Ecosystem approach to harvesting in the Arctic: walking the tightrope between exploitation and conservation in the Barents Sea

Michael R. Heath; Déborah Benkort; Andrew S. Brierley; Ute Daewel; Jack H. Laverick; Roland Proud; Douglas C. Speirs

doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01616-9

Ecosystem approach to harvesting in the Arctic: walking the tightrope between exploitation and conservation in the Barents Sea

Michael R. Heath
, Déborah Benkort
, Andrew S. Brierley
, Ute Daewel
, Jack H. Laverick
, Roland Proud
, Douglas C. Speirs

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Projecting the consequences of warming and sea-ice loss for Arctic marine food web and fisheries is challenging due to the intricate relationships between biology and ice. We used StrathE2EPolar, an end-to-end (microbes-to-megafauna) food web model incorporating ice-dependencies to simulate climate-fisheries interactions in the Barents Sea. The model was driven by output from the NEMO-MEDUSA earth system model, assuming RCP 8.5 atmospheric forcing. The Barents Sea was projected to be > 95% ice-free all year-round by the 2040s compared to > 50% in the 2010s, and approximately 2 °C warmer. Fisheries management reference points (F_MSYand B_MSY) for demersal fish (cod, haddock) were projected to increase by around 6%, indicating higher productivity. However, planktivorous fish (capelin, herring) reference points were projected to decrease by 15%, and upper trophic levels (birds, mammals) were strongly sensitive to planktivorous fish harvesting. The results indicate difficult trade-offs ahead, between harvesting and conservation of ecosystem structure and function.

Original language	English
Number of pages	15
Journal	Ambio
Volume	First Online
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01616-9
Publication status	Published - 3 Sept 2021

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action
SDG 14 Life Below Water

Keywords

Acoustic data
Chlorophyll
Climate change
Ecosystem model
Fishing
Food web

Access to Document

10.1007/s13280-021-01616-9Licence: CC BY

Heath_2021_Ambio_EcosystemApproachToHarvesting_CC
Copyright © The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
Final published version, 1.9 MBLicence: CC BY

Handle.net

Persistent link to portal record

Microbes to Megafauna Modelling: Microbes to Megafauna Modelling of Arctic Seas (MiMeMo)
Brierley, A. (PI)
1/07/18 → 30/06/21
Project: Standard

Cite this

@article{74bd5387b663473ba66ccd1e6bc119c3,

title = "Ecosystem approach to harvesting in the Arctic: walking the tightrope between exploitation and conservation in the Barents Sea",

abstract = "Projecting the consequences of warming and sea-ice loss for Arctic marine food web and fisheries is challenging due to the intricate relationships between biology and ice. We used StrathE2EPolar, an end-to-end (microbes-to-megafauna) food web model incorporating ice-dependencies to simulate climate-fisheries interactions in the Barents Sea. The model was driven by output from the NEMO-MEDUSA earth system model, assuming RCP 8.5 atmospheric forcing. The Barents Sea was projected to be > 95\% ice-free all year-round by the 2040s compared to > 50\% in the 2010s, and approximately 2 °C warmer. Fisheries management reference points (FMSY and BMSY) for demersal fish (cod, haddock) were projected to increase by around 6\%, indicating higher productivity. However, planktivorous fish (capelin, herring) reference points were projected to decrease by 15\%, and upper trophic levels (birds, mammals) were strongly sensitive to planktivorous fish harvesting. The results indicate difficult trade-offs ahead, between harvesting and conservation of ecosystem structure and function.",

keywords = "Acoustic data, Chlorophyll, Climate change, Ecosystem model, Fishing, Food web",

author = "Heath, \{Michael R.\} and D{\'e}borah Benkort and Brierley, \{Andrew S.\} and Ute Daewel and Laverick, \{Jack H.\} and Roland Proud and Speirs, \{Douglas C.\}",

note = "Funidng: This study was supported by the Changing Arctic Ocean project MiMeMo (NE/R012679/1) jointly funded by the UKRI Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF/03F0801A). Brierley was also supported by ArcticPRIZE (NE/P005721/1).",

year = "2021",

month = sep,

day = "3",

doi = "10.1007/s13280-021-01616-9",

language = "English",

volume = "First Online",

journal = "Ambio",

issn = "1654-7209",

publisher = "Springer Science and Business Media B.V.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ecosystem approach to harvesting in the Arctic

T2 - walking the tightrope between exploitation and conservation in the Barents Sea

AU - Heath, Michael R.

AU - Benkort, Déborah

AU - Brierley, Andrew S.

AU - Daewel, Ute

AU - Laverick, Jack H.

AU - Proud, Roland

AU - Speirs, Douglas C.

N1 - Funidng: This study was supported by the Changing Arctic Ocean project MiMeMo (NE/R012679/1) jointly funded by the UKRI Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF/03F0801A). Brierley was also supported by ArcticPRIZE (NE/P005721/1).

PY - 2021/9/3

Y1 - 2021/9/3

N2 - Projecting the consequences of warming and sea-ice loss for Arctic marine food web and fisheries is challenging due to the intricate relationships between biology and ice. We used StrathE2EPolar, an end-to-end (microbes-to-megafauna) food web model incorporating ice-dependencies to simulate climate-fisheries interactions in the Barents Sea. The model was driven by output from the NEMO-MEDUSA earth system model, assuming RCP 8.5 atmospheric forcing. The Barents Sea was projected to be > 95% ice-free all year-round by the 2040s compared to > 50% in the 2010s, and approximately 2 °C warmer. Fisheries management reference points (FMSY and BMSY) for demersal fish (cod, haddock) were projected to increase by around 6%, indicating higher productivity. However, planktivorous fish (capelin, herring) reference points were projected to decrease by 15%, and upper trophic levels (birds, mammals) were strongly sensitive to planktivorous fish harvesting. The results indicate difficult trade-offs ahead, between harvesting and conservation of ecosystem structure and function.

AB - Projecting the consequences of warming and sea-ice loss for Arctic marine food web and fisheries is challenging due to the intricate relationships between biology and ice. We used StrathE2EPolar, an end-to-end (microbes-to-megafauna) food web model incorporating ice-dependencies to simulate climate-fisheries interactions in the Barents Sea. The model was driven by output from the NEMO-MEDUSA earth system model, assuming RCP 8.5 atmospheric forcing. The Barents Sea was projected to be > 95% ice-free all year-round by the 2040s compared to > 50% in the 2010s, and approximately 2 °C warmer. Fisheries management reference points (FMSY and BMSY) for demersal fish (cod, haddock) were projected to increase by around 6%, indicating higher productivity. However, planktivorous fish (capelin, herring) reference points were projected to decrease by 15%, and upper trophic levels (birds, mammals) were strongly sensitive to planktivorous fish harvesting. The results indicate difficult trade-offs ahead, between harvesting and conservation of ecosystem structure and function.

KW - Acoustic data

KW - Chlorophyll

KW - Climate change

KW - Ecosystem model

KW - Fishing

KW - Food web

U2 - 10.1007/s13280-021-01616-9

DO - 10.1007/s13280-021-01616-9

M3 - Article

SN - 1654-7209

VL - First Online

JO - Ambio

JF - Ambio

ER -

Ecosystem approach to harvesting in the Arctic: walking the tightrope between exploitation and conservation in the Barents Sea

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Handle.net

Fingerprint

Projects

Microbes to Megafauna Modelling: Microbes to Megafauna Modelling of Arctic Seas (MiMeMo)

Cite this