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STELARMED: Relationship of fisheries and stock size to the distribution, abundance and productivity of four bird species in GS06

Pleamar program

This is the continuation of the STELARDETTA project, of the 2021 call of the Pleamar Program and focuses on the expansion of the study area for this new phase. In this way, it is intended to describe the feeding areas at sea of four species of breeding seabirds along the entire coastline of GSA06 from the tagging of specimens with GPS-GSM devices and to quantify their trophic requirements from the monitoring of the colonies. It will also assess feed availability based on estimates of prey stocks and an analysis of fishing activity in the study area and discard estimates by species. The ultimate objective is to analyze how the availability of food is related to the distribution and size of bird colonies, in such a way that it allows, on the one hand, to develop an indicator of the state of the stocks, exclusively based on population parameters of the birds. On the other hand, to design fisheries management measures that guarantee the good environmental status of species included in Annex 1 of the Birds Directive and also mandatory reporting in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Line of action:

Marine ecosystems

Status:

En ejecución

Execution date:

2024

End date:

2026

The objective of the STELARMED project is to expand the study area of the previous project, STELARDELTA, now focusing the effort on two species of terns (Kentish and common) and two of gulls (Audouin’s and yellowleg), with the aim of carrying out an analysis at the metapopulation level for species whose biology and ecology mean that their distribution and abundance vary from year to year and do not stick to the limits of the SPA. In this way, it is intended to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the impact of variables related to the state of fish stocks on the distribution of birds (based on distribution models) and to describe how this relationship has evolved in recent decades.

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STELARMED: Relationship of fisheries and stock size to the distribution, abundance and productivity of four bird species in GS06