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Monitoring the sustainability of Lessonia nigrescens (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae) in northern Chile under strong harvest pressure

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Abstract

In the last decade, exploitation of Lessonia nigrescens in northern Chile has been carried out using the best practices agreed upon by consensus between fishermen, industry, government, and scientists. These practices focus on the selective harvest of sporophytes to allow the maintenance of a reproductive stock, facilitating recruitment and minimizing grazing of benthic herbivores. To improve coverage and accessibility, enforcement of administration measures along the northern coast of Chile requires ecological indicators to monitor the sustainability of Lessonia kelps. Over 2 years, density, biomass, recruitment, and size structure of Lessonia were sampled seasonally in coastal areas with different regimens of harvesting administration as follows: (1) Management Areas for Exploitation of Benthic Resources (MAEBR), (2) Open Access Areas (OAA), and (3) Marine Protected Areas without human intervention. The use of demographic parameters as ecological indicators allows discrimination between kelp beds where good harvesting practices have been applied by users (MAEBR), and areas where management recommendations have not been put in practice (OAA). The ecological indicators reinforced the concept of co-management in MAEBR as a viable harvesting administration system along the Chilean coast, and indicated a high-harvesting pressure in OAA. Moreover, together with other harvesting parameters, they could be useful to justify the application of other administration strategies, such as quotas or bans.

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Acknowledgments

JMAV would like to thank the Universidad Católica del Norte and the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT) for scholarship to attend Ph.D. Program in Applied Biology and Ecology Universidad Católica del Norte (Coquimbo, Chile). JAV would like to thank COPRAM and Fondo de Investigación Pesquera (FIP) for financing studies associated with the commercial importance of brown macroalgae along the coast of northern Chile. Two anonymous reviewers greatly improve the original manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile

    J. M. Alonso Vega, Bernardo R. Broitman & Julio A. Vásquez

  2. Center for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones (CEAZA), Coquimbo, Chile

    Bernardo R. Broitman & Julio A. Vásquez

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  1. J. M. Alonso Vega
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  2. Bernardo R. Broitman
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  3. Julio A. Vásquez
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Correspondence to Julio A. Vásquez.

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Vega, J.M.A., Broitman, B.R. & Vásquez, J.A. Monitoring the sustainability of Lessonia nigrescens (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae) in northern Chile under strong harvest pressure. J Appl Phycol 26, 791–801 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-013-0167-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-013-0167-4

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