S. Hoyt Peckham

Small-Scale Fisheries Bycatch Jeopardizes Endangered Pacific Loggerhead Turtles

Background Although bycatch of industrial-scale fisheries can cause declines in migratory megafauna including seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles, the impacts of small-scale fisheries have been largely overlooked. Small-scale fisheries occur in coastal waters worldwide, employing over 99% of the worlds 51 million fishers. New telemetry data reveal that migratory megafauna frequent coastal habitats well within the range of small-scale fisheries, potentially producing high bycatch. These fisheries occur primarily in developing nations, and their documentation and management are limited or non-existent, precluding evaluation of their impacts on non-target megafauna. Principal Findings/Methodology 30 North Pacific loggerhead turtles that we satellite-tracked from 1996–2005 ranged oceanwide, but juveniles spent 70% of their time at a high use area coincident with small-scale fisheries in Baja California Sur, Mexico (BCS). We assessed loggerhead bycatch mortality in this area by partnering with local fishers to 1) observe two small-scale fleets that operated closest to the high use area and 2) through shoreline surveys for discarded carcasses. Minimum annual bycatch mortality in just these two fleets at the high use area exceeded 1000 loggerheads year−1, rivaling that of oceanwide industrial-scale fisheries, and threatening the persistence of this critically endangered population. As a result of fisher participation in this study and a bycatch awareness campaign, a consortium of local fishers and other citizens are working to eliminate their bycatch and to establish a national loggerhead refuge. Conclusions/Significance Because of the overlap of ubiquitous small-scale fisheries with newly documented high-use areas in coastal waters worldwide, our case study suggests that small-scale fisheries may be among the greatest current threats to non-target megafauna. Future research is urgently needed to quantify small-scale fisheries bycatch worldwide. Localizing coastal high use areas and mitigating bycatch in partnership with small-scale fishers may provide a crucial solution toward ensuring the persistence of vulnerable megafauna.

Committing to socially responsible seafood

Ocean science must evolve to meet social challenges in the seafood sector Seafood is the worlds most internationally traded food commodity. Approximately three out of every seven people globally rely on seafood as a primary source of animal protein (1). Revelations about slavery and labor rights abuses in fisheries have sparked outrage and shifted the conversation (2, 3), placing social issues at the forefront of a sector that has spent decades working to improve environmental sustainability. In response, businesses are seeking to reduce unethical practices and reputational risks in their supply chains. Governments are formulating policy responses, and nonprofit and philanthropic organizations are deploying resources and expertise to address critical social issues. Yet the scientific community has not kept pace with concerns for social issues in the sector. As the United Nations Ocean Conference convenes in New York (5 to 9 June), we propose a framework for social responsibility and identify key steps the scientific community must take to inform policy and practice for this global challenge.

Characterization by next-generation sequencing of 24 new microsatellite loci for the barred sand-bass, Paralabrax nebulifer (Girard, 1854), from the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

We characterized a set of new hypervariable microsatellite loci for the barred sand-bass (Paralabrax nebulifer), a marine fish that supports important recreational and artisanal fisheries in California, USA and the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. We performed a shotgun genome sequencing with the 454 XL titanium chemistry and used bioinformatics to search for microsatellite loci with perfect repeats. We selected 40 primer pairs that were synthesized and genotyped in an ABI PRISM 3730XL DNA sequencer in 32 individuals from San Juanico, Baja California Sur. We estimated levels of genetic diversity, deviations from linkage and Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of null alleles and the probability of individual identity for the new markers. We successfully scored 24 microsatellite loci (13 tetranucleotides and 11 dinucleotides). The average number of alleles per locus was 12.5 (range 4–23). The average observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.779 (range 0.313–0.969) and 0.774 (range 0.350–0.939), respectively. We detected significant linkage disequilibrium in two pairs of loci. Genotype frequencies at seven loci showed significant deviations from the expectations of Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and had estimated null allele frequencies ≥10%. The probability of individual identity for the new loci was 8.5−36. The new markers will be useful for investigating patterns of fine-scale genetic structure and diversity to estimate larval dispersal and assess metapopulation dynamics, information necessary for the sustainable management of P. nebulifer fisheries at the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula.