How much fish have we got?

Shifting Baselines in fisheries management hinder a clear scientific view of the resource

The Shifting Baselines Toolset is presented to the public and press on Wednesday 14 to Friday 16 this November 2007.

When: Public symposium 1pm to 5:15pm, Wednesday 14th November
Where: Owen Glenn Building, Wynyard Street, University of Auckland city campus.

The meeting will be launched with a public symposium on Wednesday 14 November. Scientists will be available for interviews on the 14th and on other days by arrangement.

With evidence in hand we can see that a multiple of human impact factors interfere with fish stocks distribution patterns. The vivid case study examples from a research group called Shifting Baselines form a package or a toolset that illustrate the problems. With flash animations for a good comprehension of each problem their “Back flash files” are made available online: http://www.incofish.org/Workpackages/Wp2/Toolset.php

Examples of their research highlights are listed below:

• Peru: Spatial Distribution: Peruvian Hake since 1970 (IMARPE)
  
  

• Colombia: Abundance: ‘Then and Now’: decline in demersal fish biomass in the Colombian Caribbean Sea (UNAL)
  
  

• UK: Size of Individuals: Size Matters! The rapid decline of whiting in the North Sea, (UNIABDN)
  
  

• Denmark: Species Diversity: Highlighting 400 years of shifting species distribution, (RUC)
  
  

Data collected by the Shifting Baselines group has highlighted temporal change in the spatial distribution, abundance, diversity and individual size of selected species in particular ecosystems.

For a deeper look into the background data or further exploration, the datasets behind the case studies are made available to the public online: http://fishbase.sinica.edu.tw/tools/wp2_d22/main.php

The “Shifting Baselines” workpackage addresses the 'shifting baseline syndrome'. In essence, this problem has emerged as each generation of fisheries and environmental scientists has accepted existing stock size and species composition as the baseline against which temporal changes are measured.

However, if stocks are progressively depleted, a shift in the baseline occurs over time.