An ecosystem approach to mixed fisheries: technical and biological interactions in the Portuguese multi-gear fleet

Abstract

Abstract The term “mixed fisheries” refers to fishing activities where more than one species are caught simultaneously and one species may be fished by different gears. Therefore, mixed fisheries present a harder challenge for fisheries management than single-species fisheries and the uncertainty can start at the definition of the target species. In these particular fisheries, we have a large group of species that are caught, being target or not, species with large landing values that are actually not target, and species with a high economic value that can fall in the bycatch category. Although the dynamics of such fisheries is poorly understood, they are known to have a relevant contribution to Portuguese fishers' revenue. The present demand on sustainable fishing activities to ensure marine ecosystem preservation has led towards an ecosystem approach where effort is being made to take into account biological and technical interactions on management measures and advice. In this work, logbooks data of the Portuguese multi-gear fleet were used to identify different fisheries based on catch composition and gears through cluster analysis (CLARA). Two identified fisheries were used to explore the impact of these fishing activities on the ecosystem scale. This approach was achieved by a productivity and susceptibility analysis and through foodweb analysis. The relation between species vulnerability and their functional role in the ecosystem were highlighted. Technical interactions among fishing gears, and species biological interactions, were explored within and among fisheries. We found and illustrated that these interactions go beyond the fleets and fisheries considered in the present work. This approach allows us to identify key elements that can, ultimately, be relevant to an ecosystem-based approach towards mixed fisheries management.