Monitoring elasmobranch assemblages in a data-poor country from the Eastern Tropical Pacific using baited remote underwater video stations.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how threatened species are distributed in space and time can have direct applications to conservation planning. However, implementing standardized methods to monitor populations of wide-ranging species is often expensive and challenging. In this study, we used baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) to quantify elasmobranch abundance and distribution patterns across a gradient of protection in the Pacific waters of Costa Rica. Our BRUVS survey detected 29 species, which represents 54% of the entire elasmobranch diversity reported to date in shallow waters (< 60 m) of the Pacific of Costa Rica. Our data demonstrated that elasmobranchs benefit from no-take MPAs, yet large predators are relatively uncommon or absent from open-fishing sites. We showed that BRUVS are capab

SUBMITTER: Espinoza M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7560706 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature