true

ISRA FACTSHEETS

NORTH AMERICAN PACIFIC

ISRA FACTSHEETS

NORTH AMERICAN PACIFIC

Lucia Chica Terrace ISRA

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Lucia Chica Terrace ISRA

Lucia Chica Terrace

Summary

Lucia Chica Terrace is located in California, United States of America. The habitat is predominantly composed of soft sediments (sand and mud), interspersed with infrequent outcrops of hard substrate. The area also encompasses specialised habitats such as bacterial mats, submarine canyons, and pockmark fields. Structure-forming invertebrates, particularly corals and sponges, contribute to habitat complexity. Within this area there are: range-restricted species (Longnose Catshark Apristurus kampae).

Lucia Chica Terrace

Lucia Chica Terrace

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Lucia Chica Terrace is located in California, United States of America (USA). It is situated at the distal end of the Sur Pockmark Field, where multiple low-relief channels converge into a single incised channel adjacent to the site (Lundsten et al. 2024). The habitat is predominantly composed of soft sediments (sand and mud), interspersed with infrequent outcrops of hard substrate. The region also encompasses specialised habitats such as bacterial mats, submarine canyons, and pockmark fields (Walton et al. 2021; Kuhnz et al. 2022). Structure-forming invertebrates, particularly corals and sponges, contribute to habitat complexity.

Oceanographic conditions are seasonally dynamic. During boreal spring and early summer, upwelling driven by strong northerly and north-westerly winds bring cold, nutrient-rich, low-oxygen, and relatively saline waters to the nearshore environment (Hickey 1998; Checkley & Barth 2009). In contrast, periods of weak winds in late summer and early fall allow the California Current to shift shoreward, introducing warmer, lower-nutrient waters with moderate salinity. During late fall and winter, strong southerly winds combined with the Davidson Current transport waters characterised by moderate nutrient levels, high sediment loads, lower salinity, and oxygen saturation to the nearshore environment (Hickey 1998; Checkley & Barth 2009).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic, pelagic, and subsurface and is delineated from 1,050–1,220 m based on the depth range of Qualifying Species in the area.

CRITERION B

RANGE RESTRICTED

This area holds the regular presence of Longnose Catshark as a resident range-restricted species. The West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey (WCGBTS) is conducted annually between May–July and August–October along the USA West Coast between the USA-Canada border and the USA-Mexico border, at depths of 55–1,280 m (Keller et al. 2017). The survey area is subdivided into ~12,000 equal-area grid cells, from which 188 cells are randomly selected each year within depth and latitudinal strata to ensure representative spatial sampling. All sharks and rays captured are sorted to species level (or the lowest possible taxonomic resolution) and weighed, and subsamples of selected species are measured. The trawl net used in the survey has a headrope measuring 25.9 m and a footrope measuring 31.7 m. Trawling is conducted during daylight hours at a target speed of 2.2 ± 0.5 knots, with a standard tow duration of 15 minutes (approximately 0.55 km) (Keller et al. 2017). Between 2011–2025, 8,386 tows were conducted in the entire survey area, of which 21 were within this area (0.3%) (NOAA NWFSC FRAM 2026).

Longnose Catsharks were captured in 208 tows in the entire survey area (2.5% of total tows) at depths between 290–1,265 m. Within this area, the species was captured in a total of 14 tows (66.7% of tows in this area) at depths between 1,066–1,217 m. The average catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE; number of individuals per square kilometre; ind/km2) for tows with Longnose Catshark outside this area was 276.5 ind/km2, while in this area it was 322.3 ind/km2. The average number of individuals in a single tow with Longnose Catshark in this area was 8.1 (maximum = 20) and outside this area it was 5.8 for the same average area (0.02 km2) (NOAA NWFSC FRAM 2026). The total number of individuals captured in all tows within this area was 113 (5.4 per tow), while outside this area, 1,126 were captured (0.1 per tow).

Longnose Catsharks are restricted to the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) and the Gulf of California LME.

Lucia Chica Terrace

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