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Ecosystem approach to harvesting in the Arctic: Walking the tightrope between exploitation and conservation in the Barents Sea.
- Source :
- AMBIO - A Journal of the Human Environment; Feb2022, Vol. 51 Issue 2, p456-470, 15p
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
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<subscript>MSY</subscript> and B<subscript>MSY</subscript>) 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- SEA ice
FOOD chains
FISHERY management
ECOSYSTEMS
CARBON cycle
FISH populations
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00447447
- Volume :
- 51
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- AMBIO - A Journal of the Human Environment
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 154247685
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01616-9