true

ISRA FACTSHEETS

MEDITERRANEAN AND BLACK SEAS REGION

ISRA FACTSHEETS

MEDITERRANEAN AND BLACK SEAS REGION

Eastern Gulf of Lion ISRA

36/70

Eastern Gulf of Lion ISRA

Eastern Gulf of Lion

Summary

Eastern Gulf of Lion is in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea, bordering the coast of Provence in France. It is located in continental shelf edge, slope, and underwater canyon head zones. Surface waters are dominated by the oligotrophic Northern Mediterranean Current flowing westward. Within this area there are: threatened species and areas important for movement (Blue Shark Prionace glauca).

Eastern Gulf of Lion

Eastern Gulf of Lion

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Eastern Gulf of Lion is located along, and offshore from, the coast of Provence in France. It overlaps the continental shelf edge, slope, and underwater canyon head zones of the Gulf of Lion. In this area, the oligotrophic Northern Mediterranean Current flows west and southward along the continental slope (Barrier et al. 2016). Occasionally, the current penetrates onto the shelf, influencing primary production in the area. These intrusions are mainly forced by easterly and north-westerly wind events (Barrier et al. 2016).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is pelagic and is delineated from surface waters (0 m) to 1,000 m based on the global depth range of the Qualifying Species and the bathymetry of the area.

CRITERION A

VULNERABILITY

The one Qualifying Species within the area is considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. The Blue Shark is assessed as Near Threatened globally (Rigby et al. 2019) and Critically Endangered in the Mediterranean Sea (Sims et al. 2016).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C4 – MOVEMENT

Eastern Gulf of Lion is an important movement area for one shark species.

From July 2012 to May 2017, 39 Blue Sharks were tagged in three areas of the Western Mediterranean Basin with contrasting oceanographic features: (1) Gulf of Lion, (2) Ligurian Sea, and (3) Northern Alboran Sea near the Strait of Gibraltar (Poisson et al. submitted). Individuals were tagged with different satellite transmitters: three types of fin-mounted satellite tags (n = 32) and two types of pop-up satellite archival transmitting (PSAT) tags (n = 8). Animals tagged had a male : female sex ratio that greatly favoured females (1 : 2.9) and included 3 juvenile males (110–127 cm fork length [FL]), 6 juvenile females (119–130 cm FL), 3 large juvenile males (142–167 cm FL), 22 large juvenile females (131–178 cm FL), 4 adult males (185–295 cm FL), and 1 adult female (208 cm FL).

Kernel Utilisation Distribution (KUD) modelling was used to create 50%, 75%, and 95% KUDs for all track locations and by season. This model for all tracking locations identified the Eastern Gulf of Lion as a major hotspot (50% KUD based on all tracks) of Blue Shark movement. These densities were observed during summer (from June to August), with individuals overwintering in the Alboran and Tyrrhenian Sea (Poisson et al. submitted).

Eastern Gulf of Lion

SUBMIT A REQUEST

ISRA SPATIAL LAYER REQUEST

To make a request to download the ISRA Layer in either a GIS compatible Shapefile (.shp) or Google Earth compatible Keyhole Markup Language Zipped file (.kmz) please complete the following form. We will review your request and send the download details to you. We will endeavor to send you the requested files as soon as we can. However, please note that this is not an automated process, and before requests are responded to, they undergo internal review and authorization. As such, requests normally take 5–10 working days to process.

Should you have questions about the data or process, please do not hesitate to contact us.

    * indicates required

    Industry or sector (*)

    Under the terms and conditions of our User License Agreement , full and appropriate acknowledgement is required in any materials and publications derived from the data (and copies should be sent to the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group through the contact form). For any publications making substantial use of the data, the ISRA welcomes the opportunity for co-authorship, collaboration, and to comment prior to publication.


    Furthermore, we need to know whether you are a commercial or non-commercial user. Non-commercial includes scientific research, education or conservation. Commercial is defined as follows: any use by, on behalf of, or to inform or assist the activities of a commercial entity (that operates ‘for profit’) or use by a non-profit for the purposes of revenue generation

    Type of use(*):

    Please specify which layer (ex. all layers, layers within a specific Region, layers within a Jurisdiction or a single ISRA): Purpose (*):

    Please provide a description of how you intend to use the ISRA GIS Dataset. The more details you provide, the faster we can respond to your request. We may require further clarification prior to providing access. (min. 100 characters – max 1,000 characters)



    File format request (*)

    By providing your personal data, you consent to its processing as described below. The IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group will use the information you provide on this form to send the documents you requested. You can change your mind at any time by writing to the ISRA Data Coordinator www.sharkrayareas.org/contact. All personal details provided will be treated with respect. For any information you can visit our Privacy Policy.
    Please read the User License Agreement and ISRA Layer Metadata Description

    This form uses Google reCaptcha to reduce spam. Privacy - Terms