Tope (Galeorhinus galeus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 4

Distribution

Global range

Tope occur in temperate and subtropical seas between 68°N - 55°S latitude. Tope are found in the eastern Pacific from northern British Columbia (no records from Alaska) to the Gulf of California as well as waters off Peru and Chile. Tope are distributed in the southwestern Pacific Ocean in waters off Australia and New Zealand. In the western Atlantic Ocean, its range is limited from southern Brazil to Argentina while in the eastern Atlantic it can be found from Iceland to South Africa, including the Mediterranean Sea. In the western Indian Ocean region, tope can be found in waters off South Africa (Compagno 1984).

Figure 2. Global distribution of tope (shaded areas). Source: Compagno 1984.

Figure 2. Global distribution of tope (shaded areas). Source: Compagno 1984.

Canadian range

In Canada’s Pacific waters records for tope occur primarily from continental shelf waters along Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte Sound, and into Hecate Strait. There are no known research or commercial fishing records of tope being taken from the Strait of Georgia (Figure 3). Based on commercial trawl records between 1996 and 2005, 95% of the records (N=109 sets with tope) fall between the depths of 47-285 m (Figure 4). The area between these two depths is ~73 600 km² which is considered to be the extent of occurrence in Canadian waters (Figure 5). Actual documented occurrences in Canada’s Pacific waters based on 5X5 km grid squares sum to ~2000 km² which is used as a minimum area of occupancy estimate.

Figure 3. Canadian range of tope based on observations in the commercial hook and line and trawl fisheries between 1996 and 2005. Source: PacHarv database.

Figure 3. Canadian range of tope based on observations in the commercial hook and line and trawl fisheries between 1996 and 2005.

Figure 4. Depth distribution of commercial trawl tows coastwide between 1996 and 2005 with records of tope (clear bars) compared with the total trawl effort by depth (solid grey bars). Records between the vertical lines represent the depth interval accounting for 95% of the sightings. Source: PacHarvTrawl database.

Figure 4. Depth distribution of commercial trawl tows coastwide between 1996 and 2005 with records of tope (clear bars) compared with the total trawl effort by depth (solid grey bars).

Figure 5. Possible distribution of tope in Canada’s Pacific waters based on captures in the commercial trawl fishery between 1996 and October 2005. Grey areas represent locations with reported capture of tope based on a 5X5 km grid square. Black area represents depths between 47 and 285 m, the interval accounting for 95% of tope trawl catch.  There are no records from the Strait of Georgia. Source: PacHarvTrawl database.

Figure 5. Possible distribution of tope in Canada’s Pacific waters based on captures in the commercial trawl fishery between 1996 and October 2005

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