Decline in Size-at-Maturity of European Hake in Relation to Environmental Regimes: A Case in the Eastern Ionian Sea
European hake, <i>Merluccius merluccius</i> L. 1758, is a highly valuable demersal fish species exploited in both the east Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. Changes in the size-at-maturity of this species have been reported in various geographic areas. Size-at-maturity is a key paramet...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/1/61 |
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| author | Aglaia Legaki Archontia Chatzispyrou Dimitrios Damalas Vasiliki Sgardeli Evgenia Lefkaditou Aikaterini Anastasopoulou Aikaterini Dogrammatzi Konstantinos Charalampous Caterina Stamouli Vassiliki Vassilopoulou George Tserpes Chryssi Mytilineou |
| author_facet | Aglaia Legaki Archontia Chatzispyrou Dimitrios Damalas Vasiliki Sgardeli Evgenia Lefkaditou Aikaterini Anastasopoulou Aikaterini Dogrammatzi Konstantinos Charalampous Caterina Stamouli Vassiliki Vassilopoulou George Tserpes Chryssi Mytilineou |
| author_sort | Aglaia Legaki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | European hake, <i>Merluccius merluccius</i> L. 1758, is a highly valuable demersal fish species exploited in both the east Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. Changes in the size-at-maturity of this species have been reported in various geographic areas. Size-at-maturity is a key parameter in fishery management. Our main goal was to study the trend of the size-at-maturity of European hake in the eastern Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean) over the last five decades. Utilizing a multi-decadal series of data for various environmental variables, we employed multivariate analyses and non-additive modeling in an attempt to identify shifts in the climatic environment of the eastern Ionian Sea and whether the maturation of the hake population could be affected by these changes. The analyses used suggest a plausible environmental regime shift in the study area in the late 1990s/early 2000s. The decrease in size-at-maturity that was detected in the last two decades may, thus, be associated with environmental changes. However, as many fish stocks already experience fishery-induced evolution, further investigation is necessary to determine whether this environmental effect is an additional stressor on a possibly already fishery-impacted population. The outcomes of this study highlight the importance of investigating the relationship between fish reproductive traits and altered environmental conditions, as the latter are generally ignored during assessments, affecting the robustness of fishery management. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:12:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac7aa77ee3f54634a9f13337d3430f2d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:12:37Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac7aa77ee3f54634a9f13337d3430f2d2024-01-10T14:50:09ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152023-12-011416110.3390/ani14010061Decline in Size-at-Maturity of European Hake in Relation to Environmental Regimes: A Case in the Eastern Ionian SeaAglaia Legaki0Archontia Chatzispyrou1Dimitrios Damalas2Vasiliki Sgardeli3Evgenia Lefkaditou4Aikaterini Anastasopoulou5Aikaterini Dogrammatzi6Konstantinos Charalampous7Caterina Stamouli8Vassiliki Vassilopoulou9George Tserpes10Chryssi Mytilineou11Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 16452 Athens, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 16452 Athens, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, P.O. Box 2214, 71003 Heraklion, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, P.O. Box 2214, 71003 Heraklion, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 16452 Athens, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 16452 Athens, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 16452 Athens, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 16452 Athens, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 16452 Athens, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 16452 Athens, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, P.O. Box 2214, 71003 Heraklion, GreeceHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 16452 Athens, GreeceEuropean hake, <i>Merluccius merluccius</i> L. 1758, is a highly valuable demersal fish species exploited in both the east Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. Changes in the size-at-maturity of this species have been reported in various geographic areas. Size-at-maturity is a key parameter in fishery management. Our main goal was to study the trend of the size-at-maturity of European hake in the eastern Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean) over the last five decades. Utilizing a multi-decadal series of data for various environmental variables, we employed multivariate analyses and non-additive modeling in an attempt to identify shifts in the climatic environment of the eastern Ionian Sea and whether the maturation of the hake population could be affected by these changes. The analyses used suggest a plausible environmental regime shift in the study area in the late 1990s/early 2000s. The decrease in size-at-maturity that was detected in the last two decades may, thus, be associated with environmental changes. However, as many fish stocks already experience fishery-induced evolution, further investigation is necessary to determine whether this environmental effect is an additional stressor on a possibly already fishery-impacted population. The outcomes of this study highlight the importance of investigating the relationship between fish reproductive traits and altered environmental conditions, as the latter are generally ignored during assessments, affecting the robustness of fishery management.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/1/61<i>Merluccius merluccius</i>maturationclimate changeregime shiftMediterranean Sea |
| spellingShingle | Aglaia Legaki Archontia Chatzispyrou Dimitrios Damalas Vasiliki Sgardeli Evgenia Lefkaditou Aikaterini Anastasopoulou Aikaterini Dogrammatzi Konstantinos Charalampous Caterina Stamouli Vassiliki Vassilopoulou George Tserpes Chryssi Mytilineou Decline in Size-at-Maturity of European Hake in Relation to Environmental Regimes: A Case in the Eastern Ionian Sea Animals <i>Merluccius merluccius</i> maturation climate change regime shift Mediterranean Sea |
| title | Decline in Size-at-Maturity of European Hake in Relation to Environmental Regimes: A Case in the Eastern Ionian Sea |
| title_full | Decline in Size-at-Maturity of European Hake in Relation to Environmental Regimes: A Case in the Eastern Ionian Sea |
| title_fullStr | Decline in Size-at-Maturity of European Hake in Relation to Environmental Regimes: A Case in the Eastern Ionian Sea |
| title_full_unstemmed | Decline in Size-at-Maturity of European Hake in Relation to Environmental Regimes: A Case in the Eastern Ionian Sea |
| title_short | Decline in Size-at-Maturity of European Hake in Relation to Environmental Regimes: A Case in the Eastern Ionian Sea |
| title_sort | decline in size at maturity of european hake in relation to environmental regimes a case in the eastern ionian sea |
| topic | <i>Merluccius merluccius</i> maturation climate change regime shift Mediterranean Sea |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/1/61 |
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