EUfishmeal conference on forage fish, marine mammals and optimal fisheries yields

EUfishmeal conference video on forage fish, marine mammals and optimal fisheries yields from EUfishmeal on Vimeo.

Conference conclusions

On the 11th of October 2018 EUfishmeal held an open scientific stakeholder conference with presentations and discussions on recent findings of changes in fish stock productivity and food webs from an ecosystem and management perspective.

Forage fish populations support large scale fisheries and are key components of marine ecosystems, linking secondary production to higher trophic levels. A recent study from the North Sea shows that the abundances of short-lived pelagic species are highly dynamic and respond rapidly to changes in food availability.

Model predictions of the impact of increasing temperatures in the North East Atlantic show a potential increase in the biomass of key species as mackerel, blue whiting and herring. The changes also enable major increase in the biomass of the key plankton copepod (Calanus finmarchicus). Additionally, the increasing marine mammal populations in the North Atlantic Seas may impact the potential fisheries yields.

EUfishmeal finds it crucial that potential shifts in ecosystem productivity and food webs are thoroughly documented and made apparent to managers and stakeholders.

During the conference scientist from University of British Colombia, Institute of Marine Research Norway, DTU Aqua, ICES and others presented and discussed the most recent studies on changes in optimal fisheries yields in a changing ecosystem and the impact of marine mammals on the fish stocks.

The presentations and discussions showed that potential solutions to challenges of optimizing fisheries yield when considering ecosystem effects and impacts from outside sources as marine mammal was both complexed and dependent on various assumptions. These assumptions will be strengthened with increased research and the results will with time appear more clearly. In the end, the major conclusion from the conference is that progress based on the scientific results depends on the willingness for changes by the political managers on the highest national and international level.

Programme:
Date and Time: Thursday 11 October 2018 from 15:00 to 18:30 followed by a dinner reception.
Location: EUfishmeal, Axeltorv 3, 1609 Copenhagen V

Programme:
15:00-15:10 Welcome and introduction

15:10-16:25 Session on Forage Fish
15:10 “Optimal fisheries yields in an ecosystem perspective” (Villy Christensen, UBC) – to see presentation click here
15:35 “Shifts in North Sea forage fish productivity and potential fisheries yield” (Mikael van Deurs, DTU Aqua) – to see presentation click here
16:00 “The North East Atlantic pelagic fisheries case study in ClimeFish” (Kjell Rong Utne, IMR) – to see presentation click here
16:25-16:45 coffee break

16:45-17:50 Session on Marine Mammals
16:45 “How much fish is eaten by marine mammals in the Barents Sea?” (Daniel Howell, IMR) – to see presentation click here
17:10 ”The potential direct and indirect effects of grey seal on Baltic cod” (Jane Behrens, DTU Aqua) – to see presentation click here
17:35 “Are the growing marine mammal populations in West Greenland reducing the potential fisheries yields?” (Jens Stubkjær, AMP) – to see presentation click here

17:50-18:30 Panel discussion
“How to optimize fisheries yields from changing ecosystems?”
Moderator: Villy Christensen
Participants: Mikael van Deurs, Kjell Rong Utne, Daniel Howell, Jane Behrens, Jens Stubkjær, Henrik Sparholt (the Fmsy project), Mark Dickey-Collas (ICES)