COST-IMPACT

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COST-IMPACT
Costing the impact of demersal fisheries on
marine ecosystem processes and biodiversity
Co-ordinator Dr Mel Austen m.austen_at_pml.ac.uk W
ebpage www.cost-impact.org Contract number
Q5S-2001-00993Start date 01 December 2001End
date 31 November 2004Duration 36 months
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Primary objectives to provide advice to decision
makers on
1. How demersal fishing impacts the biodiversity
of marine benthos and the associated goods and
services that they provide
2. How these impacts influence other marine
ecosystem processes
3. What the likely values of marine ecosystem
goods and services are and how these values are
affected by fishing
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• COST-IMPACT PARTNERS
• 1. Plymouth Marine Laboratory Dr Melanie Austen
  UK
• 2. Ecological Consultancy Services Ltd (EcoServe)
  Chris Emblow Ireland
• 3. The Norwegian Institute for Water Research
  (NIVA) Dr Morten Schaanning Norway
• 4. School of Ocean Sciences, University of
  Wales-Bangor, UK (UWB) Dr Mike Kaiser UK
• 5. Institute of Marine Biology of Crete (IMBC) Dr
  Chris Smith Greece
• 6. University of Oslo, Department of Biology,
  Section of Marine Chemistry and Marine Zoology
  (UO) Dr Frode Olsgard Norway
• 7. Fisheries Economics Division Agricultural
  Economics Research Institute (LEI) Dr Erik
  Buisman The Netherlands
• 8. University of East Anglia (UEA) The Centre
  for Social and Economic Research on the Global
  Environment (CSERGE) Dr Rob Tinch UK
• 9. PRIMER-E (PRIMER-E) Dr Bob Clarke UK

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EU Framework 5Cost-Impact Costing the impact of
demersal fishing on marine ecosystem processes
and biodiversity
Types and amounts of demersal fishing
Development of Decision Support System
Changes in value of system goods and services
Changes in benthic biodiversity
Changes in nutrient cycling
Changes in PP and ecosystem processes (ERSEM)
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COST-IMPACT will help managers to integrate
fishing policy with environment policy

• By providing tools to help determine whether a
  balance can be achieved between the economic
  value of a fishery and the impacts of fishing on
  marine ecosystems and the economic value of the
  goods and services they provide

• By enabling development of strategies to manage
  fisheries effort that will balance the
  environmental impact on marine benthic
  biodiversity and the services the benthos
  provides for marine ecosystem functioning against
  the socio-economic benefits of fishing

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COST-IMPACT - project structure
WP6 Project management
WP2 Data organisation
WP8 Annual workshop
WP4 Ecological modelling
WP3 Experiments on goods and services
WP5 Environmental economics
WP9 Final workshop
WP7 Dissemination
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WP 2 Data Organisation EcoServe, PML, UWB, IMBC,
UO, PRIMER-E

• Collate existing data on the effects of demersal
  fishing on benthic communities inhabiting marine
  soft sediments
• Produce database of spatially referenced faunal
  information, upon which models and analyses may
  be based

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WP3 Experiments on goods and services provided by
biodiversity PML, NIVA, IMBC, UO, PRIMER-E
Carry out seasonal (winter and summer) mesocosm
and field experiments to elucidate

• The relative contribution of large individual
  benthic organisms and the communities associated
  with them to nutrient cycling
• The influence of large individuals and
  groups/patches of large benthic organisms on
  associated benthic biodiversity
• The relationship between nutrient cycling
  capacity and biodiversity of benthic communities
  in areas subjected to different degrees of
  fishing
• How these functions vary seasonally

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Mesocosm experiment to determine effects of
biodiversity of bioturbating species on ecosystem
functioning nutrient exchange and maintenance of
associated biodiversity
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Norway - Oslofjord
ROV and Operators
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Control (untrawled)
Trawled
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Number of holes/m2
Study area
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Core samples were collected in trawled and
untrawled areas to determine nutrient flux over
3 weeks in mesocosm
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Aegean Sampling Sites
Iraklion Bay
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Side scan and Video Acquisition
Side camera
Side scan
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Side scan video
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Cost-Impact in the Aegean
Nutrient Flux
Bioturbation Effects
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WP 4 Ecological modelling of the effects of
fishing on marine ecosystems IMBC, PML, UWB, UO,
PRIMER-E
Model effects of fishing on marine benthic
communities and marine ecosystem processes

• Use field data collated in database (WP2) to
  determine the relationship between fishing effort
  and biodiversity of benthic communities
• Hence construct empirically based predictive
  models of changes in benthic biodiversity likely
  to occur with changes in fishing effort in
  different European regions

• Incorporate experimental data (WP3) into models
  to construct empirically based predictive models
  of changes in nutrient cycling likely to take
  place with changes in fishing effort in different
  European regions

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WP 4 Ecological modelling of the effects of
fishing on marine ecosystems
Model effects of fishing on marine benthic
communities and marine ecosystem processes
(continued)

• Input predictions from models of the effects of
  fishing on nutrient cycling and benthic
  biodiversity into the European Regional Seas
  Ecosystem Model ERSEM
• Hence construct predictions of changes in
  ecosystem processes (e.g. primary productivity)
  in response to changes in fishing effort for
  different European regions for which parameters
  are already set within ERSEM (e.g. southern North
  Sea, Aegean, Norwegian waters)

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Cost-Impact in the Aegean
ERSEM Model
Nutrient Flux
Bioturbation Effects
Ecological Modelling
Existing Data Biological
Existing Data Chemical
Environmental Economics
Existing Data Physical
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WP 5 Environmental Economics modelling UEA, PML,
IMBC, LEI
Model the costs/benefits of changes in fishing on
the value of ecosystem services and natural
capital

• Explore methods for economic valuation of fishery
  productivity and other ecosystem services
• Build on the outputs of workpackages 2, 3 and 4
  to
• model effects of different fishing regimes on
  fishery productivity and other ecosystem services
• calculate, where possible, the economic value of
  these effects
• conduct a constrained cost benefit analysis of
  different fishing regimes
• Develop a decision support tool for incorporating
  trade-offs between fishing effort and ecosystem
  services within management

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WP 7 Distribution and dissemination of
information to user groups EcoServe, IMBC, UO, UEA

• Distribute and disseminate information concerning
  the project to a wide range of interested parties
  and end users
• Co-ordination of the Reference User group
• All project participants and the Reference User
  group will attend two workshops additional to the
  Start up workshop.
• Project results and progress will be disseminated
  via the project web site, electronic newsletters
  and a listserver discussion group

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Reference User Group (RUG)

• comprises potential users of COST-IMPACTs final
  outputs from both commercial and government
  sectors, (fisheries and aquaculture management,
  nature conservation)
• advise on the relevance and user-friendliness of
  the research
• advise on dissemination procedures to ensure that
  results from COST-IMPACT reach potential end users

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WP6 Project Management
Coordinator Mel Austen PML (WP3, WP6) Steering
Committee Mike Kendall PML (WP1) Chris Emblow
ECOSERVE (WP2) Yannis Karakassis IMBC
(WP4) Kerry Turner/Rob Finch CSERGE (WP5) Chris
Smith IMBC (WP8) Mona McCrea ECOSERVE
(WP9) Michel Kaiser UWB Morten Schaanning
NIVA Frode Olsgard UOSLO Erik Buisman LEI-DLO Bob
Clarke PRIMER-E
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WP1 Start up workshop M. Kendall PML
WP2 Data organisation C. Emblow ECOSERVE (M.
Kaiser UWB)
WP4 Modelling Y. Karakassis IMBC (K. Clarke
PRIMER-E)
WP3 Experiments on goods M. Austen PML (M.
Schaanning NIVA)
WP5 Environmental economics K. Turner CSERGE (E.
Buisman LEI-DLO)
WP8 Annual workshop C. Smith IMBC
WP6 Project management M.Austen PML (M.Kendall
PML)
WP7 Dissemination C.Emblow ECOSERVE (R.Tinch
CSERGE)
WP9 Final workshop M. McCrea ECOSERVE