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First Observations of Long‐Distance Migration in a Large Skate Species, the Winter Skate: Implications for Population Connectivity, Ecosystem Dynamics, and Management
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2019
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Source: Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 11:202–212, 2019
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Journal Title:Marine and Coastal Fisheries
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Description:The overexploitation and decline of groundfish populations throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s resulted in a regime shift on George’s Bank - Southern New England, which was characterized by subsequent exponential increases in the observed biomass of Winter Skate, Leucoraja ocellata in the region. Recent work suggested that the rate of the Winter Skate biomass increase cannot be fully explained by internal population dynamics of a population without immigration from other regions and/or populations, and that adult-mediated population connectivity (AMPC) with neighboring regions is required to fully explain biomass trends in the Georges Bank and southern-New England regions. Despite this, no evidence of long-distance dispersal has been observed for Winter Skate, with individuals assumed to display high endemicity to specific regions of the continental shelf. Annual movements of 58 Winter Skate captured off coastal New York were examined using passive acoustic telemetry, revealing seasonal long-distance dispersal capabilities of over 1,000 kilometers. In total, 88,783 unique acoustic detections were observed. Telemetered individuals had an average time at liberty of 199.73 days and collectively traveled 17,576.9 km. Individuals tended to migrate south during the summer/Fall and north during the winter/Spring. Movement rates of individuals averaged 9.88 km day-1 (CI: 9.25-10.92) but ranged from 0.13-41.38 km day-1. An additional 51 recaptured Winter Skate of a total of 3,416 marked with floy tags suggested greater offshore movement than that observed in acoustically tagged individuals. Our results illustrate that Winter Skate is a highly mobile species that moves extensively throughout its large geographic range, consistent with its observed ability to rapidly invade neighboring habitat via AMPC. This study has important implications for our understanding of the role of Winter Skate in NW Atlantic communities and management strategies therein.
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Source:Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 11:202–212, 2019
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Rights Information:CC BY
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Compliance:PMC
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