Impacts & Adaptations of Fisheries to Shifting Stocks
Jané Isabel Salazar Mcloughlin
Future Oceans Lab, University of Vigo, Spain
Supervisor: Dr. Elena Ojea
Co-supervisor: Dr. Alex Tidd
April 14 - June 14 2020
Climate Change & Fisheries
When it gets too hot, fish get stressed out and look for cooler waters
Climate change is impacting coastal fisheries and trans-boundary fish stocks, increasingly altering ecosystems and human dependent communities. One of the greatest impacts of climate change to fisheries is the shift of marine species distribution[1]. Many species are changing their ranges of distribution - going deeper or moving poleward to cooler water - as an adaptation response to the increasing warming of the oceans. These shifts are altering marine ecosystems and fisheries around the globe and are expected to increase in the future[2,3,4].
(click image to view article)Future Oceans Lab
The Future Oceans Lab (FOL) is a part of the Marine Research Center (CIM) of the University of Vigo, in Galicia Spain.
FOL has put together a novel database on the existing evidence of shifting stocks for marine commercial species that are observed to have shifted in latitude and/or depth, where that shift is attributed to climate change.
With this work, FOL is exploring the socioeconomic implications of such ecological impacts to fisheries and the communities that depend on them.
Jané In Action
One of the limitations of the database was that it only recorded positive responses.
Therefore, the main objective of the Professional Practice was to enrich the existing database with the non-climate significant responses (species that have been tested, but their shift is not attributed to climate change) from the original studies, and to update the database with literature to 2020.
Evidence on these shifts needs to be analyzed in order to understand the magnitude of shifts, the location of scientific knowledge, and the impact to fisheries.
To do this, I worked with FOL's PhD students that developed the database, and my supervisors Drs Elena Ojea & Alex Tidd.
This allowed me to contribute to the CLOCK Project and interact directly with the FOL team.
"I interacted directly with the FOL team on a daily basis and during the weekly internal seminars. In these meetings we discussed and exchanged ideas, and updated each other on ongoing research and projects. This type of discourse is important in any research group, and it allowed me to actively experience science!"
Methods
Literature Review
The scientific literature in the FOL repository from 2017 to 2020 were reviewed to update the database.
For an observation to be included in the database it had to meet three criteria[1,5]:
evidence of a distributional change in a commercial marine species defined as such by Fishbase[6]
the shift is explicitly attributed to climate change, in the case of primary studies; or the shift is included in the Marine Climate Change Impacts Database (MCID)[1,7]
the original study has an accessible quantitative estimate of the shift (direct estimation in the publication, indirectly possible to infer using the data provided, available in the supplementary materials, or supplied upon request to the authors).
Data Mining
Existing databases were also reviewed to incorporate observations from previous meta-analyses that explore marine life responses to climate change (click on the images to view the databases).
Marine Climate Change Impacts Database (MCID)[1,7,8]
Rutgers Ocean Adapt Database[2]
Fishbase.org[6]
My PP involved two main aspects related to the application of theoretical and practical knowledge that I had previously acquired: data mining and data analysis.
While I had previous experience using statistical software and conducting literature review, for my PP I received a lot more practice using R & R Studio and in conducting data mining, helping me to build my knowledge of, and competence in, the field.
"The methods I used in the practice are the building blocks of research. We must first have an understanding of existing research and debates relevant to the area of study. We do this by gathering data, information and facts, by asking questions and sharing ideas with colleagues."
Results
Success! The FOL database was updated with the literature from the FOL repository [2017 to 2020] given that it had only been updated to 2016. The non-significant responses from MCID and the observations from the Ocean Adapt Database were inputted that had not been previously included in the FOL database.
The database now consists of 639 observations from 1998 to 2019 from 23 peer-reviewed publications and observations from the MCID and Ocean Adapt databases.
Here we can see the number of observations per FAO area, which are areas in the world that the Food and Agriculture Organization has divided into Major Fishing Areas.
Majority of the observations are recorded in the global north.
Here we can see the number of observations per taxon, which are divided based on the class of species.
Bony fish are the most harvested class of marine commercial species.
Here we can see the number of observations by change in distribution (depth and latitude).
These shifts needs to be analyzed in order to understand the magnitude of shifts.
This PP has further reinforced my desire to work in fisheries from a societal and ecological aspect. Most of my experience as a biologist has focused on the ecology and biology of ecosystems and this PP has opened my understanding of how fishing communities function and interact with these resources, and how societal responses either mitigate or further negatively impact the effects of climate change.
"I have always been keen to build on the research and management of fisheries in my home country, Belize. Our low population density and relatively advanced conservation efforts provide a rare opportunity to develop a truly sustainable fishing industry. Therefore, the skills and knowledge I develop here will guide how I contribute towards that."
(Click images to the left and right for articles on fisheries in Belize)
My professional practice was a combination of independent and teamwork, both of which are important skills. I learned from and was engaged with a multidisciplinary team of researchers and was exposed to the scientific approaches that FOL uses to conduct research, and how the institute is organized to carry them out. Through this PP, I was also able to develop other soft skills related to working remotely.
This PP was a good opportunity become familiarized on the impacts and adaptations of fisheries to shifting stocks, a topic that is of increasing concern globally. Through this PP I met many people from different countries and research interests, including fisheries, conservation and management, socio-ecological systems, vulnerability assessments, with whom I was able to build professional and personal relationships with and building my network.
Conclusion
I learned about my own individual skills and where I need to improve, whilst benefiting from exposure to different practices in an environment outside of my own culture and country. This PP felt like a success given that I was able to overcome obstacles and demonstrate my capacity to FOL to the extent that I was invited to continue working with the team and will be conducting my thesis with the Future Oceans Lab.
Acknowledgements
A great big thanks to Elena, Alex, Alba, Diego and Iratxe for always being there to answer my questions and help me with carrying out my tasks. Thank you to the entire FOL team for welcoming me to the team so wholeheartedly! I have enjoyed the conversations, personal and professional, and I'm really looking forward to working with you over the next year!
