Genetic population structure of the Blackspot seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo): contribution of mtDNA control region to fisheries management

Abstract

Marine fisheries management models have traditionally considered biological parameters and geopolitical boundaries. The result is the existence of fisheries management units that do not match genetic populations. However, this panorama is changing with the contribution of genetic and genomic data. Pagellus bogaraveo is a commercially important sparid in the northeast Atlantic, with three stock components being considered by ICES: the Celtic Sea and Bay of Biscay, Atlantic Iberian waters and the Azores. The northern stock collapsed (1975–1985) and is essential to characterize the genetic makeup of the species, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula, where it is managed as a single stock. The mitochondrial control region was used to screen the intraspecific diversity and population structure of individuals from six locations across the species range. The genetic diversity found is similar among sites, and there is differentiation between the Azores and the remaining locations.

Keywords:

• Stocks
• Sparidae
• Atlantic
• Mediterranean

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge several researchers and institutions for supplying specimens for analyses: samples from the archipelago of Azores were captured by Naturalist – Science & Tourism services (contact Gisela Dionisio, [email protected]); samples from the northern Gulf of Biscaya were collected by Pascal Lorance (Ifremer); samples from Cantabria were provided by Andrea Romero; samples from mainland Portugal were collected under the Portuguese Government Development Investments and Expenses Program (PIDDAC–Programa de Investimentos e Despesas de Desenvolvimento da Administração Central) under the EU/DG Fisheries’ Data Collection Framework (DCF); samples from Cadiz were provided by Eva Velasco; samples from the Mediterranean were provided by Manuel Hidalgo and Miriam Dominguez Rodriguez (IEO) and collected during the Alboran survey MEDITS19.

We thank the IT Services of the University of Algarve for hosting and maintaining the R2C2 computational cluster facility (http://rcastilho.pt/R2C2/R2C2_cluster.html).

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Fundação para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) Portugal, through the strategic projects MARE/UIDB/MAR/04292/2020 and MARE/UIDP/MAR/04292/2020 granted to MARE (MARE-ISPA), and reUIDB/04326/2020 granted to CCMAR.