Spatiotemporal Overlap of Baleen Whales and Krill Fisheries in the Western Antarctic Peninsula Region
In Antarctica, abundant consumers rely on Antarctic krill for food, but krill are also the subject of a commercial fishery. The fishery overlaps in time and space with the foraging areas of these consumers, thus potential competition between krill fisheries and krill consumers is a major management...
Published in: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.914726 https://doaj.org/article/4b2d3ae0d8784045aa8ad709479ecc08 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4b2d3ae0d8784045aa8ad709479ecc08 2023-05-15T13:54:01+02:00 Spatiotemporal Overlap of Baleen Whales and Krill Fisheries in the Western Antarctic Peninsula Region Ryan R. Reisinger Philip N. Trathan Christopher M. Johnson Trevor W. Joyce John W. Durban Robert L. Pitman Ari S. Friedlaender 2022-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.914726 https://doaj.org/article/4b2d3ae0d8784045aa8ad709479ecc08 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.914726/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.914726 https://doaj.org/article/4b2d3ae0d8784045aa8ad709479ecc08 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2022) humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) competition fishing tracking Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.914726 2022-12-31T02:21:03Z In Antarctica, abundant consumers rely on Antarctic krill for food, but krill are also the subject of a commercial fishery. The fishery overlaps in time and space with the foraging areas of these consumers, thus potential competition between krill fisheries and krill consumers is a major management concern. The fishery is managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources with an ecosystem approach, according to which fishing should not interfere with either the population growth of krill, or krill-dependent consumers. Krill catches have become increasingly spatially concentrated in a small number of hotspots, raising concerns about how local depletion of krill impacts consumers. Such concentrated fishing demonstrates that there is a mismatch between the spatial and temporal scale at which krill fisheries are currently managed, and that at which fisheries operate and consumers forage. Information on the seasonal dynamics of predator abundance and their foraging behaviour is fundamental to future precautionary management of the krill fishery. We analysed the spatiotemporal distribution of two major krill consumers – humpback and minke whales – and that of krill fishing, off the Western Antarctic Peninsula. We used whale tracking data (58 humpback whale tracks and 19 minke whale tracks) to develop spatial random forest models predicting the monthly distribution of whale foraging areas from January-July. Using these predictions, we calculated spatiotemporally-explicit geographic overlap between whales and fisheries, the latter represented by krill fishing effort and catch data. Over the krill fishing season, fishing effort and catch hotspots shifted to the southwest, into the Bransfield Strait where effort and catch was highest. Predicted humpback whale foraging areas increased in the Bransfield Strait over the same period, while predicted minke whale foraging areas showed an opposite trend. For both we predicted a whale-fishing interaction hotspot in the Bransfield Strait, ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Minke whale Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Balaenoptera bonaerensis baleen whales Bransfield Strait Euphausia superba Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae minke whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Bransfield Strait Frontiers in Marine Science 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) competition fishing tracking Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) competition fishing tracking Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Ryan R. Reisinger Philip N. Trathan Christopher M. Johnson Trevor W. Joyce John W. Durban Robert L. Pitman Ari S. Friedlaender Spatiotemporal Overlap of Baleen Whales and Krill Fisheries in the Western Antarctic Peninsula Region |
topic_facet |
humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) competition fishing tracking Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
In Antarctica, abundant consumers rely on Antarctic krill for food, but krill are also the subject of a commercial fishery. The fishery overlaps in time and space with the foraging areas of these consumers, thus potential competition between krill fisheries and krill consumers is a major management concern. The fishery is managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources with an ecosystem approach, according to which fishing should not interfere with either the population growth of krill, or krill-dependent consumers. Krill catches have become increasingly spatially concentrated in a small number of hotspots, raising concerns about how local depletion of krill impacts consumers. Such concentrated fishing demonstrates that there is a mismatch between the spatial and temporal scale at which krill fisheries are currently managed, and that at which fisheries operate and consumers forage. Information on the seasonal dynamics of predator abundance and their foraging behaviour is fundamental to future precautionary management of the krill fishery. We analysed the spatiotemporal distribution of two major krill consumers – humpback and minke whales – and that of krill fishing, off the Western Antarctic Peninsula. We used whale tracking data (58 humpback whale tracks and 19 minke whale tracks) to develop spatial random forest models predicting the monthly distribution of whale foraging areas from January-July. Using these predictions, we calculated spatiotemporally-explicit geographic overlap between whales and fisheries, the latter represented by krill fishing effort and catch data. Over the krill fishing season, fishing effort and catch hotspots shifted to the southwest, into the Bransfield Strait where effort and catch was highest. Predicted humpback whale foraging areas increased in the Bransfield Strait over the same period, while predicted minke whale foraging areas showed an opposite trend. For both we predicted a whale-fishing interaction hotspot in the Bransfield Strait, ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ryan R. Reisinger Philip N. Trathan Christopher M. Johnson Trevor W. Joyce John W. Durban Robert L. Pitman Ari S. Friedlaender |
author_facet |
Ryan R. Reisinger Philip N. Trathan Christopher M. Johnson Trevor W. Joyce John W. Durban Robert L. Pitman Ari S. Friedlaender |
author_sort |
Ryan R. Reisinger |
title |
Spatiotemporal Overlap of Baleen Whales and Krill Fisheries in the Western Antarctic Peninsula Region |
title_short |
Spatiotemporal Overlap of Baleen Whales and Krill Fisheries in the Western Antarctic Peninsula Region |
title_full |
Spatiotemporal Overlap of Baleen Whales and Krill Fisheries in the Western Antarctic Peninsula Region |
title_fullStr |
Spatiotemporal Overlap of Baleen Whales and Krill Fisheries in the Western Antarctic Peninsula Region |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatiotemporal Overlap of Baleen Whales and Krill Fisheries in the Western Antarctic Peninsula Region |
title_sort |
spatiotemporal overlap of baleen whales and krill fisheries in the western antarctic peninsula region |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.914726 https://doaj.org/article/4b2d3ae0d8784045aa8ad709479ecc08 |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Bransfield Strait |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Bransfield Strait |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Minke whale Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Balaenoptera bonaerensis baleen whales Bransfield Strait Euphausia superba Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae minke whale |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Minke whale Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Balaenoptera bonaerensis baleen whales Bransfield Strait Euphausia superba Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae minke whale |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.914726/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.914726 https://doaj.org/article/4b2d3ae0d8784045aa8ad709479ecc08 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.914726 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
9 |
_version_ |
1766259511035691008 |