Falco F, Bottari T, Ragonese S, Killen S S
Institute of Biological Resource and Marine Biotechnology (IRBIM), National Research Council (CNR), Section of Mazara del vallo, Via L. Vaccara, 61 91026, TP, Italy.
Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (IRBIM), National Research Council (CNR), Section of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy.
Conserv Physiol. 2022 Mar 11;10(1):coac008. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coac008. eCollection 2022.
Recent European Union (EU) regulations have been introduced to discourage the capture of undersized specimens with the aim of reducing the bycatch mortality imposed by commercial fisheries. We argue that we still lack accurate data regarding basic information required to properly implement these regulations for most Mediterranean ecosystems, including the true mortality imposed by fisheries, escape rates from fishing gears and the capability of specimens to survive following discard. We suggest that additional reliance on physiological biomarkers could assist in all aspects of the data collection required to support implementation of the EU discard ban (aka landing obligation), particularly in determining which species should receive special dispensation from this policy. Ideally, this new approach, here termed the 'Fisheries Environmental and Physiological Stress Analysis' (FEPSA), would become an important step for any fish stock assessment within the ecosystem approach to fisheries management and the recognition of Good Environmental Status, as established by the EU in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC). In particular, the main goal of FEPSA would be applying the study of physiological stressors to exploited stocks to estimate the so-called collateral fishing mortality, which includes the mortality experienced by fish that escape after interacting with fishing gears or that are discarded, with some degree of injury or physiological stress. The approach outlined here, which is described for bottom trawls but adaptable to any other type of fishing gear, is not a trivial undertaking but is a requirement for collecting the data required by recent EU fisheries policies. While we agree that the threats to marine biodiversity posed by fishing and associated discard practices require strong policy interventions, we emphasize that the research programs needed to support such initiatives, including the landing obligation, should be given equal priority. This is particularly true for Mediterranean fisheries, which are at a complex intersection of jurisdictional boundaries, numerous additional ecosystem threats including widespread pollution, thermal variation and hypoxia, and are historically understudied as compared to fisheries and species in more northern climates.
欧盟最近出台了相关规定，以减少商业渔业造成的副渔获物死亡率，从而避免捕捞体型过小的样本。我们认为，对于大多数地中海生态系统而言，在正确实施这些规定所需的基本信息方面，我们仍然缺乏准确数据，包括渔业造成的真实死亡率、渔具逃逸率以及样本被丢弃后的生存能力。我们建议，更多地依赖生理生物标志物有助于支持欧盟弃鱼禁令（又称上岸义务）实施所需的数据收集的各个方面，特别是在确定哪些物种应获此项政策的特殊豁免方面。理想情况下，这种新方法，即这里所说的“渔业环境与生理压力分析”（FEPSA），将成为渔业管理生态系统方法中任何鱼类种群评估以及欧盟在《海洋战略框架指令》（2008/56/EC）中确立的良好环境状况认定的重要一步。特别是，FEPSA的主要目标是将生理应激源的研究应用于受开发的种群，以估计所谓的附带捕捞死亡率，其中包括与渔具接触后逃脱或被丢弃的鱼类在受到一定程度的伤害或生理压力后所经历的死亡率。这里概述的方法是针对底拖网描述的，但适用于任何其他类型的渔具，这并非易事，而是近期欧盟渔业政策所需数据收集的一项要求。虽然我们同意捕捞及相关弃鱼做法对海洋生物多样性构成的威胁需要强有力的政策干预，但我们强调，支持此类举措（包括上岸义务）所需的研究计划应得到同等重视。对于地中海渔业而言尤其如此，地中海渔业处于管辖权边界的复杂交叉点，面临众多其他生态系统威胁，包括广泛的污染、热变化和缺氧问题，而且与更北方气候区的渔业和物种相比，历史上研究较少。
