Abstract
The worldwide increase in commercial fisheries and its impact on ecosystems as well as inefficient fishery management have led to overfishing and frequent breakdown of traditional fish stocks. In this context, an analysis of Khuzestan inshore fisheries data covering the years 2002–2011, was conducted in reliance on testing for occurrence of the fishing down marine food webs (FDMFW) phenomenon in the North of Persian Gulf Large Marine Ecosystem (LME). In this study, the mean trophic level (mTL) and the fishing-in-balance (FIB)-index of Khuzestan landings during this period of time were estimated using the trophic level of 47 fishery resources. Increase in total landings (Y) was observed, which explained the high fishing yield in major fishery resources (especially demersal). Moreover, the moderates decreasing trend in mTL per decade, and the increasing trend in FIB-index were observed. The status of fishery resources in Khuzestan inshore waters (under exploited but not overexploited), the rise in Y, FIB and slightly drop in mTL can be considered as indirect indicators of the fishing impacts on the trophic structure of marine communities. Based on this result, probability occurrence of FDMFW process in Khuzestan inshore waters is low to some extent. However, we suggest that the goal of management programs in Khuzestan inshore waters should prevent the continuance of this trend in the long-term using an ecosystem-based approach.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bhathal B, Pauly D. 2008. ‘Fishing down marine food webs’ and spatial expansion of coastal fisheries in India, 1950–2000. Fisheries Research, 91(1): 26–34
Caddy J F, Csirke J, Garcia S M, et al. 1998. How pervasive is ‘Fishing down marine food webs’?. Science, 282(5393): 1383–1383
Caddy J F, Garibaldi L. 2000. Apparent changes in the trophic composition of world marine harvests: the perspective from the FAO capture database. Ocean and Coastal Management, 43(8–9): 615–655
CBD. 2004. Annex I, decision VII/30. The 2020 biodiversity target: a framework for implementation. In: Decisions from the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Kuala Lumpur, 9–10 and 27 February 2004. Montreal: Secretariat of the CBD
Christensen V, Pauly D. 1992. ECOPATH II—a software for balancing steady-ecosystem models and calculating network characteristics. Ecological Modelling, 61(3–4): 169–185
Christensen V. 1998. Fishery-induced changes in a marine ecosystem: insight from models of the Gulf of Thailand. Fish Biology, 53(Suppl A): 128–142
Cortés E. 1999. Standardized diet compositions and trophic levels of sharks. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 56(5): 707–717
Fonteneau A. 1998. Atlas of Tropical Tuna Fisheries. Paris: Edition ORSTOM, 192
Froese R, Pauly D. 2000. FishBase 2000: Concepts, Design and Data Sources. Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines: ICLARM
Hall S J. 1999. The Effects of Fishing on Marine Ecosystems and Communities. Oxford: Blackwell Science
Hoseini N S A, Mohammadi G, Eskandary G, et al. 2012. Determination of economic and non-economic species, shrimp trawl net in north-west of Persian gulf (Khuzestan Provinces). International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 1(2): 129–133
ICES. 2000. Report of the Working Group on Ecosystem Effects of Fishing Activities. ICES, Copenhagen, ICES CM2000/ACME: 02 Ref: ACFM + E, 93
Milessi A C, Arancibia H, Neira S, et al. 2005. The mean trophic level of Uruguayan landings during the period 1990–2001. Fisheries Research, 74(1–3): 223–231
Milessi A C, Defeo O. 2002. Long-term impact of incidental catches by tuna longlines: the black escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum) of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. Fisheries Research, 58(2): 203–213
Myers A R, Worm B. 2003. Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities. Nature, 423(6937): 280–283
Odum W E, Heald E J. 1975. The detritus-based food web of an estuarine mangrove community. In: Cronin L E, ed. Estuarine Research, Vol. 1. New York: Academic Press, 265–286
Pauly D, Christensen V. 1995. Primary production required to sustain global fisheries. Nature, 374(6519): 255–257
Pauly D, Christensen V, Dalsgaard J, et al. 1998. Fishing down marine food webs. Science, 279(5352): 860–863
Pauly D, Christensen V, Guénette S, et al. 2002. Towards sustainability in world fisheries. Nature, 418(6898): 689–695
Pauly D, Christensen V, Walters C. 2000. Ecopath, ecosim, and ecospace as tools for evaluating ecosystem impact of fisheries. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 57(3): 697–706
Pauly D, Graham W, Libralato S, et al. 2009. Jellyfish in ecosystem online databases and ecosystem models. Hydrobiology, 616(1): 67–85
Pauly D, Palomares M L. 2005. Fishing down marine food web: it is far more pervasive than we thought. Bulletin of Marine Science, 76(2): 197–212
Pauly D, Palomares M L, Froese R, et al. 2001. Fishing down Canadian aquatic food webs. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 58(1): 51–62
Pauly D, Watson R. 2005. Background and interpretation of the ‘Marine Trophic Index’ as a measure of biodiversity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 360(1454): 415–423
Sala E, Aburto-Oropeza O, Reza M, et al. 2004. Fishing down coastal food webs in the Gulf of California. Fisheries, 29(3): 19–25
Shadi A, Mediseh S D, Gandom Y, et al. 2011. Stock assessment of juvenile fishes of khuzestan shallow waters (North Persian Gulf), Iran. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 8(3): 616–619
Stergiou C. 2002. Overfishing, tropicalization of fish stocks, uncertainly and ecosystem management: reshapening Ochkam’s razor. Fisheries Research, 55: 1–9
Stergiou K I, Koulouris M. 2000. Fishing down the marine food webs in the Hellenic seas. Fishing down the Mediterranean food webs?. In: Durand F, ed. Proceedings of a CIESM workshop held in Kerkyra, Greece, 26–30
July, 2000. CIESM Workshop Series, No. 12, 73–78
Stevens J D, Bonfil R, Dulvy N K, et al. 2000. The effects of fishing on sharks, rays, and chimaeras (Chondrichthians), and the implications for marine ecosystems. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 57(3): 476–494
Tchernia P. 1980. Descriptive Regional Oceanography. 1st ed. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 253
Willemse N E, Pauly D. 2004. Reconstruction and interpretation of marine fisheries catches from Namibian waters, 1950 to 2000. In: Sumaila U R, Boyer D, Skog M, et al., eds. Namibia's Fisheries: Ecological, Economic and Social Aspects. The Netherlands: Eburon, 99–112
Zwanenburg K C T, Bowen D, Bundy A, et al. 2002. Decadal changes in the Scotian shelf large marine ecosystem. In: Sherman K, Skjoldal H R, eds. Large Marine Ecosystem of North America, Changing States and Sustainability. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 105–150
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mashjoor, S., Kamrani, E. Evaluation of the “fishing down marine food web” process in the north-west of Persian Gulf (Khuzestan Province) during the period of 2002–2011. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 34, 103–110 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-015-0726-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-015-0726-4