Hugues Evano

Multi-genetic marker approach and spatio-temporal analysis suggest there is a single panmictic population of swordfish Xiphias gladius in the Indian Ocean.

Genetic population structure of swordfish Xiphias gladius was examined based on 2231 individual samples, collected mainly between 2009 and 2010, among three major sampling areas within the Indian Ocean (IO; twelve distinct sites), Atlantic (two sites) and Pacific (one site) Oceans using analysis of nineteen microsatellite loci (n = 2146) and mitochondrial ND2 sequences (n = 2001) data. Sample collection was stratified in time and space in order to investigate the stability of the genetic structure observed with a special focus on the South West Indian Ocean. Significant AMOVA variance was observed for both markers indicating genetic population subdivision was present between oceans. Overall value of F-statistics for ND2 sequences confirmed that Atlantic and Indian Oceans swordfish represent two distinct genetic stocks. Indo-Pacific differentiation was also significant but lower than that observed between Atlantic and Indian Oceans. However, microsatellite F-statistics failed to reveal structure even at the inter-oceanic scale, indicating that resolving power of our microsatellite loci was insufficient for detecting population subdivision. At the scale of the Indian Ocean, results obtained from both markers are consistent with swordfish belonging to a single unique panmictic population. Analyses partitioned by sampling area, season, or sex also failed to identify any clear structure within this ocean. Such large spatial and temporal homogeneity of genetic structure, observed for such a large highly mobile pelagic species, suggests as satisfactory to consider swordfish as a single panmictic population in the Indian Ocean.

Identification of skipjack tuna juveniles based on DNA control region sequences and potential spawning area around reunion island

In this study, we confirmed that DNA control region can be used to identify potential spawning area from pelagic juveniles species. We used the mitochondrial DNA control region to identify tuna juveniles predated by common dolphinfish and sampled in surface waters around Reunion Island. These were skipjack juveniles at an early stage (small length and young age). The biological results confirmed the species identification based on DNA analysis. Catch data by longline reveal a higher number of skipjack from October to December around Reunion Island corresponding to the period of our skipjack juvenile sampling.

Otolith shape as a valuable tool to evaluate the stock structure of swordfish (Xiphias gladius) in the Indian Ocean

Swordfish Xiphias gladius is an oceanic-pelagic species. Its population structure in the Western Indian Ocean was studied from the shape of the sagittal otoliths of 391 individuals collected from 2009 to 2014. Normalised elliptical Fourier descriptors (EFDs) were extracted automatically using TNPC software. Principal components analysis (PCA) conducted on EFDs showed no significant effect of side (i.e. left or right otolith). Consequently, all 391 sagittal otoliths were used to identify stocks among six geographical areas: Reunion Island, Mozambique Channel, Rodrigues, South Africa, Madagascar South and Sri Lanka. To investigate the effects of sex, sampling year, sampling season, lower jaw fork length or geographical area on variations in otolith shape, redundancy analyses (RDAs) with permutation tests were conducted. The first four were non-significant (respectively, p = 0.124, p = 0.721, p = 0.197, p = 0.463), but geographical area appeared to discriminate groups significantly (p < 0.05). Furthermore, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was performed and overall jackknife classification success reached 30%. Finally, a cluster analysis was conducted using Ward’s hierarchical algorithm, which discriminated three different groups. However, each group consisted of individual samples from all geographical areas. In conclusion, our results were unable to identify a clear geographical separation of swordfish at the Indian Ocean scale, corroborating recent genetic studies in this region.

Synthèse de l'étude et des campagnes à la mer 2011 sur l'exploitation aux vire-lignes des espèces démersales profondes autour de La Réunion

In an effort to implement new fishing activities for the small scale fisheries of Reunion Island, a prospecting cruise targeting deep demersal fish (200 to 600 m) was set up on the west coast of Reunion Island in 2000. This project was carried out by the Regional Fishery Committee and the French Institute for the Exploration of the Sea (Ifremer). Large commercial stocks were identified, and numerous professional or recreational fishermen started employing electric winches to exploit these deep resources. However, the deep demersal species are a fragile resource due mainly to low growth rates and late sexual maturation. Due to the rapid increase in fishing pressure, Ifremer was asked to set up a new study and two scientific campaigns were carried out in 2011 (68 fishing trips being conducted with 559 dropline operations). The first cruise was conducted at the same sites, using the same types of fishing gear and methods used in 2000. A marked drop of greater than 90% was observed in the catches of commercial species, together with a decrease of most fish sizes, attesting the overexploitation of these stocks. Only, catches of the small non-commercial shark (Squalus megalops) remained important (50% in number and weight of total catches). The second cruise extended the prospection area to all waters surrounding Reunion Island . The overexploitation was confirmed in the west of Reunion Island, and in to a lesser degree in the north. Yields were better along the east and the south coasts. Concurrently, the efficiency of 2 hook sizes was compared : small hooks caught significantly more fish but of significantly smaller body sizes, resulting in comparable total weight of fish. We conclude that medium size hooks (i.e. type 7/0) have a significant selectivity on the fish size without loss in the global catch yield. Various types of baits were also tested with the flesh of small local pelagic fish species (Selar crumenophtalmus and Decapterus macarellus) appearing to be the most efficient. This study provides helpful indicators for the management of demersal fish stocks in Reunion island, which have been poorly surveyed and poorly regulated until now. However, the total fishing effort, especially from recreational fishermen, remains the most important factor to be quantified.