Restoring fisheries, conserving aquatic life, rebuilding ecosystems:

Researching the Options

Our planet's fisheries have reached their ecological limits. As benefits from fisheries decrease, pressure grows to develop other sources of revenue, not necessarily compatible with ecosystem health.

Policy and planning for ecosystem-based management must then be informed by knowledge of the interplay of human, biotic and environmental factors that affect ecosystem structure and function. Key requirements are sufficient time-depth to capture biodiversity, abundance and trophic structure prior to depletion, identification of the full range of benefits that healthy ecosystems provide to present and future generations and integration of the fine-scale knowledge of the maritime community with large-scale national and international fisheries management.

The Fisheries Centre promotes multidisciplinary study of aquatic ecosystems and broad-based collaboration with maritime communities, government, NGOs and other partners. We believe that the social capital developed through collaboration and the intellectual capital that increased knowledge of ecosystem function and values represents can lead to the re-investment in natural capital necessary to conserve and restore aquatic systems.

The Fisheries Centre is characterized by an exceptional degree of cooperation among its research units, including:

Sea Around Us was established by Daniel Pauly to assess fisheries impacts at ecosystem, ocean basin and global level and find solutions to the challenges they pose. The results of this work are accessible on the web, offering ecosystem data, distribution maps and catch data for more than 1,000 species, historical trends and peer-reviewed publications.

The Fisheries Economics Research Unit studies the economics of capture and aquaculture fishery resources. Under the guidance of Rashid Sumaila, the unit explores how ecosystems can provide sustainable and equitable economic and social benefits to both present and future generations, while maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Policy and Ecosystem Restoration in Fisheries represents an integrative approach devoted to restoring aquatic ecosystems and ensuring that they are fished sustainably. Tony Pitcher and his team use historical and traditional knowledge, ecosystem simulations, participatory workshops that foster a sense of ownership, and ecological economics, biodiversity and employment measures to evaluate the tradeoffs of policy goals.

Project Seahorse advances marine conservation by undertaking biological and social research, then applying its findings to the management of populations, habitats, fisheries, and trades. Amanda Vincent and the rest of the team are active around the world, using seahorses as flagship species for broad issues.

Marine Mammal Research Unit led by Andrew Trites , conducts multidisciplinary research on marine mammals in the field, in captivity and in the laboratory. Members address pressing questions on the natural history, biology and conservation of marine mammals, and provide independent research and advice.

The Quantitative Modeling Group develops mathematical models to help fisheries biologists and resource managers adapt in the face of the extreme uncertainty that characterizes many marine ecosystems. Carl Walters, Steve Martell and colleagues focus on population dynamics and sustainable resource management. Villy Christensen, (also with Sea Around Us) focusses on ecosystem modelling.

The Aboriginal Fisheries Research Unit, led by David Close, explores how the First Nations of BC and others could bring their knowledge and skills to bear on fisheries conservation and management challenges. Enrolment of Aboriginal students in graduate studies in fisheries is a priority. Current work includes that of Sang-Seon Yun, who is examining chemical communication systems in fishes.

The NF-UBC Nereus program is a 9-year research partnership between The Nippon Foundation and The University of British Columbia. Led by Villy Christensen (Director) and Yoshitaka Ota (Co-Director), the program has three main objectives: 1) Simulating the future ocean - develop scientifically credible simulations of future fish populations and policy options for the world oceans, and 2) Capacity building – develop research capacity and international cooperation to provide scientifically informed and practical solutions for managing the oceans to the benefit of future generations and 3) Public awareness - raise public awareness of the state of the oceans.

The Marine Ecosystem under Global Change Research Unit studies the effects of global climate and ocean changes on marine ecosystems, biodiversity and fisheries. Led by William Cheung, the Unit assesses the biophysical and socio-economic vulnerabilities and impacts of marine climate change, and identifies mitigation and adaptation options

Learn more about the Research Units at the UBC Fisheries Centre.