Descrizione del progetto
Gestire i pesci piccoli per un grande impatto nella conservazione
Il consumo globale di pesce è più che raddoppiato negli ultimi 50 anni fino ad oltre 20 kg pro capite all’anno nel 2014. Di fatto, la domanda è aumentata così in fretta da mettere a repentaglio la sostenibilità della pesca. Nonostante possano essere rinnovabili, le risorse ittiche sono finite e la pesca eccessiva può esaurirle. Ecco perché la pesca dei pesci di foraggio (i piccoli pesci pelagici cacciati dai predatori più grandi per nutrirsi) costituisce una fetta grossa e in crescita del pescato marino selvatico globale. Il progetto MANMAX, finanziato dall’UE, esaminerà l’impatto ecologico della pesca di foraggio. Esso raccoglierà dati relativi a pesca, pesci e uccelli marini in base a classi di età chiavi e combinerà nuove manipolazioni sperimentali con una modellizzazione statistica all’avanguardia.
Obiettivo
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.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
EX4 4QJ Exeter
Regno Unito