Effects of population density and body size on disease ecology of the European lobster in a temperate marine conservation zone

Marine conservation zones (MCZs) are a form of spatial marine management, increasingly popular since the move towards ecosystem-based fisheries management. Implementation, however, is somewhat contentious and as a result of their short history, their effects are still widely unknown and understudied...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:ICES journal of marine science 2015-07, Vol.72 (suppl_1), p.i128-i138
Main Authors: Davies, Charlotte E, Johnson, Andrew F, Wootton, Emma C, Greenwood, Spencer J, Clark, K Fraser, Vogan, Claire L, Rowley, Andrew F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerococcus viridans
Channels
Conservation
Density
Homarus gammarus
Injuries
Landing
Lobsters
Management
Marine
White spot syndrome virus
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Marine conservation zones (MCZs) are a form of spatial marine management, increasingly popular since the move towards ecosystem-based fisheries management. Implementation, however, is somewhat contentious and as a result of their short history, their effects are still widely unknown and understudied. Here, we investigate the population and health of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus) in the Lundy Island Marine Conservation Zone, Bristol Channel, UK. Using the fished refuge zone (RZ) as a control area, catch per unit effort was calculated for both the no-take zone (NTZ) and RZ and binomial logistic regression models were used to examine the effects of site, sex, landing size, and loss of chelae on the probability of shell disease and injury presence in individuals. Lobsters were also tested for the causative agent of gaffkaemia, Aerococcus viridans var. homari, and white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). The analysis revealed a higher lobster density and larger lobsters in the NTZ compared with the RZ. Shell disease was present in 24% of lobsters and the probability of shell disease occurrence increased notably for individuals over the minimum landing size (MLS) of 90 mm carapace length. Shell disease was also more prevalent in lobsters displaying injury, and in males. Injury was present in 33% of lobsters sampled and prevalence was higher in lobsters in the NTZ compared with the RZ, and in lobsters >MLS. Aerococcus viridans var. homari was detected in
ISSN:1054-3139
1095-9289
DOI:10.1093/icesjms/fsu237