Project description
The future of small pelagic fish
Small pelagic fish play a big role in marine ecosystems and global food security. However, their populations are increasingly threatened by climate variability and human pressures. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SPHERE project is examining how environmental variability, fishing pressure, and biological processes interact across the full life cycle. It will focus on commercially important species such as sardine, herring, and sprat. Its interdisciplinary and comparative approach will shed light on how reproduction, growth, and survival are shaped by both ecological and human-driven factors. Ultimately, SPHERE will analyse life-stage connectivity and food-web mismatches that influence recruitment and population resilience. The findings are expected to help improve ecosystem-based fisheries management.
Objective
Small pelagic fish (SPF) are ecologically and economically important, forming a crucial link in marine food webs by transferring energy from plankton to top predators, as well as humans worldwide. Their abundance and distribution are highly sensitive to environmental variability and fishing pressure, making them key indicators of ecosystem health and essential for sustainable fisheries and marine management. SPHERE aims to develop an integrated understanding of SPF population dynamics across their life cycles, focusing on the combined effects of internal processes and external drivers—environmental and anthropogenic. The central hypothesis is that these factors influence reproduction, growth and survival and should be incorporated into stock assessment and management. Using an interdisciplinary comparative approach across European seas, SPHERE will model the population dynamics of three commercially important species—(sardine, herring and sprat) to identify ecological responses and enhance scientific advice for stock assessments and management. More specifically, the project integrates high-resolution data and cutting-edge statistical tools to analyse life-stage connectivity and phenological mismatches in the food web—critical factors for recruitment and population resilience. The novelty of our proposal lies in the innovative use of fisheries data that are traditionally limited to stock assessment purposes. To carry out this research, the fellow builds on her background and the resources provided by host expertise on fishery science, ecology and ecosystem models. This combination of expertise is unique, and provides a milestone for the fellow’s career towards being an independent scientist of high international visibility. Ultimately, SPHERE presents an intersectoral component because it will strengthen European leadership in climate-informed marine science advice and support the necessary transition towards ecosystem-based fisheries management.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries fisheries
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences oceanography
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2800 Kongens Lyngby
Denmark
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.