Reconstruction of demersal fisheries history on the Condor seamount, Azores archipelago (Northeast Atlantic)

Commercial fishing data were analyzed in order to reconstruct the history of the demersal fishery on Condor seamount, a temporarily protected area in the Northeast Atlantic (Azores). Considering the eight commercially most important demersal fish species, estimates for the period 1993–2009 revealed that on average landings from this area represented 2% of the annual landings by weight of these species in the Azores. Over this period the average estimated volume of the Condor landings was 71 t/year, with the blackspot seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo) and the wreckfish (Polyprion americanus) representing about 54% of the landings, and the average value was €346 thousand per year. Annual trends of landings and of landings per unit effort suggest species-specific abundance responses to fishing, but most of the exploited species may have been significantly reduced at the Condor seamount. The proportion of large specimens may have declined in some of the studied species. Results suggest that artisanal fisheries are capable of causing important reductions in abundance levels of demersal species living on seamounts. Species life history characteristics, their degree of residency, and dependence on outside source areas may be important determinants for the status and the time scales required for recovery to previous abundances of the species. With the current Condor seamount fishing moratorium, exploitation rate has been reduced to zero and this is a unique opportunity to study the responses of the different previously exploited species to the reduced fishing mortality. New understanding may benefit seamount fisheries management in the region.