The impact of trawling on the epibenthic megafauna of the west Greenland shelf
Benthic habitats are important elements of polar marine environments, but can be vulnerable to anthropogenic influences such as trawling. Bottom trawling can reduce diversity and alter communities, although some habitats show resilience. The shrimp trawl fishery of West Greenland is a significant pa...
Published in: | ICES Journal of Marine Science |
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Oxford Journals, OUP
2017
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Online Access: | https://kar.kent.ac.uk/85333/ https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsw206 |
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ftkentuniv:oai:kar.kent.ac.uk:85333 2023-05-15T16:01:04+02:00 The impact of trawling on the epibenthic megafauna of the west Greenland shelf Yesson, Chris Fisher, Jessica C. Gorham, Taylor M. Turner, Christopher Arboe, Nanette H. Blitcher, Martin E. Kemp, Kirsty M. 2017-12-31 https://kar.kent.ac.uk/85333/ https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsw206 unknown Oxford Journals, OUP Yesson, Chris, Fisher, Jessica C., Gorham, Taylor M., Turner, Christopher, Arboe, Nanette H., Blitcher, Martin E., Kemp, Kirsty M. (2017) The impact of trawling on the epibenthic megafauna of the west Greenland shelf. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 74 (3). pp. 866-876. ISSN 1054-3139. E-ISSN 1095-9289. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:85333 </85333>) Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftkentuniv https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsw206 2023-03-12T19:18:30Z Benthic habitats are important elements of polar marine environments, but can be vulnerable to anthropogenic influences such as trawling. Bottom trawling can reduce diversity and alter communities, although some habitats show resilience. The shrimp trawl fishery of West Greenland is a significant part of Greenland's economy. It operates along the west coast from the narrow rockier shelf of the south, up to deeper, muddy areas around Disko Bay. Here we use a benthic drop camera to sample 201 sites between latitudes 60–72°N and depths of 61–725m. Linear models examined relationships of taxon abundance and diversity with bottom trawling intensity and environment (depth, temperature, current, iceberg concentration). Trawling intensity is the most important factor determining the overall abundance of benthic organisms, accounting for 12–16% of variance, although environmental conditions also show significant associations. Sessile erect organisms such as corals show a significant negative response to trawling. Soft sediment communities show a higher resilience than rocky areas. On soft sediments significantly lower abundance characterises sites trawled under five years ago. On hard/mixed ground reduced abundance remains characteristic of sites trawled a decade ago. Continued monitoring of benthic habitats is an essential part of evaluating the ongoing impacts of trawl fisheries. Article in Journal/Newspaper Disko Bay Greenland University of Kent: KAR - Kent Academic Repository Greenland ICES Journal of Marine Science 74 3 866 876 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Kent: KAR - Kent Academic Repository |
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ftkentuniv |
language |
unknown |
description |
Benthic habitats are important elements of polar marine environments, but can be vulnerable to anthropogenic influences such as trawling. Bottom trawling can reduce diversity and alter communities, although some habitats show resilience. The shrimp trawl fishery of West Greenland is a significant part of Greenland's economy. It operates along the west coast from the narrow rockier shelf of the south, up to deeper, muddy areas around Disko Bay. Here we use a benthic drop camera to sample 201 sites between latitudes 60–72°N and depths of 61–725m. Linear models examined relationships of taxon abundance and diversity with bottom trawling intensity and environment (depth, temperature, current, iceberg concentration). Trawling intensity is the most important factor determining the overall abundance of benthic organisms, accounting for 12–16% of variance, although environmental conditions also show significant associations. Sessile erect organisms such as corals show a significant negative response to trawling. Soft sediment communities show a higher resilience than rocky areas. On soft sediments significantly lower abundance characterises sites trawled under five years ago. On hard/mixed ground reduced abundance remains characteristic of sites trawled a decade ago. Continued monitoring of benthic habitats is an essential part of evaluating the ongoing impacts of trawl fisheries. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Yesson, Chris Fisher, Jessica C. Gorham, Taylor M. Turner, Christopher Arboe, Nanette H. Blitcher, Martin E. Kemp, Kirsty M. |
spellingShingle |
Yesson, Chris Fisher, Jessica C. Gorham, Taylor M. Turner, Christopher Arboe, Nanette H. Blitcher, Martin E. Kemp, Kirsty M. The impact of trawling on the epibenthic megafauna of the west Greenland shelf |
author_facet |
Yesson, Chris Fisher, Jessica C. Gorham, Taylor M. Turner, Christopher Arboe, Nanette H. Blitcher, Martin E. Kemp, Kirsty M. |
author_sort |
Yesson, Chris |
title |
The impact of trawling on the epibenthic megafauna of the west Greenland shelf |
title_short |
The impact of trawling on the epibenthic megafauna of the west Greenland shelf |
title_full |
The impact of trawling on the epibenthic megafauna of the west Greenland shelf |
title_fullStr |
The impact of trawling on the epibenthic megafauna of the west Greenland shelf |
title_full_unstemmed |
The impact of trawling on the epibenthic megafauna of the west Greenland shelf |
title_sort |
impact of trawling on the epibenthic megafauna of the west greenland shelf |
publisher |
Oxford Journals, OUP |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://kar.kent.ac.uk/85333/ https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsw206 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Disko Bay Greenland |
genre_facet |
Disko Bay Greenland |
op_relation |
Yesson, Chris, Fisher, Jessica C., Gorham, Taylor M., Turner, Christopher, Arboe, Nanette H., Blitcher, Martin E., Kemp, Kirsty M. (2017) The impact of trawling on the epibenthic megafauna of the west Greenland shelf. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 74 (3). pp. 866-876. ISSN 1054-3139. E-ISSN 1095-9289. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:85333 </85333>) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsw206 |
container_title |
ICES Journal of Marine Science |
container_volume |
74 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
866 |
op_container_end_page |
876 |
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1766397062219300864 |