A wide scale inter-hemispheric and inter-disciplinary study aiming the conservation of the shortfin mako shark in the Atlantic Ocean

• Grant number: 14/19740-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2015
• End date: July 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Biological Oceanography
• Agreement: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)
• Principal Investigator: Fausto Foresti
• Grantee: Fausto Foresti
• Principal researcher abroad: Rui Pedro Andrade Coelho
• Institution abroad: Universidade do Algarve (UAlg), Portugal
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Diogo Teruo Hashimoto ; Fernando Fernandes Mendonça ; Luis Miguel Pinto Charneca Neves dos Santos

Abstract

Oceanic sharks are among the most vulnerable animals throughout the marine ecosystem and due to increasing fishing pressure, several species have shown population declines greater than 80% in recent decades. However, the management and conservation of this group have faced critical challenges such as the lack of biological information, life history parameters, migration patterns, population dynamics and genetics, which are needed for internationally shared management. Among these, the shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyhinchus) is one of the most commonly caught sharks by open-ocean industrial fishing, reaching high values in the international trade. Given its economic importance, the fundamental ecological role as top predators in the oceans, the gaps in knowledge about this species and the urgent need to implement sustainable management programs, this interdisciplinary approach focuses on (i) characterization of life history parameters including age, growth, reproductive biology and mortality; (ii) population genomics and evolutionary analysis using next-generation sequencing technologies throughout the distribution area of the species in the Atlantic Ocean and; (iii) mapping the habitat preferences and migration patterns measured by satellite telemetry technology. Such information will be released in scientific articles and events and discussed between different instances at conferences and forums in areas related with the topic. Additionally, it will be presented and discussed at advisory international fisheries management agencies providing integrated basis for the sustainable use and conservation of this resource, and will serve as a model for future studies of others oceanic sharks around the world. This collaborative consortium between institutions in Brazil and Portugal will inspire the development of new frontiers of knowledge in areas of mutual interest in science, technology and innovation through the interaction between their respective scientific communities. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DOMINGUES, RODRIGO R.; MASTROCHIRICO-FILHO, VITO ANTONIO; MENDES, NATALIA J.; HASHIMOTO, DIOGO T.; COELHO, RUI; ANTUNES, AGOSTINHO; FORESTI, FAUSTO; MENDONCA, FERNANDO F.. Gene-associated markers as a genomic and transcriptomic resource for a highly migratory and apex predator shark (Isurus oxyrinchus). Marine Biology, v. 169, n. 9, p. 12-pg., 2022-09-01. (14/19740-7, 17/02420-8, 19/10201-0)

DOMINGUES, RODRIGO R.; MASTROCHIRICO-FILHO, VITO ANTONIO; MENDES, NATALIA J.; HASHIMOTO, DIOGO T.; COELHO, RUI; DA CRUZ, VANESSA PAES; ANTUNES, AGOSTINHO; FORESTI, FAUSTO; MENDONCA, FERNANDO F.. Comparative eye and liver differentially expressed genes reveal monochromatic vision and cancer resistance in the shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus). Genomics, v. 112, n. 6, p. 4817-4826, NOV 2020. (17/02420-8, 14/19740-7, 18/21319-9)