The Influence of Climate Change on North Atlantic Fish Stocks

Scientific Programme

Studies that examine broad patterns across species and populations are especially encouraged. While emphasis is sought on climate forcing, its relative importance compared to density-dependent effects, fishing and other predator-prey interactions should be considered where possible.

Scientists are invited to submit titles and abstracts (maximum 250 words) of a paper or poster for presentation at the Symposium. All abstracts will be reviewed for merit and relevance to the cited themes.

Topic 1. The impact of climate on distribution and migration of fish populations

• Ecological and evolutionary explanations for migration and distribution patterns adopted by different populations
• Causes of interannual to decadal variability in geographic range of species and populations
• Interannual variability and long term changes in timing and extent of seasonal feeding and spawning migrations
• Biological evidence for regime shifts in the North Atlantic
• Effects of wind and residual currents on transport of eggs and early life stages
• Consequences of potential global climate change on migration, distribution and transport patterns

Topic 2. The effect of climate variability on growth, maturity, recruitment and mortality

• Relative role of different causes of interannual variability and long term changes in growth rate: temperature, prey availability, maturation , size-selective fishing, and genetic variation
• Climatic influences on recruitment
• Effects of climate on maturation, fecundity, and spawning
• Bioenergetic and life history modelling to investigate possible role of climate effects.
• Direct and indirect effects of climate on fish mortality

Topic 3. The role of zooplankton in climate-fish relations

• Process studies of the role which zooplankton play in fish growth, distribution and survival and how these may be affected by climate
• Empirical studies relating zooplankton dynamics and fish population variability at all time and space scales
• Modelling trophic dynamics of phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish under climate variability and change

Topic 4 - Taking account of climate in the evaluation of the state of fish stocks

• Consequences of climate-induced changes in distribution and population parameters for fish stock assessment
• Effects of physical variables on fish behaviour and catchability and hence on estimates of fish populations
• Assessing the relative contributions of fishing and environment to observed changes in fish stocks

Topic 5 - Managing fish stocks under future climate scenarios and in the face of climatic uncertainty

• Consequences of climate induced changes in fish distribution for fisheries management
• Stock-recruit relationships which incorporate environmental variables and the consequences of applying them
• Setting medium and long-term management objectives under future climate scenarios
• Strategies for dealing with uncertainty arising from future climate scenarios