New historical data for long-term swordfish ecological studies in the Mediterranean Sea

[摘要] Management of marine fisheries and ecosystems is constrained by knowledge based on datasets with limited temporal coverage. Many populations andecosystems were perturbed long before scientific investigations began. This situation is particularly acute for the largest andcommercially most valuable species. We hypothesized that historical trap fishery records for bluefin tuna ( Thunnus thynnus Linnaeus, 1758)could contain catch data and information for other, bycatch species, such as swordfish ( Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758). This species has along history of exploitation and is presently overexploited, yet indicators of its status (biomass) used in fishery management only start in1950. Here we examine historical fishery records and logbooks from some of these traps and recovered ca. 110 years of bycatch data(1896–2010). These previously neglected, but now recovered, data include catch dates and amounts in numbers and/or weights (including individualweights) for the time period before and after major expansion of swordfish fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea. New historical datasets such as thesecould help understand how human activities and natural variability interact to affect the long-term dynamics of this species. The datasets are onlineand available with open access via three DOIs, as described in the “Data availability” section of the article.

[学科分类] 眼科学