Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Aquaculture & Fisheries

Marine ecosystems are dynamic networks of interacting species, subject to a range of pressures, of which fishing has been the dominant pressure in the Maritime Region. Fishing has shaped the marine ecosystem of the Scotian Shelf, and climate change is forecast to do the same. Guenette et al (2014), using an ecosystem model, forecast that climate change was likely to lead to reductions of around 20% of ecosystem biomass on the western Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy. In a separate analysis, Stortini et al (2015), using a “Vulnerability to Projected Warming Assessment” found that marine species in the south west of the Scotian Shelf, were more vulnerable to climate change than species on the eastern Scotian Shelf. At the same time, several key fish species in the western Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy are also highly vulnerable due to their low biomass and reduced age structure, largely due to high fishing mortality. Guenette et al (2014) concluded that the projected declines in biomass due to climate drivers “could be alleviated in part by a 50% decrease in exploitation rate”. This project proposes to explore possible management options for key vulnerable species on the western Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy using an ecosystem approach. Species identified by Stortini et al (2015) will be placed in an ecosystem context and modelled using Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecospace (Guenette et al 2014, Araújo and Bundy 2012). The model will be driven by downscaled projections of climate change and different management options for key vulnerable species.

This is planned as 2 year project. Year 1 is funded, and funding for year 2 is to be confirmed.

Year 1: update the Ecopath with Ecosim model (Araújo and Bundy 2012) with the addition of explicit fishing fleets with economic and employment data to reflect management questions, the development of management scenarios and updated climate change drivers and scenarios.

Year 2: development of a spatial model, Ecospace, to model the spatial changes in fish distribution as a result of climate change and the consequences for fisheries and the exploration of management options.

Start Date: April/May 2017

Send applications, including CV and statement of expertise and interest, and then names and contact details of 3 referees to [email protected]. Applications will be processed when received.

Qualifications:

• PhD (marine ecology, fishery science, marine biology, or environmental science)
• Experience in ecosystem modeling, ideally with Ecopath with Ecosim
• Experience in writing computer language programs or scripts, e.g., R, SQL, C++, Matlab
• Knowledge of fisheries ecology, ideally of the NW Atlantic
• Knowledge of, and ideally experience with, social science data including economic data