when fishing vessels apply intense local fishing pressure but do not cooperate; that the relationship may increase when vessels cooperate but do not apply intense local fishing pressures; and finally, that it may go through a maximum when, simultaneously, ships cooperate and have high local exploitation rates. These three main types of theoretical relationships correspond well with those observed in reality. The existence of such relationships could be an important source of biases in stock assessment.

An individual-based model named OSMOSE (Object-oriented Simulator of Marine Ecosystems Exploitation) is used to investigate the dynamics of exploited marine fish communities. It allows the representation of age- and size-structured populations comprised of groups of individuals that interact within a spatialized food web. Within each group, which constitutes the basic interaction entity (the ‘super-individual’ in individual-based modelling terminology), fish belong to the same species, have similar biological parameters and behaviour rules. Somatic growth, reproduction, predation and starvation processes are modelled. Two rules apply for the predation process: for a given fish group, prey selection depends both on the spatial and temporal co-occurrence of the predator and its prey, and on the respective lengths of the prey versus the predator. Thus, fish feed regardless of the taxonomy of their prey. The strength of both predation and competition relationships therefore vary according to changes in relative species abundance. Preliminary investigations are conducted on a theoretical community comprising seven interacting species. The simulation results show how community stability can emerge from variability in species biomass. It is thus suggested that size-based trophic interactions, along with the existence of multiple weak links and species redundancy, favour community persistence and stability.

Anti-Bacillus megaterium activity was measured in unfractionated plasma withdrawn from three common US East Coast bivalve molluscs: an oyster Crassostrea virginica and the mussels Geukensia demissa and Mytilus edulis. The activities of the plasma samples from these bivalves were also measured against a C. virginica pathogen Perkinsus marinus. Strong anti-B. megaterium activity was measured in plasma from C. virginica and M. edulis, but was not detected in G. demissa. Bactericidal activity was found in hemocyte extracts from all bivalves in this study, suggesting a cellular origin of cytotoxic humoral factors. Peptides (< 10 kDa) were separated from the plasma samples by ultrafiltration; weak antibacterial peptide activity was quantified in C. virginica peptides, but not in peptides from the mussels. In the case of P. marinus, plasma from M. edulis or G. demissa was boldly cidal as compared to plasma from C. virginica. This difference in activity probably reflects the low pathogenicity of this oyster parasite for the mussel species tested. In summary, the bactericidal activity of plasma proteins from these bivalves showed considerable interspecies variation and did not necessarily correlate directly with antiprotistan activity. When present, antibacterial and antiprotistan activities seemed to be associated with plasma proteins rather than < 10-kDa plasma peptides, with the possible exception of C. virginica anti-B. megaterium activity and the occasionally expressed anti-P. marinus activity of M. edulis peptides. The precise identity of the plasma protein(s) responsible for the antimicrobial activities measured have yet to be determined, but it is likely that agents other than, or in addition to, lysozyme play significant roles in the process.

In a multi-gear and multi-species artisanal fishery, the level of technical interactions (i.e. the competitive externalities resulting from a shared exploitation of common resources or fishing grounds) among various fishing units is high. Assessing these technical interactions is of great importance for fishery management, as any control applied to one fishing unit may have positive or negative effects on others. The magnitude and direction of these effects cannot be easily measured, unless all fishing units and species in the fishery are considered simultaneously. Technical interactions are particularly important in the complex artisanal fisheries of the English Channel. Using a bioeconomic model of the English Channel that incorporates all the major fishing units (the BECHAMEL model), we describe a method for measuring and classifying the technical interactions due to the competition for resource (stock externalities). The results are used to develop a typology of métiers and fleets based on their overall level of interaction for the resource. We also define fleets and métiers as structuring, dependent, intermediate or autonomous.

Between 1994 and 1999, several sampling designs were used to measure the growth of the black-lip pearl oyster, Pinctada margaritifera var. cumingi at different sites in French Polynesia. Using a common statistical method, growth data were analysed for nine sites and showed significant geographic variability. Parameters of the Von Bertalanffy model, fitted on the nine data sets, ranged from 147 to 186.5 mm for the H∞ parameter and from 0.42 to 0.58 year–1 for the k parameter. The φ parameter (combination of H∞ and k) provided a ranking classification of growth in these nine sites: growth was low in closed atoll lagoons, such as Takapoto, whereas the island lagoons and ocean habitat supported a very promising shell growth. Calculated on the basis of these models, two parameters of interest for pearl farming were computed: 1) the time for pearl oysters to reach a size of 100 mm (size at which they are suitable for nucleus implantation), which ranged from 21 to 26 months, and 2) the annual shell growth increment at this size (correlated to the rate of nacreous deposition on the pearl), which varied from 19.7 to 31.8 mm·year–1. The combination of these two sets of results demonstrated that the time necessary to produce a comparable pearl varied significantly according to the site. Several hypotheses to explain the differences observed in the growth of P. margaritifera in these nine sites are proposed. The most reasonable would appear to be: 1) the negative effect of high temperature (> 30°C), and 2) the degree of water renewal and food supply around the bivalve. Although this paper demonstrated significant variability in growth performance in the nine investigated sites, further investigations are needed, especially concerning the flesh growth rate. Indeed, this highly relevant parameter, which reflects both bivalve health and the suitability of farming sites, has received very little attention to date.

Models of simulated schools have been used to determine the intrinsic variability in echotraces due to beam pattern effect. This work concerns only morphometric and energetic parameters that can be extracted from echotraces. It appears that dST, the difference between school density and processing threshold is a key parameter, which directly influences the concerned detection angles. Relations, taking into account dST but also, Nbi, the relative school length image compared to the beam width, have been settled for the calculation of length and density corrections. In most cases, corrected values are obtained with errors less than respectively 5% for length and 0.5 dB for density (reverberation index), provided that the Nbi value is 1.5 or more. When Nbi is less than 1, it seems impossible to bring some pertinent corrections. The school energy does not need any correction. It is recommended to use threshold values not too low, to avoid detection through the side lobes. However this setting must be determined in order to obtain dST values greater than 10 dB. Thresholds between –60 and –65 dB seem adequate, at least for schools volume backscattering strength (VBS, Sv) values commonly encountered in the Bay of Biscay.

Each summer the presence of large concentrations of bait fish in the area of the central Azores Islands gives rise to mixed-species feeding aggregations usually at dawn and dusk. The encircling of prey initiated by common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), often mixed with spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), results in the formation of a compact ‘ball’ of several thousands prey fish close to the surface. Other dolphins, in particular the bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus), also eat the prey fish, whose high concentration makes them easy to capture. Large tunas (Thunnus thynnus, Thunnus albacares) sometimes participate in the phenomenon. Seabirds (mainly cory’s sheawaters, Calonectris diomedea borealis) are always present throughout the few minutes during which the entire collective food hunt takes place. A model of the phenomenon, based on 15 observations, is proposed. It comprises 4 stages: a preparation phase, an intensification phase, a mature phase, and a dispersion phase. These observations allow a better understanding of the tuna-dolphin aggregation process. They show that it is the tunas that generate and beneficiate from the aggregation with dolphins, rather than the contrary.

Nephrops norvegicus (Norway lobster or prawn) is an important target species in demersal fisheries of the north-east Atlantic. Trawling for Nephrops is wasteful when many small fish are caught and discarded in the process. Here, data from 106 commercial fishing trips, sampled between 1982 and 1998 as part of the Scottish discard sampling programme, are used to investigate the fish bycatch and discards of Nephrops trawlers in the Firth of Clyde (west of Scotland). A large proportion of the fish caught in the Clyde is discarded, the discards mainly consisting of small demersal fish (mean length about 19 cm), particularly young whiting (Merlangius merlangus). Within the study period, annual estimates of total fish discards ranged from 318 to 3027 tonnes, with a mean of 1761 tonnes. Fish landings and discards biomass per unit effort both decreased over the study period. However, the decline in landings per unit effort was greater than that in discards per unit effort, corresponding to an increase in the discard rate over time. In recent years, discards have comprised about 70 % of the fish bycatch. The mean length of discarded fish was positively related to mesh size.

Data concerning the planktonic food web and the farmed pearl oysters of the lagoon of Takapoto Atoll were assembled into a steady state model of carbon flows. A method of optimisation, using constraints from the literature, called ‘inverse analysis’ was chosen as the numerical tool for estimating the missing flow values. The resulting food web is characterised by: 1) high primary production, achieved by low phytoplankton biomass, 2) high production of non-living matter, especially as dissolved organic carbon, 3) low bacterial production, 4) zooplankton dominated by protozoa (biomass and processes) and mesozooplankton (processes), and 5) very low consumption of plankton by farmed bivalves compared to planktonic fluxes. When considering the whole lagoon, the farmed oysters (Pinctada margaritifera) and associated bivalves (Pinctada maculata) consume 0.24% of the planktonic gross primary production. In addition, the consumption by natural populations of the main benthic bivalves in this lagoon (Chama iostoma, Arca ventricosa, Pinctada margaritifera and Pinctada maculata) is also low compared to the high planktonic primary production (4.1%). The oyster farming in this lagoon is thus very far from being food-limited.

Among the different stages in the protozoan Perkinsus marinus life cycle, the trophozoite stage is known to be the most infective stage in marine molluscs. To develop a direct method for in vitro studies of P. marinus proliferation under various environmental conditions, monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific for this pathogen were produced. Inbred strains of mice BALB/c were immunised with a trophozoite prepared from cloned isolate Perkinsus 1 cultured on JLODRP1 medium. The mouse polyclonal antiserum showing the highest antibody titre for pathogen trophozoites was chosen for lymphocyte hybridisation. The screening of positive hybridoma by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) revealed two probes (17B2D5 and 19G3H6) detecting P. marinus trophozoites and their protein lysates but also trophozoites from P. atlanticus. These MAbs belonged to the immunoglobulin IgG1 subclass. Their binding specificity was investigated by ELISA and fluorescein (FITC) methods. Both immunoreacted with trophozoite stage as well as hypnospore and zoospore stages of P. marinus, but neither with hemolymph and tissues of oysters, Crassostrea gigas and C. virginica, nor with parasites, Bonamia ostreae and Marteilia refringens. A competitive ELISA method was developed, using 17B2D5 MAb to evaluate parasite multiplication in culture media and to estimate the parasite burdens from infected oysters. This method is sensitive enough to detect 103 trophozoites in 50 μL assay sample.

Fisheries exploitation systems are characterized by reciprocal interactions between fisheries activity and the harvested resource. Variability and changes affecting ‘natural’ and ‘socio-economic’ environments generate non stationarity of the variables used to describe the fishing activity, the resource and the yields. This characteristic needs to be taken into account in describing the evolution of the relationships between those variables, and in describing fisheries adaptability and sustainability. We present a dynamical system model with an application to data from surveys on activity and results of the Senegalese artisanal fishery from 1974 to 1992. A fitting procedure is proposed, giving estimates of the parameters of the model. A simulation is then made with the fitted model in order to apraise possible impacts of various events of different kind.

The characteristics of the phytoplankton of Takapoto Atoll are reviewed from the studies conducted between 1974 and 1998. These studies mainly concerned the biomass and primary production of phytoplankton while the taxonomic composition received far less attention. The mean biomass is 0.2–0.3 μg chl a·L–1. The phytoplankton is homogeneously distributed on a year scale although an higher biomass (0.8 μg chl a·L–1) may temporarily exist in the south part of the atoll under moderate tradewinds or calm weather. The gross primary production reached 0.8 g C·m–2·day–1 whereas the net primary production is estimated to be 0.7 g C·m–2·day–1. No significant long-term changes of the biomass or primary production can be observed. The implications of this stability are discussed in the context of the mother-of-pearl mariculture. Size fractionated samples revealed the predominance of picophytoplankton which represented more than 60% of the phytoplankton biomass and achieved > 50% of the primary production. The taxonomic composition observed in 1974 showed the predominance of three algal groups: diatoms, dinoflagellates and coccolithophorids. The diatoms were the most diversified group, while the dinoflagellates were the most abundant. No further examination of the phytoplankton was undertaken until 1996. At that time, the microplankton was quite absent, and the phytoplankton communities were dominated by the pico- and nanophytoplankton, mainly chlorophytes, prymnesiophytes and dinoflagellates. This drastic shift of the phytoplankton communities towards smaller size is not clearly understood. It emphasises the need of taxonomic studies for a better understanding of the lagoon ecology.

We describe daily allocation patterns of fishing effort (hookah diving) of the artisanal fleet in San Felipe, Yucatan (Mexico), using catch, fishing effort, catch per unit of effort, variable costs, quasi rent and distance from port to four fishing grounds as performance variables. Two vessel categories were defined by the presence/absence of a LOng RAnge Navigation (LORAN) system. Hookah divers caught a daily average of four species in 95% of the trips, thus precluding the quantification of effective fishing effort allocated by species. Highest catches and quasi rent were mainly obtained on Thursdays and Fridays, coinciding with the highest catches of Octopus maya and spiny lobster (making up 50% of the total economic revenue) on Fridays in 3 of the 5 weeks analysed. An upper ceiling of daily catch per diver occurred close to the weekend, suggesting a limited capacity in terms of handling time and diving hours, and also a catch level that fulfills daily economic expectations. Both LORAN and non-LORAN vessels preferred to work the nearest ground to port, in spite of higher yield and economic rent from more distant grounds. Nonlinear modelling of fishing effort allocation showed distance from port as the key decision factor. Generalized linear modelling (GLM) revealed significant effects of vessel type and fishing ground, with LORAN vessels having significantly higher catch rates and tending to allocate more effort to distant grounds than vessels without LORAN. GLM performed by species corroborated that Friday was the most productive day concerning spiny lobster and octopus. This day effect in the most valued species also suggests that pressure for higher economic benefits occurs before diminishing (Saturday) or ceasing (Sundays) fishing activities.

Long term changes in catches of two sardinella species off equatorial West Africa seem inconsistent with their thermal preferences. Sardinella maderensis is usually fished during the warm season in low salinity waters, while S. aurita is associated with cold upwelled waters. However, in the Congo fisheries, S. maderensis dominated the catches from 1964 to 1983, when temperatures were moderate or cool; subsequently S. aurita became the most important from 1984 onward, as there was pronounced warming. The movement of water masses related to Atlantic Niño-like episodes explains this paradox. These warm events are associated with enhancement of the equatorial counter currents. When the eastward transport strengthens south of the equator (Benguela Niño), it drives an influx of warm water towards Angola, which repels Sardinella aurita northwards. Then, trapped near the coast by the subsuperficial warm water intrusion and the deviation of the Congo River plume, S. aurita becomes more concentrated and vulnerable to fishing. This is the most frequent situation during warm events. However, when the anomaly involves the north equatorial counter current (Guinea Niño), we assume that this surge of water in the Bight of Biafra leads to a water leakage toward the south, along the Gabon coast. This warm and low salinity water tongue, homologous to the Peruvian El Niño current, would drive Sardinella maderensis towards the Congo fisheries, but would force Sardinella aurita offshore making it less accessible to the fisheries. This situation is likely to have occurred in 1987–1988 when there were large catches of several species linked to brackish waters (bongas, Pseudotolithus, soles, catfish, sharks and spiny lobsters). On the contrary, decadal variations of catches of the two species are consistent with regime shifts of the Congo River: Sardinella maderensis is dominant when the outflow is above average (1960s and 1970s) and is replaced by Sardinella aurita when the runoff is weak (1980s and 1990s). In Angola, the catches of horse mackerel shift southwards during the warm years preceding 1976, then northwards during a cool period ending in 1983. From 1984, the abundance of horse mackerels over the shelf increases after warm events.

We studied the reproductive biology of the lesser sandeel, Ammodytes marinus, on the fishing grounds of the east central North Sea and on an unfished ground off the coast of southwest Norway. As in other parts of the North Sea, gonad growth appeared to start in September and spawning occurred in December-January. Based on data from the spawning period, maturity ogives by length and age were derived. The length and age at 50 % maturity was 14 cm and 3.2 years respectively in both study areas. The age estimate is 1 year higher than that found previously in the southern North Sea and adopted for the ICES-assessments of the North Sea spawning stock. Estimates of fecundity appeared higher in the North Sea than in coastal waters, at least for large fish. The coastal water estimates also seemed low compared with fecundity at length relationships previously published from Shetland, Fair Isle, and Dogger bank. The sex ratio seldom deviated substantially from the 1:1 ratio, but in summer there appeared to be a surplus of females. Due to spatial differences in age-structure, the proportion of adults was generally much lower on the fishing grounds of the North Sea proper than on the unfished coastal ground. In the middle of the spawning period, however, aggregations of adults occurred on the North Sea grounds.

A tracer (51Cr-EDTA) study was undertaken with juvenile (20 g) freshwater rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, using an experimental design that minimized stress effects during feeding and drinking trials. A calculation procedure was developed, where feed intake (pellet number), tracer intake (mL), water in stomach contents (g) and drinking rate (mL·kg–1·h–1) are essential to discriminate between the major stomach water sources prandially and postprandially: water bound in food; initial water absorption of pellets; prandial water intake; postprandial water intake and endogenous stomach secretion. We put forward the hypothesis that intake of dry food with a minor water content (10 %) may impose a demand for water to moisture the feed up to the level in natural feed (75 %) as preparation for gastric emptying, whereafter food is ready to pass from the stomach through the pyloric sphincter. Moisture content of pellets increased from 9.4 to 24.9 % in the pre-meal period. The pellets were ingested with 4.0 to 19.3 μL water per pellet, reflecting high inter-individual variation. Prandially moisture content rose to 52 % and further increased to 56 % in the delay period. Moisture content was ca. 65 %, when pellets began to disintegrate and move through the sphincter in accordance with the hypothesis. Stomach secretion contributed 34–44 % of the stomach water and ingested water 25–35 %. The sampling and calculation procedure gave convincing evidence for the detailed stomach water budget and this individual approach can be very useful in comparisons of artificial and natural diets.

The individual growth variability of passive integrated transponder tagged sea bass was studied using data sets from two different experiments. In experiment 1 (n = 485), fish submitted to different photoperiod regimes were held in fourteen groups of individual weight of 88 ± 13 g (mean ± SD). In experiment 2 (n = 748, initial weight 243 ± 30 g) fish were held in fifteen groups and had either free or restricted access to diets with three lipid levels. After adjustment for treatment and tank effects, individual growth curves were analysed using multivariate analysis (principal component analysis and clustering) and were modelled using the summary statistics technique. Different growth profiles where characterized. All of them appeared to be curvilinear. They differed in their level (initial and final weight), slope (slope, specific growth weight, gain) and especially the ratio of males, which showed sexual growth dimorphism. The fish with similar initial weight proved to have very different growth performances, regardless of the treatment effect. Within the same sex, part of the variability between the growth profiles could be explained by differences in the social interactions and in the genetic potential of growth among individuals.

Les variations de la diversité spécifique entre les assemblages de poissons démersaux du golfe de Gascogne (océan Atlantique) et du golfe du Lion (mer Méditerranée) sont analysées à l'échelle d'une décennie. L'objectif est d'interpréter la dynamique de ces peuplements dont les niveaux d'exploitation par la pêche diffèrent. Les données utilisées sont issues des campagnes de chalutages réalisées de 1983 à 1997 pour l'évaluation des stocks de poissons démersaux. Les indicateurs de diversité analysés sont les indices N1 et N2 de Hill, la richesse spécifique S, la régularité J’, les courbes K-dominance et les stratégies démographiques des principales espèces. Chacun des deux peuplements est constitué de trois assemblages d'espèces (assemblage côtier, du plateau et de la pente continentale). Il n'existe de différence significative ni entre les assemblages du golfe de Gascogne, ni entre ceux du golfe du Lion. Il n'y a pas non plus de différence significative entre les années. L'ensemble du golfe du Lion est caractérisé par des valeurs N2 et des indices S plus élevés que dans le golfe de Gascogne. Selon les courbes K-dominance, le peuplement du golfe de Gascogne est caractérisé par un plus petit nombre d'espèces dominantes que dans le golfe du Lion. Enfin, les espèces dominantes du golfe du Lion sont caractérisées par une longévité et/ou une taille maximale plus grande que celles du golfe de Gascogne. Le golfe de Gascogne correspondrait à un système adapté à l'existence de perturbations (mortalités imprévisibles), tandis que le golfe du Lion correspondrait à un système adapté à un environnement moins perturbé. Un impact de l'exploitation n'a pu être interprété à partir des indices choisis, utilisés à cette échelle. Toutefois, lorsque les indices de diversité sont mis en relation avec la stratégie démographique des espèces, des éléments de dynamique des peuplements sont mis en évidence.

Is the seasonal growth of Strangomera bentincki (Clupeidae) and Engraulis ringens (Engraulidae) a consequence of their reproductive strategy to adapt to the seasonal upwelling ecosystem they inhabit? This question is addressed by analysing monthly length-frequency data, gonadosomatic index and condition factor of the species in relation with the seasonal patterns of environmental variables. Modal progression analysis of mean length-at-age of cohorts along the time axis was used to study the growth in the period 1990–1997. A seasonally oscillating growth curve was estimated for both species, with the slowest growth rate occurring between April and May, a few months before the higher reproductive activity occurring in August–September. The reproductive strategy is to spawn when environmental conditions are related with onshore transport in winter (August), favouring the concentration and retention of eggs and larvae. One month later, a moderate upwelling determines an enrichment in food particles and the spawning area is transformed in a nursery area for juveniles. The reproductive strategy is combined with an ‘energy storage strategy’ during the period of upwelling. The energy stored is used for reproduction several months later, affecting the growth process of the species. It is concluded that the regularity in the seasonal growth in both species is a response, from an evolutionary point of view, of a long-term reproductive adaptation to the seasonal upwelling ecosystem of the central southern area off Chile.