Acronym EnSIS
Category
Fisheries
Title Ecosystem sensitivity to invasive species Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Degraer Steven Coordinator email s.degraer@mumm.ac.be
Coordinator institution
RBINS - Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (Belgium)
Institutions involved
EV ILVO - Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Belgium) ,
UGent - Ghent University (Belgium) ,
INBO - Research Institute for Nature and Forest (Belgium) ,
WUR-IMARES - Wageningen University and Research; Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies (Netherlands) ,
Start year 2009 End year 2011 Funding (€) € 179,778 Website https://www.belspo.be/belspo/NorthSea/program/ENSIS_en.pdf Summary The introduction of invasive species is a major problem to marine ecosystems. The American jack knife clam Ensis directus represents a well-investigated and -documented example of such invasion in North-West European coastal waters. Given its high densities and habitat preferences, a major impact onto the Abra alba community, the biologically highest valuated macrobenthic community along the Belgian coast, was hypothesized. The high densities in combination with its fast growth are expected to impact on the foraging behaviour of larger predators at sea (e.g. sea birds) and further feed the discussion on a possible future commercial exploitation of the species. However, before being able to tackle both issues, still many ecological baseline questions remain unanswered. Several ecological aspects, regarding E. directus in the Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS), are considered highly important both from an ecological and socio-economic perspective, but reliable data on these aspects is currently lacking. This study aims at filling this gap in knowledge, focusing on three overarching objectives: (1) To describe the ecological features of E. directus in Belgian waters; (2) To evaluate the ecological impacts of E. directus' introduction into Belgian waters; (3) To assess the impact of possible E. directus' fisheries in Belgian waters.
In the Belgian part of the North Sea, the distribution, abundance, population structure and impact of Ensis directus was to date not addressed. This study focuses on three overarching objectives: (1) To describe the ecological features of E. directus in Belgian waters (population structure, distribution, habitat preferences); (2) To evaluate the ecological impacts of E. directus introduction into Belgian waters, focusing on macrobenthic communities and sea ducks; (3) To assess the feasibility and potential impact of a targeted Ensis fishery in Belgian waters.
Keywords
Bivalve;
Razor clam;
Impacts;
Shellfish;
Mollusc;
Alien species;
Biology;
Marine Region
5
Southern North Sea (27.IVc)
1
Marine Region Map
