Fishing vessels and secondary dispersion of marine exotic species in Argentina

BOBINAC M; CHIARANDINI J; ABELANDO M; CASTRO K; E SCHWINDT

Congreso; Xth International Conference on Marine Bioinvasions; 2018

Currently, nearly the 90% of the worldwide trade occurs through vessels that accidentally or deliberately transport species from one region to the other. Because of that, an appropriate management is needed to prevent or reduce to a minimum the introduction and secondary regional dispersion of species. Argentina, member of the International Maritime Organization is working in an early detection and rapid response plan as part of the National Strategy of Invasive Exotic Species (ENEEI). Also, the country ratified the BWM convention in 2017 and is now preparing to work in biofouling management strategies. Despite this, little is known about national port connectivity mainly driven by fishing vessels. This work aims to analyze the regional maritime movement among four major ports in Argentina as part of the National Strategy project: Bahía Blanca (BBLA, 38° S), Quequén (QUEQ, 38° S), Puerto Madryn (MADR, 42° S) and San Antonio Este/Oeste (SANT, 40 SL) between 2013 and 2017. All fishing vessels were categorized and the origin and geographic destination for each vessel was noted. Bahia Blanca was the port with the highest activity, showing a major connectivity with the port of Rawson (between 28-35%, 43° S) and then with QUEQ (13-16%). The rest of the ports did not show strong connectivity with other ports (nearly 4%), being most of the fishing activity conducted within the same port (91% MADR, 99.5% SANT and 96% QUEQ). These results suggest a higher risk of regional species dispersion in BBLA in both ways, as a donor and as a receptor of exotic species. The results also unveil where the management efforts should be first directed.