A global viability assessment of the European eel
Abstract The global European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ) stock is critically endangered according to the IUCN , and the European Commission has urged the development of conservation plans aimed to ensure its viability. However, the complex life cycle of this panmictic species, which reproduces in the...
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crwiley:10.1111/gcb.12972 2024-09-15T17:39:44+00:00 A global viability assessment of the European eel Bevacqua, Daniele Melià, Paco Gatto, Marino De Leo, Giulio A. Italian Ministry of Research European Commission 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12972 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fgcb.12972 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.12972 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Global Change Biology volume 21, issue 9, page 3323-3335 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 journal-article 2015 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12972 2024-08-06T04:20:30Z Abstract The global European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ) stock is critically endangered according to the IUCN , and the European Commission has urged the development of conservation plans aimed to ensure its viability. However, the complex life cycle of this panmictic species, which reproduces in the open ocean but spends most of its prereproductive life in continental waters (thus embracing a huge geographic range and a variety of habitat types), makes it difficult to assess the long‐term effectiveness of conservation measures. The interplay between local and global stressors raises intriguing cross‐scale conservation challenges that require a comprehensive modelling approach to be addressed. We developed a full life cycle model of the global European eel stock, encompassing both the oceanic and the continental phases of eel's life, and explicitly allowing for spatial heterogeneity in vital rates, availability of suitable habitat and settlement potential via a metapopulation approach. We calibrated the model against a long‐term time series of global European eel catches and used it to hindcast the dynamics of the stock in the past and project it over the 21st century under different management scenarios. Although our analysis relies on a number of inevitable simplifying assumptions and on data that may not embrace the whole range of variation in population dynamics at the small spatiotemporal scale, our hindcast is consistent with the general pattern of decline of the stock over recent decades. The results of our projections suggest that (i) habitat loss played a major role in the European eel decline; (ii) the viability of the global stock is at risk if appropriate protection measures are not implemented; (iii) the recovery of spawner escapement requires that fishing mortality is significantly reduced; and (iv) the recovery of recruitment might not be feasible if reproductive output is not enhanced. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla European eel Wiley Online Library Global Change Biology 21 9 3323 3335 |
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English |
description |
Abstract The global European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ) stock is critically endangered according to the IUCN , and the European Commission has urged the development of conservation plans aimed to ensure its viability. However, the complex life cycle of this panmictic species, which reproduces in the open ocean but spends most of its prereproductive life in continental waters (thus embracing a huge geographic range and a variety of habitat types), makes it difficult to assess the long‐term effectiveness of conservation measures. The interplay between local and global stressors raises intriguing cross‐scale conservation challenges that require a comprehensive modelling approach to be addressed. We developed a full life cycle model of the global European eel stock, encompassing both the oceanic and the continental phases of eel's life, and explicitly allowing for spatial heterogeneity in vital rates, availability of suitable habitat and settlement potential via a metapopulation approach. We calibrated the model against a long‐term time series of global European eel catches and used it to hindcast the dynamics of the stock in the past and project it over the 21st century under different management scenarios. Although our analysis relies on a number of inevitable simplifying assumptions and on data that may not embrace the whole range of variation in population dynamics at the small spatiotemporal scale, our hindcast is consistent with the general pattern of decline of the stock over recent decades. The results of our projections suggest that (i) habitat loss played a major role in the European eel decline; (ii) the viability of the global stock is at risk if appropriate protection measures are not implemented; (iii) the recovery of spawner escapement requires that fishing mortality is significantly reduced; and (iv) the recovery of recruitment might not be feasible if reproductive output is not enhanced. |
author2 |
Italian Ministry of Research European Commission |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bevacqua, Daniele Melià, Paco Gatto, Marino De Leo, Giulio A. |
spellingShingle |
Bevacqua, Daniele Melià, Paco Gatto, Marino De Leo, Giulio A. A global viability assessment of the European eel |
author_facet |
Bevacqua, Daniele Melià, Paco Gatto, Marino De Leo, Giulio A. |
author_sort |
Bevacqua, Daniele |
title |
A global viability assessment of the European eel |
title_short |
A global viability assessment of the European eel |
title_full |
A global viability assessment of the European eel |
title_fullStr |
A global viability assessment of the European eel |
title_full_unstemmed |
A global viability assessment of the European eel |
title_sort |
global viability assessment of the european eel |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12972 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fgcb.12972 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.12972 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
op_source |
Global Change Biology volume 21, issue 9, page 3323-3335 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12972 |
container_title |
Global Change Biology |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
3323 |
op_container_end_page |
3335 |
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1810482171624816640 |