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ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on March 11, 2009
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2009 66(4):699-707; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsp036
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© 2009 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Changes in the catch composition of artisanal fisheries attributable to dolphin depredation in a Mediterranean marine reserve

Delphine Rocklin1,2, Marie-Catherine Santoni3, Jean-Michel Culioli3, Jean-Antoine Tomasini1, Dominique Pelletier2 and David Mouillot1

1 UMR CNRS-IFREMER-UM2 5119, Écosystèmes Lagunaires, Université Montpellier 2, CC 093 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
2 Ifremer, Département Sciences et Technologies Halieutiques, Technopôle Brest-Iroise, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France
3 Service du Parc Marin International, Office de l’Environnement de la Corse, BP 507, 20169 Bonifacio, France

Correspondence to D. Rocklin: tel: +33 2 98224766; fax: +33 2 29008547; e-mail: delphine.rocklin{at}ifremer.fr.

Rocklin, D., Santoni, M-C., Culioli, J-M., Tomasini, J-A., Pelletier, D., and Mouillot, D. 2009. Changes in the catch composition of artisanal fisheries attributable to dolphin depredation in a Mediterranean marine reserve. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 699–707.

There is increasing evidence from previous studies, and from fishers’ observations, that coastal dolphins use fishing nets as an easily accessible feeding source, damaging or depredating fish caught in the nets. This study investigates the impact of dolphin depredation on artisanal trammelnets by analysing the catch composition of 614 artisanal fishing operations in the Bonifacio Strait Natural Reserve (France). Common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) attacked, on average, 12.4% of the nets and damaged 8.3% of the catch. However, attacked nets were characterized by statistically significantly higher catch per unit effort than unattacked ones. Catch composition also differed significantly after dolphin attacks; bentho-pelagic fish were more represented and reef-associated fish less represented. Our results suggest that (i) dolphins are attracted by high fish densities in the fishing area and/or nets, and (ii) their attacks induce specific fish-avoidance behaviour, according to the fish position in the water column. Although dolphins depredate a small part of the catch, damage to nets, not yet assessed in this area, could weaken the benefits that reserves can provide to artisanal fisheries.

Keywords: artisanal fisheries, bottlenose dolphin, catch composition, catch per unit effort, depredation, interactions with fisheries, marine protected area

Received 1 September 2008; accepted 9 February 2009; advance access publication 11 March 2009.


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