Department of Fisheries Oceanography/SMAST seminar - February 8, 2017 - Eric Heupel
When: Wednesday,
February 8, 2017
3:30 PM
-
4:30 PM
Where: Fairhaven Campus
Description: Providing a definition of vulnerability for policy and the use of bathymetric proxies to predict the distribution of vulnerable benthic species, communities and habitats
Eric Heupel
DFO/SMAST
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
SMAST II, Room 157
200 Mill Road, Fairhaven, MA
Note: Seminar will be simulcast to SMAST I, Room 204
You can view the seminar live by clicking here: 'live event'. or
https://echosystem.umassd.edu:8443/ess/portal/section/639b0a8e-baf5-49a4-93c3-8f1831f13692
Please note: the earliest you will be able to log in is 15 minutes before the regularly scheduled time.
To view a video of an SMAST seminar (post-October 1, 2014), go to http://www.umassd.edu/smast/newsandevents/seminarseries/ and click on a highlighted title.
ABSTRACT: While eco-labeling and certification of seafood for ecological sustainability has increased in recent years, most of the effort has been focused on the population status of target and principle bycatch species, with little attention given to other vulnerable species, communities, habitats and ecosystems potentially impacted by the fishery. Unfortunately knowledge of vulnerable marine fauna and habitat distribution patterns is inadequate and even leading certification agencies only broadly address impacts to them, with little guidance for data gathering and evaluation, and no explicitly precautionary method of assessing their vulnerability, especially in data poor regions. These shortcomings lead to significant differences in how the impacts of fisheries are evaluated from one assessment to another, potentially resulting in a certified fishery when existing information suggests there are significant impacts to habitats or species other than the targeted species. In several recent studies we developed an explicit approach for data mining and evaluation in the eco-labeling certification process; proposed a precautionary method for assessing vulnerability of VSCHEs based on exposure, resiliency and sensitivity and evaluated the utility of two bathymetric indices as proxies for VSCHE distributions in data poor regions. We found that the vulnerability definition provided a useful method of identifying organisms and habitat susceptibility to impact from specific and general anthropogenic activities. Further, the bathymetric indices worked effectively as proxies for vulnerable species in general and when combined with basic information about the potential suite of species and habitats, a more detailed and nuanced distribution can be produced for use by managers, policymakers, researchers and stakeholders.
For more information, please contact cfox@umassd.edu
Eric Heupel
DFO/SMAST
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
SMAST II, Room 157
200 Mill Road, Fairhaven, MA
Note: Seminar will be simulcast to SMAST I, Room 204
You can view the seminar live by clicking here: 'live event'. or
https://echosystem.umassd.edu:8443/ess/portal/section/639b0a8e-baf5-49a4-93c3-8f1831f13692
Please note: the earliest you will be able to log in is 15 minutes before the regularly scheduled time.
To view a video of an SMAST seminar (post-October 1, 2014), go to http://www.umassd.edu/smast/newsandevents/seminarseries/ and click on a highlighted title.
ABSTRACT: While eco-labeling and certification of seafood for ecological sustainability has increased in recent years, most of the effort has been focused on the population status of target and principle bycatch species, with little attention given to other vulnerable species, communities, habitats and ecosystems potentially impacted by the fishery. Unfortunately knowledge of vulnerable marine fauna and habitat distribution patterns is inadequate and even leading certification agencies only broadly address impacts to them, with little guidance for data gathering and evaluation, and no explicitly precautionary method of assessing their vulnerability, especially in data poor regions. These shortcomings lead to significant differences in how the impacts of fisheries are evaluated from one assessment to another, potentially resulting in a certified fishery when existing information suggests there are significant impacts to habitats or species other than the targeted species. In several recent studies we developed an explicit approach for data mining and evaluation in the eco-labeling certification process; proposed a precautionary method for assessing vulnerability of VSCHEs based on exposure, resiliency and sensitivity and evaluated the utility of two bathymetric indices as proxies for VSCHE distributions in data poor regions. We found that the vulnerability definition provided a useful method of identifying organisms and habitat susceptibility to impact from specific and general anthropogenic activities. Further, the bathymetric indices worked effectively as proxies for vulnerable species in general and when combined with basic information about the potential suite of species and habitats, a more detailed and nuanced distribution can be produced for use by managers, policymakers, researchers and stakeholders.
For more information, please contact cfox@umassd.edu
Contact: > See Description for contact information
Topical Areas: School for Marine Sciences and Technology, SMAST Seminar Series