Atlantic Highly Migratory Species

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species
Name	Atlantic Highly Migratory Species
Status	Varies by species
Status system	IUCN
Taxon	Various taxa

Contents

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species are a group of wide-ranging pelagic fishes and marine vertebrates of the Atlantic Ocean managed for their transboundary movements and commercial importance, including tunas, billfishes, sharks, and pelagic rays. These species occur from the Arctic Ocean margins to the Southern Ocean gateway and interact with fisheries, conservation treaties, and oceanographic processes shaped by the Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Current, and Subtropical Convergence. Management and research involve multinational bodies such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, regional fisheries organizations, and national agencies like the National Marine Fisheries Service and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Overview

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species are defined for regulatory and conservation purposes under frameworks including the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, and bilateral agreements between states such as the United States and Canada. The category links science, law, and commerce through institutions like the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Convention on Migratory Species, and the European Commission. Economically important species sustain fleets registered in ports such as Miami, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Lisbon, San Sebastián, and Cape Town, and are the subjects of fisheries disputes adjudicated at venues like the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Taxa included under Atlantic Highly Migratory Species span multiple families and orders: Scombridae (tunas) with genera such as Thunnus and Scomberomorus, Istiophoridae (billfishes) with genera like Istiophorus and Makaira, Lamnidae (mackerel sharks) including Isurus and Carcharodon, Sphyrnidae (hammerheads) with Sphyrna, and Mobulidae (manta and devil rays) with Mobula and Manta. Iconic species referenced in policy and science include the Atlantic bluefin tuna, bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna, blue marlin, white marlin, shortfin mako shark, porbeagle shark, great hammerhead, manta ray, and giant manta. Taxonomic work draws on systematists from institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Natural History Museum, London, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and publications in journals like Science, Nature, and Fish and Fisheries.

These species undertake seasonal and ontogenetic movements between spawning, foraging, and nursery areas in regions including the Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, Bay of Biscay, Sargasso Sea, Benguela Current, and Caribbean Sea. Migration drivers include thermal fronts, prey aggregations around features like the Azores Current and the Canary Current, and life-history triggers documented by tagging programs run by organizations such as the Pew Charitable Trusts, International Game Fish Association, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Case studies document transoceanic migrations linking the Azores, Bermuda, Madeira, Cape Verde, and Canary Islands with continental shelves off Norway, Spain, and Morocco.

Commercial and recreational fisheries for these taxa are prosecuted by fleets from nations including the United States, Spain, Japan, Portugal, Italy, France, China, South Africa, and Brazil. Management instruments include quotas, size limits, time-area closures, and bycatch mitigation measures implemented by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, regional fisheries management organizations such as the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization, and national statutes like the Endangered Species Act. Market chains involve ports, processors, and markets in Tokyo, New York City, Barcelona, Rome, and Lisbon, and certification schemes overseen by bodies like the Marine Stewardship Council and trade rules under the World Trade Organization.

Threats include overfishing by industrial longline, purse seine, and drift-net fleets flagged to states such as the Panama, Taiwan, South Korea, and Venezuela; illegal, unreported, and unregulated practices; and bycatch interactions with sea turtles regulated under instruments like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Climate-driven changes linked to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change influence distribution and prey base, while pollution events near urban centers such as New York City and Lisbon and marine debris in the Sargasso Sea augment mortality. Conservation status assessments appear in the IUCN Red List, with species listed from Least Concern to Critically Endangered and protections invoked through listings under the Convention on Migratory Species and regional directives like the Habitats Directive.

Research combines electronic and conventional tagging pioneered by programs at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, pop-up satellite archival tags developed with providers such as Wildlife Computers, genetic stock identification using laboratories at the University of Miami and the University of Oxford, and fisheries-dependent data from observers and electronic monitoring deployed by agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the European Fisheries Control Agency. Analytical approaches employ satellite remote sensing from NOAA and the European Space Agency, habitat modeling in platforms used by NASA, and population assessments in assessment working groups convened by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research.

Category:Atlantic Ocean Category:Fish conservation