Assessing the spatial distribution of five non-commercial fish species in the Aegean Sea (Greece, eastern Mediterranean Sea) based on discards data

Spatial management of discards has attracted increasing interest as a potential mitigation measure. However, most studies are restricted to commercial species. The aim of the present work was to fill this gap by identifying and mapping the spatial distribution of five non-commercial species with high frequency of occurrence in the discarded catch of bottom trawl fishery in the Aegean Sea, i.e., Brown comber Serranus hepatus, Mediterranean scaldfish Arnoglossus laterna, Red bandfish Cepola macrophthalma, Argentine Argentina sphyraena, and Boarfish Capros aper. For this purpose, Generalized Additive Models were used to account for catch dependency on environmental parameters in order to explore the spatial distribution of species. Modeling results revealed that the spatial distribution of species was driven by environmental variables. Depth was the most informative variable explaining most catch variation in all species. For A. laterna, C. macrophthalma, and S. hepatus the highest estimated values of catch were located over the continental shelf and at shallower waters inside gulfs, whereas C. aper and A. sphyraena catch were more broadly distributed across the study area and at greater depths. Seasonal variations in species catch were also observed, probably related in most cases to species reproduction period. Mapping species distribution is essential for the identification of priority areas of protection in future marine spatial plans. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.