Work Package 2: Spatiotemporal analysis of life history traits to facilitate an effective collection, management and use of biological data

Leaders

  • Reinhold HANEL - Thünen Institute
  • Rebecca WHITLOCK - SLU

Objectives

Life History Traits (LHT) are cornerstones of fish productivity and key parameters of Spatialised Stock Assessment Models (SSAM), and are sensitive to changes in environmental conditions. Among them, growth and stage transitions are critical for diadromous fish dynamics and are known to vary spatially and to be sensitive to global change or habitat modification. Good knowledge of the spatial and temporal variability of these LHT is therefore crucial to inform SSAM and support a regionalised ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM). To support progress towards holistic scientific advice of salmon and eel, this WP will address the following objectives.

  • Improve scientific knowledge about Atlantic salmon and European eel stocks, with a focus on growth and life-history stage transitions, by collating LHT data from different sources.
  • Optimise eel and salmon LHT data collection by identifying gaps in the current framework and making recommendations for improvements, to enhance the quality of data used in the scientific advisory process.
  • Increase understanding of eel and salmon life histories to better assess stock structures and interactions within ecosystems, by analysing spatiotemporal trends in key life-history traits (LHTs).
  • Improve our understanding of how salmon and eel respond to environmental changes, including climate change, for addressing future challenges in fisheries management, by linking spatiotemporal trends in key LHT to environmental variables.
  • Operationalise an EAFM for eel and salmon, evaluating covariates for spatiotemporal trends in LHT, supporting prediction of the potential effects of climate change.
  • Support the EU scientific community in maintaining expertise, by ensuring data availability and quality, and by improving the quality of the scientific advice for eel and salmon.