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  • Carlotta Molfese & Jason Hall-Spencer 2015 Fishing Down The Food Chain

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    Coastal Futures
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    Reports from the front line of the current mass extinction: ocean acidification, fisheries and ecocide Carlotta Molfese & Jason Hall-Spencer Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Plymouth University E: carlotta0911@gmail.com jhall-spencer@plymouth.ac.uk Since the 1950s there has been a human population explosion with widespread coastal habitat damage exacerbated by our ever increasing use of hydrocarbon reserves. Within the past 100 years fishing using internal combustion engines has completely changed the ecology of coastal waters, it has damaged nursery areas and homogenised seabed habitats. We have also fished-down coastal food-webs, removing large long-lived fish (like cod and hake) to the benefit of invertebrates (like scallops and cuttlefish). Despite this marine ecocide, we can turn things around. Evidence of the widespread damage caused to cold-water coral reefs by trawls in 2002, forced governments to take action. Several High Seas and EU closures are now in force and satellite vessel tracking data indicate that they are working effectively, with good compliance by international fleets. A key solution to securing Good Environmental Status is obvious: reduce the footprint of the most destructive practices to allow recovery of coastal systems but attention has recently turned to the question of whether these efforts can really work, given that the temperature, chemistry and biology of the oceans is changing rapidly. Underwater CO2 vents show why we need to factor acidification and warming into marine management plans and provide realistic insights on which flora and fauna are able to thrive in high CO2 environments, forewarning those people that are reliant on aquaculture, fisheries and coastal tourism. This talk uses case studies on inshore fisheries, deep-water coral reefs and ocean acidification to show that we have our work cut out if we are to achieve ‘Good Environmental Status’ anytime soon. But, if we are sensible, we can limit on-going damage. https://theconversation.com/profiles/jason-hall-spencer-131492/articles Hall-Spencer JM, Tasker M, Soffker M, Christiansen S, Rogers S, Campbell M, Hoydal K (2009) The design of Marine Protected Areas on High Seas and territorial waters of Rockall. Marine Ecology Progress Series 397, 305-308 Jackson EL, Davies A, Howell KL Kershaw PJ Hall-Spencer JM (2014) Future-proofing Marine Protected Area networks for cold water coral reefs. ICES Journal of Marine Science. doi: 10.1093/icesjms/fsu099 Molfese C, Beare D, Hall-Spencer JM (2014) Overfishing and the replacement of demersal finfish by shellfish: an example from the English Channel. PLoS ONE 9(7), e101506.

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    Reports from the front line of the current mass extinction: ocean acidification, fisheries and ecocide Carlotta Molfese & Jason Hall-Spencer Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Plymouth University E: carlotta0911@gmail.com jhall-spencer@plymouth.ac.uk Since the 1950s there has been a human population explosion with widespread coastal habitat damage exacerbated by our ever increasing use of hydrocarbon reserves. Within the past 100 years fishing using internal combustion engines has completely changed the ecology of coastal waters, it has damaged nursery areas and homogenised seabed habitats. We have also fished-down coastal food-webs, removing large long-lived fish (like cod and hake) to the benefit of invertebrates (like scallops and cuttlefish). Despite this marine ecocide, we can turn things around. Evidence of the widespread damage caused to cold-water coral reefs by trawls in 2002, forced governments to take action. Several High Seas and EU closures are now in force and satellite vessel tracking data indicate that they are working effectively, with good compliance by international fleets. A key solution to securing Good Environmental Status is obvious: reduce the footprint of the most destructive practices to allow recovery of coastal systems but attention has recently turned to the question of whether these efforts can really work, given that the temperature, chemistry and biology of the oceans is changing rapidly. Underwater CO2 vents show why we need to factor acidification and warming into marine management plans and provide realistic insights on which flora and fauna are able to thrive in high CO2 environments, forewarning those people that are reliant on aquaculture, fisheries and coastal tourism. This talk uses case studies on inshore fisheries, deep-water coral reefs and ocean acidification to show that we have our work cut out if we are to achieve ‘Good Environmental Status’ anytime soon. But, if we are sensible, we can limit on-going damage. https://theconversation.com/profiles/jason-hall-spencer-131492/articles Hall-Spencer JM, Tasker M, Soffker M, Christiansen S, Rogers S, Campbell M, Hoydal K (2009) The design of Marine Protected Areas on High Seas and territorial waters of Rockall. Marine Ecology Progress Series 397, 305-308 Jackson EL, Davies A, Howell KL Kershaw PJ Hall-Spencer JM (2014) Future-proofing Marine Protected Area networks for cold water coral reefs. ICES Journal of Marine Science. doi: 10.1093/icesjms/fsu099 Molfese C, Beare D, Hall-Spencer JM (2014) Overfishing and the replacement of demersal finfish by shellfish: an example from the English Channel. PLoS ONE 9(7), e101506.

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    Carlotta Molfese & Jason Hall-Spencer 2015 Fishing Down The Food Chain

    Uploaded by

    Coastal Futures
    Reports from the front line of the current mass extinction: ocean acidification, fisheries and ecocide Carlotta Molfese & Jason Hall-Spencer Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Plymouth University E: carlotta0911@gmail.com jhall-spencer@plymouth.ac.uk Since the 1950s there has been a human population explosion with widespread coastal habitat damage exacerbated by our ever increasing use of hydrocarbon reserves. Within the past 100 years fishing using internal combustion engines has completely changed the ecology of coastal waters, it has damaged nursery areas and homogenised seabed habitats. We have also fished-down coastal food-webs, removing large long-lived fish (like cod and hake) to the benefit of invertebrates (like scallops and cuttlefish). Despite this marine ecocide, we can turn things around. Evidence of the widespread damage caused to cold-water coral reefs by trawls in 2002, forced governments to take action. Several High Seas and EU closures are now in force and satellite vessel tracking data indicate that they are working effectively, with good compliance by international fleets. A key solution to securing Good Environmental Status is obvious: reduce the footprint of the most destructive practices to allow recovery of coastal systems but attention has recently turned to the question of whether these efforts can really work, given that the temperature, chemistry and biology of the oceans is changing rapidly. Underwater CO2 vents show why we need to factor acidification and warming into marine management plans and provide realistic insights on which flora and fauna are able to thrive in high CO2 environments, forewarning those people that are reliant on aquaculture, fisheries and coastal tourism. This talk uses case studies on inshore fisheries, deep-water coral reefs and ocean acidification to show that we have our work cut out if we are to achieve ‘Good Environmental Status’ anytime soon. But, if we are sensible, we can limit on-going damage. https://theconversation.com/profiles/jason-hall-spencer-131492/articles Hall-Spencer JM, Tasker M, Soffker M, Christiansen S, Rogers S, Campbell M, Hoydal K (2009) The design of Marine Protected Areas on High Seas and territorial waters of Rockall. Marine Ecology Progress Series 397, 305-308 Jackson EL, Davies A, Howell KL Kershaw PJ Hall-Spencer JM (2014) Future-proofing Marine Protected Area networks for cold water coral reefs. ICES Journal of Marine Science. doi: 10.1093/icesjms/fsu099 Molfese C, Beare D, Hall-Spencer JM (2014) Overfishing and the replacement of demersal finfish by shellfish: an example from the English Channel. PLoS ONE 9(7), e101506.

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    of 22

    Overfishing and the

    replacement of demersal
    finfish by shellfish: an
    example from the English
    Channel
    Carlotta Molfese & Jason Hall-Spencer
    Plymouth University
    South West Marine Ecosystems 2015

    Scallop dredges and trawls


    alter the seabed; scallops are
    resilient but many long-lived
    organisms (e.g. maerl) are not

    Satellite data show the large area


    affected by modern heavy gear
    types in the English Channel
    a

    Footprint of a) UK scallop dredgers and b) beam trawlers >15 m


    length (Campbell et al. 2014 Marine Policy)

    Pauly et al. (1998): Fishing Down Marine Food Webs


    o mean Trophic Level of global fisheries landings declining
    o NW Atlantic
    cod shrimps, crabs, lobsters
    o Firth of Clyde
    finfish Nephrops and scallops

    Current study
    90-year English Channel landings
    dataset
    Is there a Fishing down trend in
    the English Channel?

    Have there been major changes in


    species landed?

    Catch composition

    Cod (Gadus morhua)

    Gadoids
    Landings now low

    Ling (Molva molva)

    We import them to
    meet demand
    Hake (Merluccius merluccius)

    Catch composition

    Edible crab (Cancer pagurus)

    Invertebrates
    D
    8000

    Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis)

    Lobster (Hommarus gammarus)

    7000

    Landings (t)

    6000
    5000

    4000
    3000

    2000
    1000

    0
    1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
    Time (yr)

    Scallop (Pecten maximus)

    Shellfish (e.g. scallops) now more


    prevalent in Channel landings.

    Landings and trophic level

    There were more big fish before


    widespread use of heavy towed
    gear

    We need to ensure that measures we


    put in place are not maladaptive

    Electric pulse fishing by the Dutch fleet

    Electric pulse lab. tests


    cause significant
    increases in viral
    infections in shrimp
    (Crangon crangon) and
    severe injuries in cod
    (Rinsjorp pers. comm)

    Its not too late to turn things around

    Technology that puts marine life at risk can be used to protect it

    Demersal gear closures


    that maximize habitat
    protection and minimize
    fisheries displacement

    We know we are causing the current planetary mass


    extinction what survives will depend on how sensible
    we are in protecting the resources we still have.

    Because there have been far fewer extinctions in the


    oceans, we still have the raw ingredients needed for
    recovery.
    Remove damaging practices to allow nature to rebound
    under an economic model that values environmental
    quality as well as continued ocean use.

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