Post-doctoral opportunity at Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Canada (Visiting Fellowships in Canadian Government Laboratories Program) Assessing management options for vulnerable species in an ecosystem context Supervisor – Alida Bundy (alida.bundy@dfo-mpo.gc.ca; tel: 902 426 8353
Marine ecosystems are dynamic networks of interacting species, subject to a range of pressures, of which fishing has been the dominant pressure in the Maritime Region. Fishing has shaped the marine ecosystem of the Scotian Shelf, and climate change is forecast to do the same. Guenette et al (2014), using an ecosystem model, forecast that climate change was likely to lead to reductions of around 20% of ecosystem biomass on the western Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy. In a separate analysis, Stortini et al (2015), using a “Vulnerability to Projected Warming Assessment” found that marine species in the south west of the Scotian Shelf, were more vulnerable to climate change than species on the eastern Scotian Shelf. At the same time, several key fish species in the western Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy are also highly vulnerable due to their low biomass and reduced age structure, largely due to high fishing mortality. Guenette et al (2014) concluded that the projected declines in biomass due to climate drivers “could be alleviated in part by a 50% decrease in exploitation rate”. This project proposes to explore possible management options for key vulnerable species on the western Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy using an ecosystem approach. Species identified by Stortini et al (2015) will be placed in an ecosystem context and modelled using Ecopath with Ecosim and Ecospace (Guenette et al 2014, Araújo and Bundy 2012). The model will be driven by downscaled projections of climate change and different management options for key vulnerable species.
This is planned as 2 year project. Year 1 is funded, and funding for year 2 is to be confirmed.
Year 1: update the Ecopath with Ecosim model (Araújo and Bundy 2012) with the addition of explicit fishing fleets to reflect management questions, the development of management scenarios and updated climate change drivers and scenarios.
Year 2: development of a spatial model, Ecospace, to model the spatial changes in fish distribution as a result of climate change and the consequences for fisheries and the exploration of management options.
START DATE: 1 April 2017
Qualifications:
PhD (marine ecology, fishery science, marine biology, or environmental science) Experience in ecosystem modeling, ideally with Ecopath with Ecosim Experience in writing computer language programs or scripts, e.g., R, SQL, C++, Matlab Knowledge of fisheries ecology, ideally of the NW Atlantic.
Knowledge, ideally experience, with social and economic dimensions of fisheries
Send applications, including CV and statement of interest, including expertise and the names and contact details of 3 referees and to alida.bundy@dfo-mpo.gc.ca. Applications will be processed as received.
With best wishes,
Alida
Alida Bundy
Research Scientist, Ocean Ecosystem Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada Bedford Institute of Oceanography, PO Box 1006, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4A2, Canada.
Tel: + 902 426 8353, Fax:+902 426 1506
Email:alida.bundy@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alida_Bundy
http://www.imber.info/…/Sci…/Working-Groups/Human-Dimensions
http://www.indiseas.org/