Bathyraja macloviana, Patagonian Skate

Abstract

The Patagonian Skate (Bathyraja macloviana) is a small (to 71 cm total length) skate that occurs in the Southeast Pacific Ocean off Magallanes, Chile and in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean from Uruguay to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina and the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) and is demersal on the inner continental shelf and upper slope at depths of 50?515 m. It is captured in demersal trawl fisheries targeting skates, finfish, and squid. Skates are typically not recorded or managed at the species level. For example, in Argentina, there are no species-specific data, but catch-per-unit-effort of rays, in general, declined in the 1990s and early 2000s. In the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) target skate fishery, this species increased in relative abundance in catch compared to other larger species, but there are no data on absolute changes in density or biomass from that area. Little is known about the Chilean portion of the population, but it is captured there and is typically discarded dead. Overall, due to the level of inadequately managed fishing pressure it is exposed to, declines in skates in general in some parts of its range, and its relatively small size that likely makes it productive enough to withstand some fishing pressure, it is suspected that this skate has undergone a population reduction of 20?29% over the past three generations (28.5 years). Therefore, the Patagonian Skate is assessed as Near Threatened, nearly meeting the threshold for Vulnerable A2bd.