Critical interactions between species and their implications for a precautionary fisheries management in a variable environment (BECAUSE)
Background
Across Europe, the population of predatory fish has fallen dramatically in recent years. This has reduced the predation rate and the prey species has remained fairly stable. Therefore the balance between predators and prey species has been radically changed. We currently have no accurate scientific picture of the exact interactions between these species and their effects on non-commercial top predators. To maintain biodiversity and make recovery plans more effective, such an understanding is vital.
BECAUSE investigates the quantitative role of species interactions as a first step towards the implementation of the ecosystem approach into fisheries management.
Objectives
The sustainable management of European fisheries requires an adaptive approach that takes into account the long-term dynamics of the entire marine ecosystem so as to protect the biodiversity of our seas.
- BECAUSE investigates the interaction between predator and prey, and the shifts in their relative populations
- The project also looks into how fishing affects the balance of the marine food chain
- The interactions targeted for investigation include sandeel/predator fish, predators and prey of cod, and hake/prey fish
Policy development
- BECAUSE will help integrate a sustainable ecosystem approach into the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
- The project will help the EU meet its global fishing commitments and underwrite the sustainability of ecosystem services
- It will improve multi-species fisheries assessment and propose optimal policy and management measures to replenish fish stocks and ensure high yields
- It will result in an integrated and holistic approach to fisheries management and conservation
Cefas contribution
- Development a size-based multispecies model to support the development of an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management. This model will predict how the reproductive potential, population growth rate and abundance of large predators (with an emphasis on cod) are impacted by physical and biological processes, and the fishing of prey species (with an emphasis on sandeels)
- Compare the output of this model with those of conventional multi-species models
Partners
This project involves 17 partners from 14 different countries.
