Abstract
The pink prawn Farfantepenaeus paulensis is one of the most valuable fishery resources in the southwest Atlantic. It is exploited along the inner shelf and inside estuarine nursery grounds. Inside the nursery grounds, mainly artisanal fisheries are responsible for the capture of pink prawn juveniles. In this study, we experimentally assessed the impact of a light mini trawl, a gear extensively used for the capture of estuarine prawn along the southeast and south coast of Brazil. We simulated a single impact (represented by three consecutive trawling runs) on vegetated and non-vegetated bottom. Then we monitored changes in sediment properties and the response of the benthic fauna at the trawling and control sites at a logarithmic temporal scale in order to determine the initial impact and the recovery rates. Meiofauna and macrofauna, both numerically dominated by the ostracod Cyprideis multidentata, were significantly more diverse and abundant inside the submerged algal beds than in non-vegetated areas. In the vegetated areas, the only change caused by the mini trawl was a significant decrease in the percentages of fine sediments (silt+clay). By contrast, in the non-vegetated areas, the mini trawl caused a significant decrease of the total meiofauna, mainly due to lower nematode and C. multidentata abundances. Our results show that the mini trawl does not produce a loss of benthic diversity and causes minimal damage to the estuarine benthos. The absence of a general faunal response, as well as the absence of significant changes in sediment properties of the non-vegetated areas suggests that meiofauna may be resuspended rather than killed during trawling. The present study highlights the need for basic studies on gear impact and environmental health of nursery grounds. Otherwise, management of small-scale fisheries will continue to be based on evidence from large-scale fisheries.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albertoni EF, Palma-Silva C, Esteves FA (2003) Overlap of dietary niche and electivity of three shrimp species (Crustacea, Decapoda) in a tropical coastal lagoon (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Rev Bras Zool 20:135–140
Anderson MJ, Gorley RN, Clarke KR (2008) PERMANOVA for PRIMER: guide to software and statistical methods. PRIMER-E, Plymouth
Arellano-Torres A, Pérez-Castañeda R, Defeo O (2006) Effects of a fishing gear on an artisanal multispecific penaeid fishery in a coastal lagoon of Mexico: mesh size, selectivity and management implications. Fish Manag Ecol 13:309–317
Bongers T (1990) The maturity index: an ecological measure of environmental disturbance based on nematode species composition. Oecologia 83:14–19
Clarke KR (1993) Non-parametric multivariate analyses of changes in community structure. Austr J Ecol 18:117–143
Clarke KR, Ainsworth M (1993) A method of linking multivariate community structure to environmental variables. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 92:205–219
Coimbra JC, Carreño AL, Geraque EA, Eichler BB (2007) Ostracodes (Crustacea) from Cananéia-Iguape estuarine/lagoon system and geographical distribution of the mixohaline assemblages in southern and southeastern Brazil. Iheringia Sér Zool 97(3):273–279
Conolly P (1986) Status of the Brazilian shrimp fishing operations and results of related research. FAO Expert Consultation on Selective Shrimp Trawl Development. Fisheries Research Center of the Southern Region (SUDEPE/CEPSUL), Itajai
Dall W, Hill BJ, Rothlisberg PC, Staples DJ (1990) The biology of the penaeidae. Advances in marine biology. Academic Press, London
Dauby P, Bale AJ, Bloomer N, Canon C, Ling RD, Norro A, Robertson JE, Simon A, Theate JM, Watson AJ, Frankignoulle M (1995) Particle fluxes over a Mediterranean seagrass bed: a one year case study. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 126:233–246
Dayton PK, Thrush SF, Agardy MT, Hofman RJ (1995) Environmental effects of marine fishing. Aquat Conserv Mar Fresh Ecos 5:205–232
De Troch M, Gurdebeke S, Fiers F, Vincx M (2001) Zonation and structuring factors of meiofauna communities in a tropical seagrass bed (Gazi Bay, Kenya). J Sea Res 45:45–61
Dean WE (1974) Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition: comparison with other methods. J Sed Petrol 44:242–248
Eckman JE (1983) Hydrodynamic processes affecting benthic recruitment. Limnol Oceanogr 28:241–257
Edgar GJ, Barrett NS (2002) Benthic macrofauna in Tasmanian estuaries: scales of distribution and relationships with environmental variables. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 270:1–24
FAO (2012) Fisheries and Aquaculture topics. Small-scale and artisanal fisheries. Topics Fact Sheets. Text by Jan Johnson. In: FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department. http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/14753/en. Accessed 12 May 2012
Fonseca G, Netto SA (2006) Shallow sublittoral benthic communities of the Laguna Estuarine System, South Brazil. Braz J Oceanogr 54:41–54
Giere O (2009) Meiobenthology: the microscopic motile fauna of aquatic sediments. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Haas HL, Rose KA, Fry B, Minello TJ, RozaS LP (2004) Brown shrimp on the edge: linking habitat to survival using an individual-based simulation model. Ecol Appl 14(4):1232–1247
Hendelberg M, Jensen P (1993) Vertical distribution of the nematode fauna in coastal sediment influenced by seasonal hypoxia in the bottom water. Ophelia 37:83–94
Hinz H, Hiddink JG, Forde J (2008) Large-scale responses of nematode communities to chronic otter-trawl disturbance. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 65:723–732
Hourston M, Warwick RM, Valesini FJ, Potter IC (2005) To what extent are the characteristics of nematode assemblages in nearshore sediments on the west Australian coast related to habitat type, season and zone? Estuar Coast Shelf S 64:601–612
IBAMA (2000) Informe da Pesca Extrativa Marinha em Santa Catarina 1998. CEPSUL, Itajaí
Jones JB (1992) Environmental impact of trawling on the seabed: a review. NZ J Mar Freshwat Res 26:59–67
Kaiser MJ, Clarke KR, Hinz H, Austen MCV, Somerfield PJ, Karakassis I (2006) Global analysis of response and recovery of benthic biota to fishing. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 311:1–14
Keyser D (1988) Ostracoda. In: Higgins RP, Thiel H (eds) Introduction to the study of meiofauna. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, pp 370–376
Koch EW (2001) Beyond light: physical, geological, and geochemical parameters as possible submersed aquatic vegetation habitat requirements. Estuaries 24:1–17
Le Hir P, Monbet Y, Orvain F (2007) Sediment erodability in sediment transport modelling: can we account for biota effects? Cont Shelf Res 27:1116–1142
Løkkeborg, S (2005) Impacts of trawling and scallop dredging on benthic habitats and communities, FAO Fisheries Technical paper 472, Rome
Madsen JD, Chanbers PA, Janes WF, Koch EW, Westlake DF (2001) The interaction between water movement, sediment dynamics and submerged macrophytes. Hydrobiologia 444:7184
Meurer AZ, Netto SA (2007) Seasonal dynamics of benthic communities in a shallow sublittoral site of Laguna Estuarine System (South, Brazil). Braz J Aquat Sci Technol 11:53–62
Minello TJ, Zimmerman RJ (1991) The role of estuarine habitats in regulating growth and survival of juvenile penaeid shrimp. In: Deloach PF, Dougherty WJ, Davidson MA (eds) Frontiers of shrimp research. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Misund OA, Kolding J, Fréon P (2002) Fish capture devices in industrial and artisanal fisheries and their influence on management. In: Hart PJB, Reynolds JD (eds) Handbook of fish biology and fisheries, vol II. Blackwell Science, London, pp 13–36
Möller OO, Castelo JP, Vaz NA (2009) The effect of river discharge and winds on the interannual variability of the pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus paulensis production in Patos Lagoon. Estuar Coasts 32(4):787–796
Netto SA, Pereira TJ (2009) Benthic community response to a passive fishing gear in a coastal lagoon (South Brazil). Aquat Ecol 43:521–538
Palmer MA (1988) Dispersal of marine meiofauna: a review and conceptual model explaining passive transport and active emergence with implications for recruitment. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 48:81–91
Pérez-Castañeda R, Defeo O (2005) Growth and mortality of transient shrimp populations (Farfantepenaeus spp.) in a coastal lagoon of Mexico: role of the environment and density-dependence. ICES J Mar Sci 62:14–24
Ruiz F, Abad M, Bodergat AM, Carbonel P, Rodríguez-Lázaro J, Yasuhara M (2005) Marine and brackish-water ostracods as sentinels of anthropogenic impacts. Earth Sci Rev 72:89–111
Schratzberger M, Dinmore TA, Jennings S (2002) Impacts of trawling on the diversity, biomass and structure of meiofauna assemblages. Mar Biol 140:83–93
Somerfield PJ, Warwick RM (1996) Meiofauna in marine pollution programmes. A laboratory manual. MAFF Directorate of Fisheries Research, Lowestoft
Stephan CD, Peuser RL, Fonseca MS (2000) Evaluating fishing gear impacts to submerged aquatic vegetation and determining mitigation strategies. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. ASMFC Habitat Management Series #5. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Washington, DC
Suguio K (1973) Introdução a sedimentologia. Edgard Blücher (ed). EDUSP, São Paulo
Ullberg J (2004) Dispersal in free-living, marine, benthic nematodes: passive or active processes? Ph.D. Thesis, Stockholm University, Stockholm
Valentini H, D’Incao F, Rodrigues LF, Dumont LF (2012) Evolução da pescaria industrial de camarão-rosa (Farfantepenaeus brasiliensis e f. paulensis) na costa sudeste e sul do Brasil—1968–1989. Atlântica 34(2):157–171
Vieira DC, Fonseca G (2013) The importance of vertical and horizontal dimensions of the sediment matrix in structuring nematodes across spatial scales. Plos One 8(10):e77704. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0077704
Whomersley P, Huxham M, Schratzberger M, Bolam S (2009) Differential response of meio- and macrofauna to in situ burial. J Mar Biol Ass UK 89(6):1091–1098
Widdicombe S, Austen MC (2005) Setting diversity and community structure in subtidal sediments: The importance of biological disturbance. In: Kostka J, Haese R, Kristensen E (eds) Interactions between macro- and microorganisms in marine sediments. AGU, New York, pp 217–231
Wieser VW (1953) Die Beziehung Mundhöhlengestalt, Ernärungsweise und Vorkommen bei freilebenden marinen Nematoden. Arkiv För Zoologi 4:439–484
Würdig NL (1983) Fresh and brackish-water ostracodes from East Coast of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In: Maddocks RF (ed) Applications of Ostracoda. University of Houston, Houston
Yagi Y, Kinoshita I, Fujita S, Aoyama D, Kawamura Y (2011) Importance of the upper estuary as a nursery ground for fishes in Ariake Bay, Japan. Environ Biol Fish 91:337–352
Acknowledgments
We thank C. Bemvenuti for the critical reading of and suggestions on a previous version of the manuscript. K. Gonçalves was supported by the Ministry of Education (CAPES) and S. Netto by the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq). The authors also wish to thank Rodrigo Randow (UFES) for his help in the field. We thank Dr Ruth Gingold for the critical reading, improving our text. We are also indebted to three anonymous referees for helpful comments and suggestions. This estuarine trawling experiment has been formally approved by the Brazilian Ministry of Environment (ICMbio).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by Margaret Miller.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Costa, K.G., Netto, S.A. Effects of small-scale trawling on benthic communities of estuarine vegetated and non-vegetated habitats. Biodivers Conserv 23, 1041–1055 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-014-0652-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-014-0652-3