Acronym @ECO
Category
Fisheries
Title SocioECOnomics and ECOsystembased fisheries management 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 institution
IMR - Institute of Marine Research (Norway)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2012 End year 2015 Funding (€) € NA Website NA Summary This project will examine the implications for socio-economy and ecosystems under different management and climate scenarios using an end-to-end model (Atlantis). At the time being, management of the fish populations in the Barents Sea is mainly based on single species assessment. The Norwegian government has decided that the management should move in direction of an ecosystem-based approach. To close the gap between these two, there is a need for stepwise approach toward looking at the ecosystem as a whole, and there is at the moment a lack of tools that can build a bridge between them. Multispecies models is one tool that can be used for this purpose, and by Atlantis being an end-to-end model, which in short terms means that it covers all trophic levels of the ecosystem, it is well suited. In addition to a biophysical module, Atlantis also includes industry, assessment, management and socioeconomic submodels, and has been used successfully in ecosystem-based approaches to management (Fulton 07). One challenge by ecosystem-based management is the possible trade-offs between preserving the ecosystem and keeping an economically sustainable fishery, something made even more difficult by shared fish populations and possible climate effects. Increasing temperatures and decreasing sea ice cover might introduce indirect effects on the commercially important stocks through changes for instance in the marine mammal populations. This can cause large differences between the two different approaches to management, both with regards to the ecosystem and the socioeconomy. The collaboration between countries on shared resources is crucial to both economic gain and the future of the fish stock. Through @ECO we will identify useful information from Atlantis to scientists involved in management, and explore the main differences and challenges with the two different approaches to management.
Keywords
Fisheries management;
Economy;
Ecosystem approach;
Marine Region
42
Barents Sea (27.I)
1
Marine Region Map
