The productivity of global fish stocks

Global fisheries provide humanity with tremendous food and livelihood, yet the majority of major stocks are in a state of reduced productivity. This is largely due to overfishing, where stocks are driven below the biomass level that provides maximum productivity (i.e. the maximum sustainable yield MSY). However, piecemeal evidence suggests that both environmental change and the biological effects of prolonged overfishing are causing more permanent declines in stock productivity, beyond that which is caused by reduced biomass alone. Using the RAM Legacy Stock Assessment Database, which is the most comprehensive collection of global fisheries time series, I am combining fundamental population models with modern methods of time series analysis to track productivity parameters over time. By first controlling for the effects of reduced biomass, I am looking at how fundamental rates of population growth and recruitment are changing in time and space, and what it means for modern productivity and the rebuilding of overfished stocks.
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[dt_benefit title="PERSONAL INFORMATION" header_size="h4" content_size="normal" target_blank="true" image_link="" hd_image="" image=""]
Gregory L. Britten - Ph.D. student, Dept. of Biology, Dalhousie University Halifax

Email: greg.britten@dal.ca[/dt_benefit] [dt_benefit title="PROJECT LEADS" header_size="h4" content_size="normal" target_blank="true" image_link="" hd_image="" image=""]
Principal Investigator – Gregory L. Britten (M.Sc. Candidate)

Supervisors - Boris Worm (Professor, Biology, Dalhousie University)

Mike Dowd (Professor, Mathematics and Statistics, Dalhousie University)

[/dt_benefit] [dt_benefit title="PROJECT STATUS" header_size="h4" content_size="normal" target_blank="true" image_link="" hd_image="" image=""]In progress[/dt_benefit] [dt_benefit title="TYPE OF PROJECT" header_size="h4" content_size="normal" target_blank="true" image_link="" hd_image="" image=""]Scientific research[/dt_benefit]

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Effects of large Marine Protected Areas on Global Fisheries

MPAs have long been recognised as a tool to protect marine biodiversity. Through temporal and/or spatial closures and management of designated areas, the maintenance and recovery of special ecosystems, processes, habitats and species and their sustainable use and conservation are promoted. Damaging practises such as destructive fishing methods and other harmful human activities are excluded in order to create protected zones for species’ reproduction and growth. Today most MPAs can be found in coastal waters worldwide whereas large MPAs in offshore waters beyond the national jurisdiction are still rare.

For my PhD project I focus on how large Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) influence ecosystem services and fisheries activities. I am looking at effects of the establishment of MPAs on fishing fleet behaviour such as a possible relocation of fishing efforts to other areas or to the borders of MPAs to benefit from spillover effects. It is important to understand the fishermen’s reactions to protected areas in order to develop a functional network of High Seas MPAs protecting marine resources from overexploitation.

I am participating in the German-Canadian Transatlantic Ocean System Science and Technology (TOSST) graduate programme which addresses key issues facing the North Atlantic under three distinct themes: Seafloor Structures, 4D water mass dynamics and Ecosystem Hotspots. The graduate programme is hosted by Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada and the GEOMAR as well as Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany.

Details

Effects of large Marine Protected Areas on Global Fisheries

MPAs have long been recognised as a tool to protect marine biodiversity. Through temporal and/or spatial closures and management of designated areas, the maintenance and recovery of special ecosystems, processes, habitats and species and their sustainable use and conservation are promoted. Damaging practises such as destructive fishing methods and other harmful human activities are excluded in order to create protected zones for species’ reproduction and growth. Today most MPAs can be found in coastal waters worldwide whereas large MPAs in offshore waters beyond the national jurisdiction are still rare.

For my PhD project I focus on how large Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) influence ecosystem services and fisheries activities. I am looking at effects of the establishment of MPAs on fishing fleet behaviour such as a possible relocation of fishing efforts to other areas or to the borders of MPAs to benefit from spillover effects. It is important to understand the fishermen’s reactions to protected areas in order to develop a functional network of High Seas MPAs protecting marine resources from overexploitation.

I am participating in the German-Canadian Transatlantic Ocean System Science and Technology (TOSST) graduate programme which addresses key issues facing the North Atlantic under three distinct themes: Seafloor Structures, 4D water mass dynamics and Ecosystem Hotspots. The graduate programme is hosted by Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada and the GEOMAR as well as Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany.

Details

The productivity of global fish stocks

Global fisheries provide humanity with tremendous food and livelihood, yet the majority of major stocks are in a state of reduced productivity. This is largely due to overfishing, where stocks are driven below the biomass level that provides maximum productivity (i.e. the maximum sustainable yield MSY). However, piecemeal evidence suggests that both environmental change and the biological effects of prolonged overfishing are causing more permanent declines in stock productivity, beyond that which is caused by reduced biomass alone. Using the RAM Legacy Stock Assessment Database, which is the most comprehensive collection of global fisheries time series, I am combining fundamental population models with modern methods of time series analysis to track productivity parameters over time. By first controlling for the effects of reduced biomass, I am looking at how fundamental rates of population growth and recruitment are changing in time and space, and what it means for modern productivity and the rebuilding of overfished stocks.
[dt_benefits style="2" columns="2" animation="none" dividers="true" image_background="true"]

[dt_benefit title="PERSONAL INFORMATION" header_size="h4" content_size="normal" target_blank="true" image_link="" hd_image="" image=""]
Gregory L. Britten - Ph.D. student, Dept. of Biology, Dalhousie University Halifax

Email: greg.britten@dal.ca[/dt_benefit] [dt_benefit title="PROJECT LEADS" header_size="h4" content_size="normal" target_blank="true" image_link="" hd_image="" image=""]
Principal Investigator – Gregory L. Britten (M.Sc. Candidate)

Supervisors - Boris Worm (Professor, Biology, Dalhousie University)

Mike Dowd (Professor, Mathematics and Statistics, Dalhousie University)

[/dt_benefit] [dt_benefit title="PROJECT STATUS" header_size="h4" content_size="normal" target_blank="true" image_link="" hd_image="" image=""]In progress[/dt_benefit] [dt_benefit title="TYPE OF PROJECT" header_size="h4" content_size="normal" target_blank="true" image_link="" hd_image="" image=""]Scientific research[/dt_benefit]

[/dt_benefits]

Details