The role of juveniles in structuring demersal assemblages in trawled fishing grounds

The capture of large amounts of small, immature fish of commercial species is a serious problem particularly in multispecies fisheries. Moreover, considerable and increasing interest is being devoted by fishery scientists to identify the distribution and habitat needs of species throughout their life cycle. To elucidate species composition, the abundance of juveniles in the demersal assemblages and the role of different life history (juvenile and adult) stages of target species in structuring demersal communities, two bottom trawl surveys were carried out during the autumn 2003 and 2004. Multivariate analyses were performed on density indices of adults and juveniles life stages of 30 target species and total density indices for the remainder of the catch species. Juveniles represent more than 61% of the total catch in both the years investigated and their abundance and spatial distribution was strictly related to the sea bottom biocoenotic features. Most juveniles were concentrated in the coastal shelf area and in particular in the hauls performed on the Coastal Terrigenous Mud biocoenosis (CTM). The demersal assemblages located in the slope stratum showed, in general, a lower concentration of juvenile specimens; however, some facies of the Bathyal Mud biocoenosis that characterizes the deep layer of our study area showed a very high percentage of juveniles. This information improves our understanding of ecosystem functioning and represents a useful basis for providing advice on the management of multispecies demersal fisheries within an ecosystem approach.