TR
EN
Big boys in town: Occurrences of large male smoothhounds, Mustelus mustelus (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Sea of Marmara
Öz
Recent catches of very large specimens (1321 mm and 1425 mm TL) indicate that males of Mustelus mustelus can grow extremely large compared to those reported in the available literature. The apparently smaller size of male smoothhounds caught in Turkish waters in recent years is, of course, causing a phenomenon well known to the new generation of shark researchers in Turkey, known as the "shifting baseline syndrome". At present, M. mustelus is not a protected shark species in Turkish waters and is also one of the most sought-after sharks by commercial fishermen. Considering that the aim of the current management regime is to implement a fishing strategy that will result in 0% (none) of megaspawners being caught in fisheries or being injured or killed in case of non-targeted capture, an upper size limit can be implemented as a first step towards conservation.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Supporting Institution
Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change / General Directorate of Environmental Impact assessment, Permit and Inspection and coordinated by TUBITAK-Marmara Research Center
Project Number
Integrated Marine Pollution Monitoring (DEN-İZ) 2023-2025 Programme
Ethical Statement
Since the captured sharks are not included in the list of protected species and they were released alive ethics committee approval is not required
Thanks
We warmly thank the R/V Yunus-S of İstanbul University crew for their kindness and strenuous efforts during our sampling survey. We also thank you for the support provided to us within the scope of the “Integrated Marine Pollution Monitoring (DEN-İZ) 2023-2025 Programme” carried out by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change / General Directorate of Environmental Impact Assessment, Permit and Inspection and coordinated by TUBITAK-Marmara Research Center. We are grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments which improved the content and quality of our article.
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Hydrobiology , Fisheries Management
Journal Section
Short Communication
Early Pub Date
March 17, 2025
Publication Date
March 28, 2025
Submission Date
September 8, 2024
Acceptance Date
January 7, 2025
Published in Issue
Year 1970 Volume: 8 Number: 2