Fisheries Management Plan for the Atlantic Bonito, Sarda sarda (Bloch, 1793) in Trinidad & Tobago

Fisheries Management Plan for the Fisheries Management Plan for the Atlantic Bonito, Sarda sarda (Bloch, Atlantic Bonito, Sarda sarda (Bloch, 1793) in Trinidad & Tobago1793) in Trinidad & Tobago

Christopher C KallooChristopher C Kalloo

OverviewOverview

• Species Information

• Atlantic Bonito Fishery

• Management Strategies for Atlantic Bonito in Trinidad & Tobago

Species InformationSpecies Information

• The Atlantic Bonito (S. sarda), belongs to the family Scombridae (Tunas & Mackerels)

• Migratory species that spends most of its time within coastal epipelagic, neritic waters

• A schooling species, sometimes observed forming schools with other tuna species

• Found on both sides of the tropical and temperate Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean and Black Seas


• upper body being steely blue and silvery lower sides and abdomen but its distinctive markings being 7 – 20 dark bluish bands running obliquely downward and forward across the lateral line

1

Skipjack Vs. Bonito - Main Forum. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/topic/318690-skipjack-vs-bonito/


• 2 Valeiras, J., & Abad, E. (2006). 2.1. 10.1 Description of Atlantic Bonito (BON) 1. Names 1. a Classification and taxonomy.

• 3Carpenter, K. E. (Ed.). (2002). The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic (Vol. 3). Rome: FAO.

2 3


Feeding – •Active predator feeding almost exclusively in the neritic zone

•Diurnal feeders

•Feed on several smaller schooling fish species depending on the locality

•Also feed on small invertebrates such as cephalopods and shrimp

•Diet varies depending on life stage

•Adults have an insatiable appetite feeding mostly on smaller clupeiforms.

•Cannibalistic traits in both juveniles and adults

•Predators include the Wahoo and the Dolphin fish


4. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_flyingfish#/media/File:Cheilopogon_melanurusPCCA20070623-3956B.jpg

5 (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_flyingfish#/media/File:Cheilopogon_melanurusPCCA20070623-3956B.jpg

4Rounded sardinella5Atlantic flying fish


Migration - •Triggered by spawning in mature adults

•Two migrations occurring, to and from spawning grounds in the open ocean

•Varies depending on location

•Can travel long distances to open ocean

•Migration and spawning routes for the Western Atlantic is at the time of reporting, unknown


Growth & Reproduction – •Black Sea showed a growth rate for young S. sarda to be about 252mm in 90 days or 2.8cm/day

•In Turkish Black Sea were shown to reach first maturity at 42.5cm Fork Length (FL) in females and 36.8cm FL for males•Males grew slightly faster than females

•Reach a maximum age of 5 years

•Sexual maturity is mostly found in specimens at age 2

•Spawning months varies according to location. Est to be less than 2 months long

Atlantic Bonito FisheryAtlantic Bonito Fishery

• Perception of being of little economic importance

• Fisheries of various sizes throughout the range

• Very important to the Mediterranean and the Black Seas• fishing methods : - o tuna traps, o gill nets, o trammel nets, o purse seines, o beach seines, o hook and hand lines

• Bonito catches globally have seen periods of high recorded catches to then periods, where landings plummeted


• Highest ever recorded landings occurring in 2005, where 83,059t

• 76,224t were from the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions.


Fishery for Trinidad & Tobago and the wider Western

Central Atlantic (WCA) - •Steadily increased in the Western Central Atlantic from the 1950’s reaching a maximum of 4,700 tonnes (t) in 1994.

•Decreased to around 1,900t in 2009; Mexico

•In the Caribbean, average of 285t caught between 1990 – 1999

•Assumed that more reported catches occur in Tobago than that of Trinidad


Sea Around Us | Fisheries, Ecosystems and Biodiversity. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.seaaroundus.org/data/#/spatial-catch?taxa=600115


Description of Local Fishery –•Mostly targeted by artisanal multi-gear fleets from Tobago

•Pelagic longlines and baited trolls, locally called a-la-vive, using live bait such as the Atlantic flying fish and Rounded Sardinella

•Peak fishing season historically between September to December; catches moderately sustained until February ;low catches are observed for the rest of the year

•2000 to 2014 - landing trends ↓ ↓ since early 2000’s.o452t in 2002 othe lowest recorded landings for the period occurring in 2006 at 7t



Threats to the Atlantic Bonito Fishery – In 2015 the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) identified threats:-•Lack of information such as biological and fisheries data •Impact of industrial fleets targeting larger pelagic species•Misidentification of species

Issues are generally the same for T&T in addition to weak legislative framework and institutional capacity of the sector.

Ecological Risk Analysis conducted by ICCAT indicated that S. sarda was Moderately at risk and required priority assessment


Common Misidentifications in T&T

Blackfin TunaSkipjack Tuna

Little Tunny

Carite

Management Strategies for Atlantic Management Strategies for Atlantic Bonito in Trinidad & TobagoBonito in Trinidad & Tobago

Improving existing Legislation – •Archaic nature of the fisheries laws in T&T severely undermine the objectives of effective fisheries management

•Only law in place restricts trawling in the Gulf of Paria, with only few recent amendments since its inception such as the protection of sea turtle species

•Open access with no limitations

•Commercially important species e.g Sarda sarda suggested to be overexploited


Improved Data collection –• Current population dynamics of the stock are unknown

•Basic population stock assessments parameters include: fish abundance, recruitment, fishing mortality, natural mortality, fishing effort and surplus production.

•Other biological and ecological parameters needed are migration routes, oceanic and environmental conditions, predator-prey relationships


Improved Research and Public Education-•Only a few institutes carry out fisheries research in Trinidad & Tobago; often underfunded and understaffed

•Prior to the establishment of CFRAMP data collection for large pelagics in CARICOM, were primarily for short term special interest research projects and were not continuous assessments

•Slow shift in policy makers to adopt recommendations made by scientists for the protection of fisheries stocks

Thank youThank you

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Date post:	22-Jan-2018
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Fisheries Management Plan for the Atlantic Bonito, Sarda sarda (Bloch, 1793) in Trinidad & Tobago

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