Investigating fishery and climate change effects on the conservation status of odontocetes in the Northern Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea)

A modelling approach applied to the study of ecosystems from a management and conservation point of view allows their complexity to be investigated as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Tying into Sustainable Development Goals 13 and 14, the human activities of fisheries and climate change represent two pivotal drivers for the marine environment, acting on keystone predators, such as odontocetes. A calibrated time-dynamic model (Ecopath with Ecosim) was developed to investigate the effects on the odontocetes and their main prey in the Northern Ionian Sea, according to changes in trawl fishery and primary productivity. Changes in trawling fishing effort and in primary production were tested in the period until to 2040 to detect the effect on the biomass of odontocetes and their main prey. The cumulative effects of the two drivers were assessed using an Interaction Effect Index. Fishery showed negligible effects on all odontocetes, with the exception of the common bottlenose dolphin which respond in a negative way to an increase in fishing effort. The reduction in top-predators due to fishing seems to lead to a reduction in predation pressure on meso-consumers, and thus to an increase in predation pressure on basal prey. Similarly, the bottom-up effect due to increased primary production tends to be diluted towards the top of the trophic network, with slight effects on odontocetes.

RICCI Pasquale;  SERPETTI Natalia;  CASCIONE Daniela;  CIPRIANO Giulia;  D’ONGHIA Gianfranco;  DE PADOVA Diana;  FANIZZA C;  INGROSSO Maurizio;  CARLUCCI R.; 

2023-09-22

ELSEVIER

JRC134942

0304-3800 (online),   

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380023002302,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC134942,   

10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2023.110500 (online),