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ICES 2001 Annual Science
Conference |
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Living Resources |
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The Life History, Dynamics and Exploitation of Living
Marine Resources: Advances in Knowledge and Methodology |
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Conveners: R. Dufour K. Friedland O.A. Kjesbu P. Kamermans C. Lockyer P. Walker J.-C. Holst |
The aim of this Session is to
update our knowledge of the life history and dynamics of living marine
resources. Contributions across the range of exploitable fish, shellfish, and
marine mammal populations, in order to encourage a comparative approach are
welcome. Contributions may include information about potentially exploitable
species as well as existing commercially exploited species. The main topics
of this Session are: ·
the life history of the principal groups of living
marine resources, ·
the status and trends in their size or age
structure, growth, condition, maturity, and fecundity, ·
the interactions of these characteristics with
population density and environmental change, ·
how these characteristics determine population
trends, ·
changes or advances in the methods used to
investigate these aspects |
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The Response of Cephalopod
Populations and Fisheries to Changing Environment and Ecosystems (Session K) |
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Conveners: R. O’Dor U. Piatkowski |
As traditional fish stocks decrease due to overfishing
and/or environmental change, cephalopods have become very important
substitute harvest species, and their landings are increasing in the ICES
region and world-wide. These short life history stocks, which show
substantial environmentally determined fluctuation, are therefore subject to
increasing fishing mortality worldwide. This Session aims to: ·
document
the trends in cephalopod fisheries and abundance; ·
relate
these to the effects of environmental change, fishing mortality, and
ecological change; ·
assess
the implications for management. The Session will emphasise the analysis of fisheries
trends using standard and new analytical tools, e.g. structural time-series
models capable of handling missing values, non-stationary series, and
multivariate data, and able to identify common trends and species-environment
relationships. The Session will develop the
following themes, identified at the 1998 ICES Theme Session M on the ‘Impact
of Cephalopods in the Food Chain, and their Interaction with the Environment: ·
Documentation of temporal (interannual) trends in
cephalopod fisheries and abundance. ·
Explanation of these trends in terms of
environmental and ecological changes. ·
Application of standard and new analytical tools
for analysing cephalopod trends, including structural (state-space) and time
series models. |
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The Stock Structure of Atlantic
Cod: State of the Art |
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Conveners: D. Ruzzante T. Cross A. K. Danielsdóttir |
Although the North
Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is one
of the most important and intensively studied species, knowledge of the
genetic structure of stocks is still incomplete, especially in relation to
the distinction between stocks in offshore and coastal waters. Results from
recent studies with new techniques in the eastern and western Atlantic have
still not resolved the issues. For example, mtDNA markers show only minor
evidence for genetic separation, whereas nuclear DNA (single copy loci or
highly variable microsatellite markers) have tended to reveal more profound
structuring. The Session will attempt to summarise the state of the art in
stock separation of cod by soliciting papers on the results of different
methodologies (behaviour, physiology, morphometrics, meristics, protein
variation, and DNA-polymorphism). The Session will aim to draw conclusions
about the number of stocks, and their boundaries. |
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Developing
Salmon Conservation Limits – Recent Progress and Reviews |
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Convener: N O'Maoileidigh |
As salmon stocks from many geographic areas are in decline, improvements
are being sought in the methodologies currently being used to assess stocks
and provide adequate advice where stocks are low. Conservation limits and
other biological reference points are useful tools for managers, but need to
be better defined and described by scientists. The Session will provide
scientists with a forum to discuss new approaches or possible improvements to
existing methodologies. |
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Fisheries Management and Stock
Assessment |
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Case Studies in the Systems Analysis
of Fisheries Management |
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Conveners: J.G. Sutinen D.E. Lane B. Rothschild |
This Session is in recognition
of the ongoing interests in the broader, multidisciplinary issues of
fisheries management. The development of systems (i.e., the coherent
integration of data collection, data storage and management, stock
assessment, decision evaluation, and dissemination of management advice) to
evaluate economic, social, governance, and ecological aspects of fisheries
management systems is a strategic issue of the ICES Resource Management
Committee. This Session will provide a forum for the presentation of case
study aspects of fisheries management systems. The case studies will focus on
either existing “systems” or contemplated systems. It is intended that the
Session attracts the participation of scientists from various disciplines,
including social scientists in order to improve cross-disciplinary
discussion. |
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Application of Mark-Recapture Experiments to Stock Assessment |
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Conveners: N. Cadigan A. Rijnsdorp |
Mark-recapture methods
have become increasingly important in fisheries stock assessment and for the
provision of management advice. In conjunction with other techniques,
particularly genetics, they are revealing that in many fisheries, management
boundaries encompass a complex group of stock sub-components rather than a
single population. Preservation of sub-stock structure may soon become an
important aspect of fisheries management under the “precautionary approach”.
Carefully designed mark-recapture studies can quantify movement rates of
stock components within and between management units. Mark-recapture studies
can also provide detailed quantitative information on abundance and
exploitation rates at various spatial scales, which is often not possible
with traditional catch-at-age analyses. The Session will address current applications of
mark-recapture methods to fisheries assessment and management. Papers are
invited that deal with a broad range of applications of mark-recapture
methods, including those that deal with specific issues such as estimating
tagging mortality, tag loss, and tag reporting rates, natural mortality
rates, gear selectivity, and growth, as well as those directed at providing
quantitative information on movement rates, stock sub-structure, and
exploitation rates. Several ICES Member Countries have active tagging
research programmes and this broad Session will provide an opportunity for
researchers to exchange ideas and familiarise themselves with the recent
developments in this field. |
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Quality and Precision of Basic Data
Underlying Fish Stock Assessment and Implications for Fisheries Management
Advice |
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Conveners: M. Pastoors |
Several EU-funded projects (EMAS,
FIEFA, SAMFISH, MIQES, FINE) that deal with the evaluation of basic data such
as market sampling and survey data that underlie stock assessment are
currently underway or have been finished. Also, there is an increasing need
to address the issue of quality assurance of the biological advice. Linking
these two items would draw out the methodologies and issues relating to the
use of this type of information within the assessment process, and the impact
on advice. Several issues will be
addressed. Currently projects are underway aimed at estimating uncertainty in
the catch-at-age and weight-at-age data, and will be in a position to report
results in 2001. Evaluation of within survey variance, its applicability for
use as weighting factors in assessment models will have been carried out. The
opportunity to compare methods for different types of data would be valuable. The projects will also
highlight methods for storing, combining, and raising national data to
international stock-related data-sets. Formalising current ad-hoc procedures
and providing information on the range of procedures needed, which are
necessary to provide structured database systems for routine data required in
stock assessment. Implications of the above
issues for management advice will be addressed, notably the way in which
uncertainty in the basic data propagates through the assessment model into
the management advice. Contributions are
invited on: ·
analysis of
uncertainties in basic data underlying stock assessments; ·
analysis of methods
used for storing, combining and raising national data to international data; ·
analysis of the
implications of uncertainties in basic data for the stock assessment and
advice. |
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Catchability and Abundance Indicators
– the Influence of Environment and Fish Behaviour |
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Conveners: |
Abundance estimates
resulting either from experimental surveys or from commercial data analysis are
often summarised as CPUE (#/hr, #/set, ...) occasionally broken down by age.
These CPUE data are interpreted as being proportional to the density at the
fishing ground that leads to the average CPUE - with appropriate weighting to
account for unbalanced sampling scheme- being proportional to the total
abundance. Such indices are widely used in fish stock assessments, e.g.
nearly all demersal stocks in the ICES area for which an analytical
assessment exists include such abundance indices. In some cases the
relationship is not assumed to be a simple proportionality but instead a
power function is assumed Other methods of
abundance estimation that are not primarily based on fishing (e.g. acoustic
survey, ichthyoplankton survey or aerial survey) are based on a similar
assumption because fish availability to these techniques is assumed to be
constant. Occasionally, surveys
show changes in biomass estimate that do not reflect changes in abundance. It
is a recurring problem for the assessment scientists to evaluate whether a
change in an abundance index reflects a stock change or whether there is a
change in catchability or availability. There are examples when a wrong
interpretation led to inappropriate management actions with detrimental
effects on the stock. However, there is
evidence that catchability and availability vary with environment factors and
fish behaviour, which violates the simplistic relation between abundance
indices and stock abundance assumed in most stock assessments. This
unexpected variability may be white noise in the assessment process or it may
have longer frequencies and introduce bias in the assessment. In the case of
abundance indices derived from commercial CPUE an addition technical creeping
comes from the introduction of new and improved technology not noted in the
available statistics. If such effects are sufficiently well characterised,
the relation between index and stock abundance should be incorporated in the
assessment model. There are two distinct
topics that will be brought together: ·
Fish behaviour and
environment influence on surveys results ·
Variability in
catchability/availability and how it can be accounted for in assessment Contributions that
provide an overview of what is known on the influence of the environment and
fish behaviour on catchability/availability particularly in surveys, but not
necessarily restricted to surveys, are invited. In addition, contributions
that address the consequences of variability in catchability/availability on
assessment results and means of accounting for changes in
catchability/availability in assessments will be welcome. It is hoped that
the outcome of the Session will be an improved understanding of: ·
causes of variability
in catchability/availability, ·
how the variability
in catchability/availability influences the assessment process and ·
how better knowledge
on factors affecting catchability/availability can improve the assessment
process. |
Ecosystem and Environment Management |
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What Information Does Ecosystem
Management Need from Ecologists and Gear Technologists to |
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Conveners: K. Essink R.S.T. Ferro |
The study of ecosystem
effects of fishing requires the expertise of both ecologists and gear
technologists. There is a need to establish a framework to ensure that common
priorities are set, common objectives are agreed upon, and consistent
methodologies applied. The Mini-Symposium on
Ecosystem Effects of Fisheries at the 1996 ASC and the 1999 ICES/SCOR
Symposium on Ecosystem Effects of Fishing held in Montpellier, documented the
range of ways that fishing can affect marine ecosystems. As managers increase
their efforts to conserve marine ecosystems and reduce the undesired effects
of fishing, the ability to provide scientific advice to managers on options
is limited by both the complexity and uncertainty of the scientific results.
The intent of this Theme Session is to focus both ecologists and gear
technologists on the application of their knowledge and expertise to
management problems with regard to ecosystem effects of fishing. Improved
practice can result from better coordination of research between ecologists
and technologists, linking problems and possible solutions; from frameworks
to link management options more directly with ecological and technological
knowledge – and from identification of key knowledge gaps and sources of
uncertainty, which restrict the ability of managers to choose or to defend
convincingly management options which reduce undesired effects of fishing,
while maintaining sustainable use of marine resources. The Session will thus
contribute directly to the work of ICES Science and Advisory Committees in
planning scientific activities, to improving links between Working Groups
from different disciplines having a common problem, and to ICES overall
commitment to conservation of living marine resources. The main topics of
this Session are: ·
Adequacy of
information currently available. ·
Methods of data
acquisition. ·
Design of experiments
to produce relevant and useful conclusions for management. ·
Definition of
medium-term strategies to provide management information. ·
Priorities for
further work. |
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Eutrophication,
For Better or For Worse: Can it be controlled? |
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Conveners: L. Føyn E. Andrulewicz |
The host city for this meeting, Oslo, is situated at the
end of the Oslofjord, a fjord system which has been studied since the 1920s in
regard to nutrients and their impact on the ecosystems of the fjord. Thus, it
will be interesting to have the opportunity to present some of the lessons
learned from these studies. Furthermore, it will be of importance to have
presentations from other parts of the world (Baltic, New York Bight and so
on) where studies have been going on for a long time and where efforts have
been implemented in order to control eutrophication. It could also be appropriate to focus on eutrophication in
relation to marine pollution in general. The reason for this is that various
states in the load of nutrients to a certain water mass may alter the
behaviour of contaminants and the living conditions for organisms, and
thereby the effects of contaminants on the organisms of the particular water
mass. There are many nutrient measurements taking place on a
more or less routine basis by marine research institutes. Chemical
oceanographers dealing with this work should have an opportunity to present
work on how nutrient data can be used in describing, for example, the basis
for biological processes and water mass characteristics and corrections to
modelling work. The majority of the nutrient measurements are associated
with monitoring. This monitoring is aimed at, inter alia, documenting that the efforts put into reduction of
the nutrient loads from land are effective. The question is, however, if this
type of monitoring can give managers the information they need. Concentrations of nutrients in a water mass that in
some areas will be looked upon as harmful, will in other areas be regarded as
beneficial for the ecosystem and ultimately fish production. Upwelling areas
around the world are examples of such situations. There are now scientific
programmes with the aim of increasing production by artificially creating
upwelling situations, and papers addressing this are welcome. |
Use and Information Content of
Ecosystem Metrics and Reference Points |
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Conveners: J.C. Rice R.P.L. Lanters |
ICES has been active
in developing and testing single-species reference points for management of
fisheries. The purpose of these reference points and metrics of the status of
stocks is to allow scientists and managers to: ·
diagnose if the status
of a stock has changed, ·
decide if the change
is detrimental, and if so, ·
identify what types
of management actions would be necessary and sufficient to mitigate the
change, ·
clarify to
stakeholders why specific measures are taken. Through experience, ICES
has adopted B (biomass) and F (fishing mortality) as appropriate metrics for
the formulation of reference points and scientific advice on fisheries
management actions. As interest grows in
ecosystem-based management, the scientific community has been exploring the
use of metrics of ecosystem status and reference points as the basis for
scientific advice on ecosystem management. The usefulness of most such
ecosystem metrics and reference points has not been tested relative to the
four criteria above. This Session will include case histories of
practical application of ecosystem reference points or metrics of ecosystem
status, reporting on performance of the metric or reference point on any or
all of the four criteria above. Because few management agencies currently
base actions explicitly on ecosystem metrics and reference points,
experimental or theoretical studies can be included, as long as the
experimental or simulation results clearly evaluated the heuristic and
practical value of the metric or reference point. Illustrations of
second-guessing what a management decision would have been, had a particular
ecosystem metric or reference point been used could also be included, as long
as the retrospective review focuses on the diagnostic and prescriptive utility
of the metric or reference point. |
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Mini-Symposium on Ecosystem Change in
the Baltic |
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Conveners: S.
Hansson E.
Aro B.R.
MacKenzie, T.
Raid |
The combination of pollution, intensive fisheries, and
the recent prolonged period without any major inflow to the Baltic has had a
major impact on the Baltic ecosystem. Considerable recent research has led to
demonstrated linkages and hypotheses regarding the importance of these
changes, on species composition, distribution, and interactions. This
situation sets the context for scientific advice and management for the
Baltic Sea ecosystem. This Session will explore the mechanisms of
ecosystem change and the ability to predict responses to these changes in biotic
and abiotic conditions in the Baltic Sea. Contributions should address historically and
recently observed ecosystem effects attributed to changes in the hydrographic
regime, primary and secondary production, pollution and fisheries. Direct and
indirect effects of these factors, as well as effects of their interactions,
are covered. The ultimate goal should be an increased knowledge
that allow these factors to be incorporated into the ecosystem advice and
management process. |
Oceanography and Marine Ecology |
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Growth and Condition in Gadoid Stocks and
Implications for Sustainable Management |
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Conveners: L.
Buckley J.D.
Dutil T.
Marshall |
The ICES/GLOBEC Workshop
on the Dynamics of Growth in Cod in May 2000 reviewed recent findings on cod
growth and condition in contrasting environments. A building body of evidence
has demonstrated linkages among growth, physiological condition, reproductive
effort, and production in Gadoid stocks and suggests that not all Gadoid
stocks or all individuals within a stock exhibit similar growth responses
under similar environmental conditions. Within a stock, fishes of different
size, for instance, have different requirements, with larval and juvenile
fish growing better at higher temperatures than adult fish. Predictions on the
production of a stock and the consequences for sustainable management require
a better understanding of the genetic, ontogenic, and phenotypic aspects of
individual growth, as well as better growth models. Growth encompasses a host
of physiological mechanisms ranging from ingestion to assimilation and
synthesis of new tissue. Enhanced growth is generally accompanied with an
improvement in physiological condition. Indices of the physiological
condition have long been used as proxies to estimate growth rate in larval
fish. Recent applications of physiological indicators in juvenile and adult
fish offer new avenues of research to investigate growth dynamics,
reproductive effort, and production in wild fish. The aim of this Session is to explore these new
tools and to examine stock- and size-specific growth responses to various
factors, including climate variability, stock density, and size selective
fishing. The Session will consider both multivariate analyses at the stock
level and field and laboratory studies on growth and condition. |
Transport Processes in the North
Atlantic |
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Conveners: H. Loeng T. Rossby W. Turrell |
This year's Session on Transport Process in the
North Atlantic encourages all scientists
involved in national and international oceanographic projects to make scientific contributions to ICES, and hence
help to constantly rejuvenate
the science ICES presents. Each year a different focus will be placed on the Session, although all physical
oceanographic research from the North Atlantic and Nordic Seas will be
welcomed. This year the focus is on vertical and horizontal
transport processes
of importance for the ecosystem and the transport and fate of contaminants. Papers, addressing observations and
modelling issues are therefore invited on: ·
volume transport between different sea regions ·
heat transport to/from the Arctic Ocean ·
transport of plankton organisms ·
vertical mixing processes, including deep water
formation |
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Coastal Zone |
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Sustainable Development and
Conservation of Natural Resources of Coastal Zones |
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Conveners: |
The
coastal zone provides a rich and diverse matrix of natural wonders and
economic opportunities that both improve the quality of life and enrich local
economies. Businesses, tourists, and residents alike are drawn to the coast
for the many opportunities it offers. This often leads to conflicts between
conservation interests and economical exploitation or other human activities
or interests. The
diversity of habitats and human activities results in complex situations
where attempts to manage impacts and balance interests may fall short of
their objectives due to unforeseen interactions between sectors and agents. Existing
regulations of human activities in the coastal zone are diverse and include
Ramsar areas, EC-Bird Directive Areas, EC Directive on the conservation of
natural habitats and wild flora and fauna, EC-Protected Areas, coastal
trawl-protection areas, and other fishery restrictions. These regulations are
generally not coordinated. To
balance the preservation of natural resources of the coast with the social
and economic needs of this and succeeding generations, careful planning is
required alongside an increasing awareness of the past and present day
impact. This includes: ·
protection and restoration of natural resources in
the marine and terrestrial coastal zone. ·
Maintaining a diversity of uses and adequate
opportunities for all citizens to enjoy the coastal environment. ·
Creating conditions for a viable economy and an adequate
structure in the coast which does not compromise the natural integrity of the
coastal resources. ·
Promotion of a general awareness and understanding
of coastal issues towards a sense of stewardship for the coast. Integrated Coastal
Zone Management (ICZM) has been suggested and promoted as a means to solve
the complex management problems in the coastal zone. However, existing ICZM
models have fallen short of demonstrating efficiency in achieving goals.
There is a need to develop new management approaches beyond existing models. The main
topics of this Session are: ·
Impact of and interactions between human activities
in the coastal zone, including coastal structures, extraction of raw
materials, recreation, fisheries, aquaculture, and navigation. ·
Reconciling sustainable development and the
protection of coastal habitats : ·
Maintaining and developing viable coastal human
communities ◊
Management institutions and mechanisms for
reconciliation of development and habitat protection ◊
Developing new technologies and skills to mitigate
environmental impact of human activities in the coastal zone ◊
Handling complexity – what is beyond ICZM ? |
. The proportionality constant (called catchability
coefficient) between the CPUE and the abundance in the sea is assumed to be
constant over time, i.e. between years.