Science To Impact Area
Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture
Fisheries and aquaculture are important contributors to global food security. Critical issues affecting fisheries are overseen by international strategies: in particular, SDG 14 Life Below Water provides targets on sustainable fishing, supporting small-scale fisheries and countering illegal fishing. PML seeks to achieve societal impact through contributions to these international efforts.
Our goal is to improve the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture systems. Our science is helping to achieve this goal in several ways.
Firstly, we are improving the ways in which fisheries and aquaculture systems are monitored, for example, by developing innovative systems for detecting illegal fishing activity. Secondly, we are developing methods to better forecast future environmental conditions and the ways in which fisheries and aquaculture systems will respond, providing information to support management and policy. For example, we have developed ways to more accurately forecast harmful algal blooms that affect aquaculture farms and provided operational tools that enable managers to respond before these events occur.
We will reduce adverse activities or environmental risks and improve the sustainability of key marine industries, both at a national and international level, by providing operational tools that improve management and inform policy changes.
We can increase the sustainability, adaptability and equitability of fishing and aquaculture activities as well as the health and wellbeing of coastal communities by changing behaviours associated with the management of local fish stocks and the buying habits of consumers.
Our activities are described in these pages on:
- Food security and monitoring and forecasting of harmful algal blooms
- Optimising aquaculture and detecting aquaculture structures;
- Socio-economics of fisheries and aquaculture;
For example:
- Informing krill fishery management;
- Revealing illegal fishing activity;
- Monitoring and forecasting harmful algal blooms;
- Reducing the frequency of outbreaks of pathogens affecting aquaculture farms;
- Informing the development of marine protected areas based on climate-aware modelling of fisheries and vulnerable species.
PML Project pages
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Addressing Challenges of Coastal Communities through Ocean Research for Developing Economies (ACCORD)
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AgZero+
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COMFORT. Our common future ocean in the Earth system - quantifying coupled cycles of carbon, oxygen, and nutrients for determining and achieving safe operating spaces with respect to tipping points
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FutureMARES: Climate Change and Future Marine Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity
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GCRF Blue Communities
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MSPACE: Marine Spatial Planning Addressing Climate Effects
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PRIMROSE: Predicting Risk and Impact of Harmful Events on the Aquaculture Sector
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S-3 EUROHAB - Sentinel products for detecting EUtROphication and Harmful Algal Bloom events
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SEAMLESS: Services based on Ecosystem data AssiMiLation: Essential Science and Solutions (SEAMLESS)
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ShellEye
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SOLSTICE-WIO: Sustainable Oceans, Livelihoods and food Security Through Increased Capacity in Ecosystem research in the Western Indian Ocean
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South West Partnership for Environment & Economic Prosperity (SWEEP)
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Tools for Assessment and Planning of Aquaculture Sustainability (TAPAS)
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Using nexus thinking to empower community-based management of mangrove fisheries
Other projects
- MSPACE
- NextOcean
- Safe and Sustainable Shellfish
- Scottish Karenia Watch
Resources and Links
- Investigating the benefit of local eco-labelling scheme for seafood - work on the impact of the Cornwall Good Seafood Guide.
Capabilities
- Earth observation: detection of illegal fishing vessels; early warning of harmful algal blooms; mapping of offshore aquaculture structures; Ocean modelling: physical, ecosystem, shellfish growth, end-to-end fisheries;
- In situ observations: developing Antarctic zooplankton databases.
People who work in this area of research
Dr Stefanie Broszeit
Senior marine ecosystem services scientist
stbr
@pml.ac.uk
Andrew Edwards-Jones
Social Scientist
aej
@pml.ac.uk
Dr Andrey Kurekin
Marine Earth Observation Scientist
anku
@pml.ac.uk
Dr Junfang Lin
Earth Observation Scientist
junl
@pml.ac.uk
Dr Océane Marcone
Social Science Researcher
ocm
@pml.ac.uk
Dr Victor Martinez-Vicente
Bio-optical oceanographer
vmv
@pml.ac.uk
Dr Peter Miller
Marine Earth Observation Scientist
pim
@pml.ac.uk
Dr Olivia Rendón
Senior Environmental Economist
ore
@pml.ac.uk