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New Research
Veerle Huvenne (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK)
Researchers have documented habitat destruction of deep water corals by bottom trawling gear, which scrapes along the sea floor. The deep-water banks off Britain are well-known fishing grounds for deep sea trawling fleets, some of which were closed to fishing in 2003. This project will look at the recovery of those deep sea habitats in the North Atlantic Ocean to help determine the timelines necessary for deep sea habitat to recover from the effects of bottom trawling.
Peter Dillingham (Clark University, MA, USA)
Bycatch of marine species, such as seabirds, marine mammals and non-targeted fish, is an ongoing issue in global marine fisheries. This project will identify critical biological characteristics of sensitive bycatch species and develop a suite of decision tools which will help policy makers make informed choices about setting limits for species caught as bycatch.
Andrew Pershing (University of Maine, ME, USA)
Many fisheries disproportionately target large fish. The tendency to harvest the “big ones” has led to changes in the size structure of heavily fished populations. This project will use models to investigate the consequences of removing large fish on individual populations and the broader ecosystem, using North Atlantic cod and Atlantic bluefin tuna as examples.
Eric Gilman (Hawaii Pacific University, HI, USA)
Scientists have long presumed that the ocean waters near seamounts, underwater mountains rising from the seafloor, are more productive than surrounding waters due to oceanographic conditions, such as upwellings. Fishermen also hold this belief and are known to target seamounts in search of higher catches of large pelagic species. This project evaluates whether pelagic longline fishing at seamounts results in higher catch levels of target and protected species relative to fishing at non-seamount locations.
Eric Gilman (Hawaii Pacific University, HI, USA)
Many species, such as seabirds, sea turtles, marine mammals and sharks, are caught as bycatch in fishing nets. This project will analyze the current bycatch management practices held by the 18 Regional Fisheries Management Organizations that govern high seas fisheries, and identify deficits and inconsistencies, as well as priority areas in need of improvement.