Acronym EggValue
Category
Fisheries
Title The value of an egg: towards operational models of fish eggs and larvae along the Norwegian coast 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 Anders Frugard Opdal Coordinator email anders.opdal@uni.no
Coordinator institution
UiB - University of Bergen (Norway)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2011 End year 2014 Funding (€) € 800,991 Website NA Summary We aim to develop key elements of an operational ecosystem model framework. The model system includes ocean physics, the timing of the spring bloom from Sverdrup assumptions, and predicted egg-production of zooplankton. This culminates in a spatio-temporal map of the value of an egg in terms of early life-stage growth and survival, which is combined with optimal life-history models and population modelling to predict spawning site use in NEA cod and NSS herring. One key asset for the project is a new version of the regional ocean model system (ROMS) developed by the IMR. The domain included in this model allows a fine-scaled resolution of the coastal current along the complete range of the Norwegian coast and opens new doors to the exploration of larval drift and egg fitness from all potential spawning sites. Another new and novel advancement is the development of trait-based phytoplankton model of the spring bloom. The approach taken is inspired from recent work by Mick Follows and his group at MIT, and we ask for a one year visit by the project leader to MIT, Boston to develop such models. The next component of the operational framework is to apply the model of Calanus finmarchicus, the main food item for larval fish, developed by Geir Huse and colleagues at IMR. The output from this modelling is a spatial, annual and seasonal map of suitable food availability for larval fish along the coast. We then bring these pieces together to model the fate of an egg spawned at different times and locations along the coast, which determines the fitness of the egg. Finally, the fitness of eggs can be thought of as the payoff-function of the migration cost in a life-history energy trade-off in both cod and herring. The egg-fitness will be fed into existing models of energy usage in parental fish, yielding an optimal state-dependent migration investment which can be placed in a population dynamics context interacting with fisheries practices.
Our objective is to develop operational models of spatial, seasonal and annual variability in timing of the spring bloom, Calanus egg production, distribution of fish eggs and larvae, and spawning migrations in NEA cod and NSS herring. Subgoals: (1) Model timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom and Calanus egg production. Output: A tool to create spatio-temporal maps of the main food for larval cod and herring, early nauplii stages of Calanus, along the Norwegian coast; (2) Extend existing drift models of larval fish to include the complete historical range of cod and herring spawning grounds. Output: Based on maps from 1) and other environment factors affecting growth and behaviour, we predict spatio-temporal maps of egg fitness; (3) Make life history models of optimal spawning locations operational from egg fitness maps. Output: Model of spatio-temporal distribution of spawning activity in herring and cod.
Keywords
Herring;
Fish;
Fish biology;
Spawning area;
Cod;
Population dynamic;
Marine Region
14
Skagerrak, Kattegat (27.IIIa)
13
Northern North Sea (27.IVa)
41
Norwegian Sea (27.IIa)
3
Marine Region Map
