Perez-Venegas D J, Hardesty B D, Wilcox C, Galbán-Malagón C
Centro de Investigación y Gestión de Recursos Naturales (CIGREN), Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.
CSIRO Environment, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tas 7001, Australia.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2023 Oct;195:115491. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115491. Epub 2023 Sep 12.
Pinnipeds represent one of the most vulnerable marine groups severely affected by entanglements. However, the lack of standardized data collection poses a challenge when comparing the impacts of fishing gear across various geographic regions. In this study, we employed Generalized Additive Models to predict entanglement incidents stemming from fishing-related activities for 13 pinniped species across the last four decades (1976-2017). The models incorporated reported entanglement numbers, fishing effort covariates based on different gear types, and floating plastic debris distribution for each species. Through this approach, we generated global hotspot maps that pinpoint regions of heightened vulnerability where pinnipeds are susceptible to entanglement in lost gear. The best-performing model highlighted both species characteristics and the presence of floating plastic debris as pivotal factors in predicting pinniped entanglements. Our analysis revealed entanglement hotspots in the North Pacific and Southeastern Australia. This demonstrates the efficacy of our methodology in identifying high-priority geographic areas.
鳍足类动物是受缠结影响最严重的最脆弱海洋群体之一。然而，缺乏标准化的数据收集在比较不同地理区域渔具的影响时带来了挑战。在本研究中，我们使用广义相加模型来预测过去四十年（1976 - 2017年）中13种鳍足类物种因渔业相关活动而发生的缠结事件。模型纳入了报告的缠结数量、基于不同渔具类型的捕捞努力协变量以及每种物种的漂浮塑料碎片分布。通过这种方法，我们生成了全球热点地图，确定了鳍足类动物容易被丢失渔具缠住的高脆弱性区域。表现最佳的模型强调物种特征和漂浮塑料碎片的存在是预测鳍足类动物缠结的关键因素。我们的分析揭示了北太平洋和澳大利亚东南部的缠结热点。这证明了我们的方法在识别高优先级地理区域方面的有效性。
