Scomberomorus commerson | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes

Taxa
Scomberomorus commerson | (Lacepède, 1800)
Location
Countries in Assessment
United Arab Emirates
Country ISO code(s)
ARE
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Off
Scope (Assessment)
National
Taxon
Taxonomic Group
Vertebrates
Taxonomic Group Level 2
Fishes
Assessed taxon level
Species
Taxonomic Notes
A revision of Scomberomorus was conducted by Collette and Russo (1985).
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
This species occurs throughout UAE waters. Globally, itis widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific (Ben Souissi et al. 2006).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
Yes
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This pelagic and oceanodromous species occurs from near the edge of the continental shelf to shallow coastal waters, often of low salinity and high turbidity. Juveniles inhabit estuaries and nearshore habitats. It is also found in drop-offs, and shallow or gently sloping reef and lagoon waters, and is more frequently caught in waters shallower than 100 m depth (Collette 2001). It undertakes lengthy long-shore migrations, but permanent resident populations also seem to exist. It occurs in small schools and primarily consumes small fishes like anchovies, clupeids and carangids, but also squid and penaeid shrimps. It spawns off reef slopes and edges, and forms spawning aggregations in specific areas. Depending on temperature regime, the spawning season may be more or less extended. Off Iran, spawning occurs mostly from June to September (Darvishi et al. 2011) and in May and June off Oman (Claereboudt et al. 2005). It possibly migrates from Omani waters to the Iranian coast in the Gulf during spawning season (Claereboudt et al. 2005, Darvishi et al. 2011). It has an age at first maturity of about 2 years (Devaraj 1981, Mackie et al. 2003, Claereboudt et al. 2005, Grandcourt et al. 2005). In north Queensland, Australia the oldest male was 10 years at 127 cm and the oldest female was 14 years and 155 cm. This species may live up to 15 years (IOTC 2006), 16 years (Grandcourt et al. 2005), and maybe as long as 22 years (Mackie et al. 2003). When applying an age at first reproduction of 2 years and longevity of 16 years, its estimated generation length is 9 years based on the following equation recommended by the IUCN Red List methods: Age at first reproduction + (Age at last reproduction -“ age at first reproduction)/2.
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Endangered
Assessment status abreviation
EN
Assessment status criteria
A2bd
Assessment rationale/justification
This coastal, pelagic species occurs throughout UAE waters. It is heavily exploited by all levels of fisheries throughout the Arabian Gulf and Sea of Oman, and is considered overexploited according to stock assessments conducted in several countries of this region, including off Abu Dhabi where it is considered collapsed. Several management measures have been implemented in UAE waters, but fisheries management remains inadequate in other countries. Given the migratory nature of the species, it is considered a single stock across the Arabian Gulf, and possibly connected to the Sea of Oman as well. Effort is not quantified, but has either remained constant or increased across the region over time. Catch in the GCC countries, which represents a single stock, declined by about 68% since 1988. According to catch data, stock assessments and fish market observations, it is inferred this species declined by at least 50-70% over the past three generation lengths (27 years), or since about 1988. It is listed as Endangered A2bd.
About the assessment
Assessment year
2019
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Government
IGO
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Criteria system
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1 + Regional Guidelines v4.0
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Endemism
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
Overfishing is a major threat to this species in the UAE and throughout the Arabian Gulf and Sea of Oman region (Grandcourt et al. 2005, Grandcourt et al. 2014). In addition, warming waters in the Gulf due to climate change are expected to impact this species in that region (Wabnitz et al. 2018). Corals in the UAE and Arabian Gulf have severely declined due to the increasing frequency of mass bleaching events caused by rising water temperatures, which is a consequence of climate change, as well as pervasive coastal development (Riegl et al. 2018, Burt et al. 2019).
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Scomberomorus commerson Animalia Chordata Actinopterygii Perciformes Scombridae Scomberomorus