51. Synergistic patterns of threat and the challenges facing global anguillid eel conservation
- Author
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Hyojin Ahn, Kenzo Kaifu, Vicki Crook, David M. P. Jacoby, Matthew Gollock, Kevin G. Smith, Kazuo Uchida, Pierre Sasal, Anders M.C. Silfvergrip, Alan Walker, John M. Casselman, Mari-Beth Delucia, Tagried Kurwie, Zoological Society of London - ZSL (UNITED KINGDOM), Department of Biology [kingston], Queen's University [Kingston, Canada], TRAFFIC, The Nature Conservancy, Fisheries Laboratory, Kinki University, Faculty of Law, Chuo University, Mahurangi Technical Institute, Laboratoire d'excellence 'CORAIL', Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l'environnement (CRIOBE), Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (FRA), and Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science [Weymouth] (CEFAS)
- Subjects
Data deficient ,Anguillidae ,Near-threatened species ,Ecology ,Red List ,Endangered species ,Vulnerability ,Conservation-dependent species ,Biology ,Red List Index ,Critically endangered ,Freshwater eels ,Population trends ,lcsh:QH540-549.5 ,Threatened species ,IUCN Red List ,lcsh:Ecology ,14. Life underwater ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology ,Threats ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Nature and Landscape Conservation - Abstract
International audience; With broad distributions, diadromous fishes can be exposed to multiple threats at different stages of development. For the primarily catadromous eels of the family Anguillidae, there is growing international concern for the population abundance and escapement trends of some of these species and yet incomplete knowledge of their remarkable life-histories hampers management and conservation. Anguillids experience a suite of pressures that include habitat loss/modification, migration barriers, pollution, parasitism, exploitation, and fluctuating oceanic conditions that likely have synergistic and regionally variable impacts, even within species. In beginning to redress this rather fragmented picture, we evaluated the extinction risk of these species using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Categories and Criteria to infer population-wide trends from catch and monitoring data. Here we consolidate and build upon these species assessments by presenting an overview of the current state of global eel data and conservation, categorising the knowledge gaps and geographic regions where resources are needed and discussing future recommendations to improve our understanding of anguillids. We find stark disparity between the quality and length of data available to assess population trends and conservation priorities in temperate and tropical anguillids. Of the 13 species assessed, four were listed as ‘Threatened’ (Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered); four were Near Threatened, three were Data Deficient and two were deemed Least Concern. Comparing with other diadromous species, we examine the multiple threats that impact eels during their different life-history stages, highlighting the challenges of applying the Red List Categories and Criteria to geographically-expansive, catadromous and panmictic groups of species.
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