Acronym EISA
Category
Fisheries
Title Ecology and management of the invasive snow crab: Predicting expansion, impacts and sustainability in the Arctic under climate change 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 Paul Renaud Coordinator email paul.renaud@akvaplan.niva.no
Coordinator institution
NIVA - Norwegian Institute for Water Research (Norway)
Institutions involved
Akvaplan-niva - Akvaplan-niva AS (Norway) ,
IMR - Institute of Marine Research (Norway) ,
CSIC - Spanish National Research Council (Spain) ,
UiT - The Arctic University of Norway (Norway) ,
UOA - University of Agder (Norway) ,
UBC - University of British Columbia (Canada) ,
UiO - University of Oslo (Norway) ,
Start year 2019 End year 2022 Funding (€) € 908,128 Website https://prosjektbanken.forskningsradet.no/en/project/FORISS/294464?Kilde=FORISS&distribution=Ar&chart=bar&calcType=funding&Sprak=no&sortBy=date&sortOrder=desc&resultCount=30&offset=30&Fag.3=%C3%98kologi Summary "The snow crab is a large crustacean that has been invading the Barents Sea since 1996. The origin of this invasion is still unknown. The snow crab is both an invasive species that is rapidly expanding eastwards and northwards in the Barents Sea, but also a species of interest for commercial fisheries. There is thus an urgent need for new data, knowledge and robust predictions on the potential effects of the snow crab in Arctic marine communities as the population expands in the Barents Sea. This new knowledge will provide essential information for the development of robust management measures of a commercial fishery of an invasive species, to ensure the environmental sustainability of the Barents Sea. EISA includes national and international partners that will work together using novel methods and instruments to address main questions: 1) what are the changes caused by the snow crab on the seafloor communities, including other commercial species; 2) what are the dynamics of the snow crab population in the Barents Sea, and what is the origin of the invasion; 3) what are the predictions on the snow crab dispersal and impact, in particular considering changing environmental conditions under the current climate change scenario? At the end of the project, all results and knowledge will be synthesised in a socio-economic and governance framework that can inform environmental management decisions.We combined field sampling, molecular analysis, food-web modelling, and value-chain analysis to achieve a multi-disciplinary view of the past, present, and potential future role of the snow crab in the Barents Sea. Our 12-day cruise to the Barents Sea was highly successful, and we collected information on the epifaunal and infaunal community along a gradient of snow crab density. We also collected samples for molecular analysis of stomach contents and for population genetic studies.
Faunal community analysis covered protozoans (foraminifera), infauna, and epifauna, and results were assessed in reference to snow crab densities. We also used historical data from a broader geographical scale to gain insight into potential future impacts of the snow crab. Results suggest moderate impacts to the seafloor community related to snow crab impacts. Regional differences in functional roles of benthic fauna suggest species providing some of the most important functions are most dominant in the central and southern areas.
We conducted genetic analysis on snow crab samples from across the Arctic and preliminary results indicate that there is less variability in the Barents Sea population than in crabs from other areas. This suggests a limited number of introductions of the crab, and from a limited number of areas. When results are completed we will have a good idea of the most likely source(s) of Barents Sea snow crab and likely routes of their introduction.
Food-web analysis again indicated the importance of functional characteristics of fauna in how food webs respond to crab invasion, and that climate change may act together with crab invasion to alter seafloor communities in the future. Modelling results indicated little impact of the crab on benthic communities over the entire Barents Sea. At greater spatial resolution, however, reductions in most seafloor fauna groups were indicated in areas where crabs have invaded.
Global crab-market analysis indicated the different roles different countries play in the markets, from crab production to import. The economic links among different countries are also quite different, with a more complex value chain in the US than in Canada or Norway. These value chains are sensitive to perturbations (COVID, war) that may be difficult to predict, however. Combining economic and ecological models indicated a strong likelihood of enhanced crab production for Norway in the future, something important to consider when managing fisheries and planning industry activities."
Keywords
Economy;
Alien species;
Genetic;
Impacts;
Market;
Food web;
Crab;
Crustacean;
Shellfish;
Population dynamic;
Marine Region
42
Barents Sea (27.I)
1
Marine Region Map
