Of the three marks targeted, the most westerly mark was located off the coastal landmark of “Dancing Ledge” (50 340 97.100 N 2 000 48.800 W). Here, depths were in excess of 19.5 m with the substrate composed of patches of sand, boulders and gravel. Located to the east and 1.6 km NE of Swanage Pier, a mark known as “Dogs Bone” (50 350 01.400 N 2 000 46.300 W) was characterized by a mixed substrate composed of rock and sand and a depth of 19.8 m. The most westerly mark surveyed was “Poole Rocks” located in Poole Bay (50 410 41.200 N 001 520 92.300 W). Depths here did not exceed 12 m with a substrate composed of mud and rock. At all sites, angling was conducted across a range of tidal conditions, ranging from slack water to maximum tidal flows of two knots.
Adrian C. Pinder, Randolph Velterop, Steven J. Cooke, J. Robert Britton, Consequences of catch-and-release angling for black bream Spondyliosoma cantharus, during the parental care period: implications for management, ICES Journal of Marine Science, Volume 74, Issue 1, January-February 2017, Pages 254–262, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsw151
Of the fish sampled, 32% had an impairment score of 0.25 or higher, with the remaining catch being assessed as having no impairment, indicating some potential for C&R to impact negatively on S. cantharus.; With respect to S. cantharus, the temporary displacement of a male from his nest potentially results in an immediate risk of con-specific nest invasion and brood predation (Suski et al., 2003). That the dissected stomachs of five male fish (15% of all males captured) were filled with the eggs of conspecifics during the present study, suggests there is an immediate risk of brood loss, irrespective of whether the captured male was then released and navigated back to its nest.
Threats/pressures impacting the species at the scale of this record