James Watson from the Stockholm Resilience Centre talks about "Flow, Fish and Fishing: Analyzing The Links Between Oceanography, Ecology and Human Behavior in Marine Systems" in the so-called Kaffeklubben at DTU Aqua. Kaffeklubben arranges seminars presenting recent research within aquatic sciences. Guests are welcome.
Abstract
The ocean are a key source of nutrition for people around the world and it is important to gauge how much food the oceans can provide us twenty, fifty, and hundred years from now. Any reasonable answer to this question must account for both the impacts of climate change and of human actions such as fishing. Here I will present three studies that look at the linkages between the physics, ecology and economics of marine systems.
First, a spatially explicit global size-based ecosystem model is used to quantify changes in the abundance and distribution of upper-trophic marine organisms as they respond to climate variability and fishing.
Second, an application of the Regional Oceanographic Modeling System (ROMS) to nearshore marine protected area design. Here, Lagrangian particle simulations are used to capture the complex web of spatial connections that define nearshore metapopulations, and I assess their resilience to perturbations using network theory.
Last, the social-foraging tactics that fishermen employ to maximize their harvest — whether they cooperate with one another or not — is investigated using idealized agent-based simulations and a comprehensive spatial fisheries dataset for the US west-coast. These three studies address key dimensions of complexity and adaptation in marine systems.
I end with a discussion of their relevance to our ability to design coastal communities that are resilient to the future changes we are likely to see in our oceans.
About Kaffeklubben
DTU Aqua’s so-called Kaffeklubben (The Coffee Club) arranges seminars presenting recent research on various topics across aquatic sciences, hence contribution to knowledge sharing in DTU Aqua.
The lectures are held by scientists from DTU Aqua or from other research institutes in Denmark or abroad. The audience consists mainly of employees at DTU Aqua, but others are welcome to participate. Registration is not necessary
The seminars are in English and last one hour. They take place at DTU Aqua in Charlottenlund, Copenhagen.