Descripción del proyecto
La gestión de los peces pequeños y su importancia en la conservación
El consumo de productos pesqueros en 2014 se situó en más de 20 kg por persona, el doble con respecto a los últimos cincuenta años. La demanda ha crecido a un ritmo tan rápido que la sostenibilidad de la actividad pesquera está en riesgo. Aunque la población de peces se renueve, eso no significa que sea ilimitada, y la sobrepesca puede agotarla. Es por eso que la pesca de peces para piensos —los peces pequeños de las zonas pelágicas que sirven de alimento para depredadores de mayor tamaño— supone un porcentaje grande y en aumento de la actividad pesquera global en el mar. El proyecto MANMAX, financiado con fondos europeos, investigará el impacto ecológico de este tipo de pesca. Recopilará datos sobre la actividad pesquera, las poblaciones de peces y las aves marinas de las principales categorías de edades, y combinará métodos de modificación innovadores y experimentales con los modelos estadísticos más avanzados.
Objetivo
Global fisheries catch ~100 million tonnes annually and this is set to increase. This harvest is driving extinctions and altering marine ecosystems. Fisheries targeting forage fish (small, schooling fish) have the capacity to alter prey availability for marine predators, but whether this is the case or not is hotly debated. Progress in understanding this issue has been hampered by a lack of experiments and studies across marine predator age--classes. Without these elements we cannot understand fully the ecological impacts of forage fisheries, so cannot sustainably manage these vital stocks. By collecting fisheries, fish, and seabird data across key age- classes, and combining and combining novel experimental manipulations (time-area fisheries closures and dispersal experiments) with state--of--the--art statistical modelling, this project will establish the true impact of forage fish extraction on predator populations. Crucially, fisheries effects will be expressed as biologically--meaningful impacts on the components of demography, allowing for intuitive comparisons of the relative merit of MPAs vs stock--based catch limits designed to conserve threatened marine predators. The results will be fed directly into policy in South Africa, will inform the sustainable management of the fisheries that catch one third of all global landings and have important implications for efforts to support healthy marine ecosystems, a central tenet of the Common Fisheries Policy. The current skill set of the experienced researcher, along with newly acquired skills gained under world-class supervisors at the host organisations, will make this timely research possible. The project will facilitate new collaborations, cement a long-term relationship between the host institutions and allow the experienced researcher to meet his career goal of undertaking research that contributes to EU and global policy on sustainable fisheries.
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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
EX4 4QJ Exeter
Reino Unido