Site fidelity and movements of sharks associated with ocean-farming cages in Hawaii
Yannis P. Papastamatiou A D E , David G. Itano A B , Jonathan J. Dale A C , Carl G. Meyer A and Kim N. Holland AA Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 46-007 Lilipuna Road, Kaneohe, HI 96744, USA.
B Pelagic Fisheries Research Program, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1000 Pope Road,MSB 312, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
C Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
D Current address: Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 280 Dickinson Hall Museum Road & Newell Drive, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
E Corresponding author. Email: ypapastamatiou@gmail.com
Marine and Freshwater Research 61(12) 1366-1375 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF10056
Submitted: 2 March 2010 Accepted: 4 August 2010 Published: 13 December 2010
Abstract
Sharks are found in association with main Hawaiian Island ocean fish farms more frequently and at higher densities than is typical for coastal Hawaiian waters. Sharks attracted to fish farms could potentially threaten human water users, interact negatively with other fisheries, and seasonal migrations could be disrupted if individuals become entrained around farms throughout the year. We hypothesised that smaller coastal species would reside near farms, whereas more wide-ranging species would associate with farms only for short periods. We utilised passive acoustic telemetry to monitor the movements and behaviour of sandbar (Carcharhinus plumbeus) and tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier) sharks adjacent to two open ocean fish farms in Hawaii. Approximately half the tagged sandbar sharks showed site fidelity to the farms, with some individuals being detected repeatedly for 2.5 years. Sandbar sharks moved seasonally to the west coast of Oahu, suggesting that fish farms are not disrupting natural seasonal cycles in this species. Tiger sharks tagged near the cages were more transient, and showed much shorter residence times although some individuals returned sporadically to the cages over the 3-year period. Ocean fish cages appear to aggregate sandbar sharks, but are only ‘visited’ by tiger sharks. Although threats to public safety are probably minimal, the ecological effects of aggregating top-predators are still unknown.
Additional keywords: acoustic telemetry, fish cages, sandbar sharks, seasonal migrations, sexual segregation, tiger sharks.
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