Tuna Be, Or Not Tuna Be: Using Catch Data to Observe the Ecological Impacts of Commercial Tuna Fisheries in the Pacific Ocean at Varying Spatial Scales
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TUNA BE, OR NOT TUNA BE: USING CATCH DATA TO OBSERVE THE ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF COMMERCIAL TUNA FISHERIES IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN AT VARYING SPATIAL SCALES by Laurenne Louise Schiller B.Sc. (Hons.), University of Guelph, 2010 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (Zoology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2014 © Laurenne Louise Schiller, 2014 ABSTRACT Tuna are arguably the world’s most valuable, versatile, yet vulnerable fishes. With current landings over 4 million tonnes annually, all species of tuna from all three major ocean basins are caught, traded, and consumed at various intensities around the globe. Understanding the implications of such an extensive industry is paramount to protecting the long-term health and sustainability of both the tuna fisheries as well as the ecosystems in which they operate. Given that the Pacific Ocean accounts for roughly two-thirds of the global commercial tuna catch, this thesis assesses the trends and ecological impacts of commercial tuna fishing at both the artisanal and industrial scale in this ocean. To observe the importance of tuna fisheries at a local scale, a case study of the Galápagos Islands is presented. In this context, it was observed that over-fishing and the subsequent depletion of large, low fecund serranids has resulted in a high level of ‘fishing down’ within the near- shore ecosystem. Consequently, as fishers are forced to expand to regions off-shore, tuna and coastal scombrids are becoming increasingly targeted. With regard to industrial fishing, tuna vessels (especially distant-water longliners) are known to generate a substantial amount of associated bycatch and discards. The second component of this thesis quantified the amount of bycatch (retained and discarded) generated by Pacific tuna fishing fleets from 1950 to 2010. Unreported retained bycatch amounted to 1.4 million t; the total discarded catch associated with tuna fishing was 3.6 million t of target species and 7.9 million t of non-target species; sharks ii were the most commonly discarded species. These totals represent about 14% of the reported landings during this time. Lastly, an analysis of the applicability of the ‘Catch-MSY’ method developed by Martell and Froese (2012) in the context of large pelagic fishes is presented. It was observed that this method produces MSY estimates highly correlated to those produced by complete stock assessments. Collectively, the results of this thesis suggest that the tools to adequately manage tuna exist; however, proper data collection is rare, and the implementation of adequate sustainable fishing measures by fisheries managers is still wanting. iii PREFACE With the exception of the bookend Chapters 1 and 5, each chapter in this thesis has been prepared as a stand-alone manuscript. All background research, data acquisition and analyses, and writing included in this thesis were completed by myself. However, I received guidance with the conceptualization of these chapters and applicable methodology from my supervisor, Daniel Pauly, as well as other colleagues. These collaborations are discussed below. A version of Chapter 2 has been published and I am the lead author on this work. As such, I assumed primary responsibility for its design, analysis, and completion. Nonetheless, I received invaluable contributions with regard to the context and historical background of Galápagos fisheries from my co-authors Juan Jose Alava, Jack Grove, Günther Reck, and Daniel Pauly. These authors, as well as the Charles Darwin Foundation, also provided some of the data used for the analyses in this chapter. Chapter 3 is part of a larger global analysis of the impacts of commercial tuna fisheries that will be incorporated into the Sea Around Us Project global fisheries database and future publications. As such, Daniel Pauly provided guidance with regard to some of the methodology and, upon the completion of the data analyses, I worked closely with Frédéric Le Manach and Andrés Cisneros Montemeyor to ensure my results were properly formatted and transferable to the main database. iv The overarching concept and methodology used in Chapter 4 was designed by Steve Martell and Rainer Froese and is discussed in detail their 2012 paper, ‘A simple method for estimating MSY from catch and resilience’. Daniel Pauly suggested the application of the Catch-MSY method for tuna, and assisted me in its conceptualization in the context of this thesis. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii PREFACE .......................................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... x 1 | VALUABLE, VERSATILE, VULNERABLE ....................................................................... 1 The rise of seafashion ...................................................................................................... 2 Cat food to cult food ........................................................................................................ 4 Quantifying the world’s appetite ..................................................................................... 6 Research objectives and purpose .................................................................................... 7 2 | THE DEMISE OF DARWIN’S FISHES .......................................................................... 10 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 11 Island geography and demographics ............................................................................. 11 Overview of Galápagos fisheries .................................................................................... 13 Artisanal fisheries ........................................................................................................... 15 Industrial fishery for tuna ............................................................................................... 20 Shark fishing ................................................................................................................... 21 Sportfishing .................................................................................................................... 22 METHODS ........................................................................................................................... 23 Local consumption ......................................................................................................... 23 Bacalao and finfish ......................................................................................................... 24 Sea cucumber ................................................................................................................. 25 Spiny and slipper lobster ................................................................................................ 26 Tuna (industrial) ............................................................................................................. 27 Sharks ............................................................................................................................. 27 Trophic level analysis ..................................................................................................... 28 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................................. 30 Local consumption ......................................................................................................... 31 Bacalao and finfish ......................................................................................................... 32 Sea cucumber ................................................................................................................. 33 Spiny and slipper lobster ................................................................................................ 35 Tuna (industrial) ............................................................................................................. 37 Sharks ............................................................................................................................. 38 Trophic level analysis ..................................................................................................... 41 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................... 43 3 | LOST GIANTS OF THE PACIFIC ................................................................................. 46 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 47 Large pelagic fishes of the Pacific Ocean ....................................................................... 47 vi Industrial tuna fisheries of the Pacific