Multi-species dynamics above and beneath the sea-surface
Informations
- Funding country
Norway- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 1/1/2015
- End date
- 12/31/2020
- Budget
- 697,070 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marine Resources and the Environment (MARINFORSK) - call 2016 | Grant | - | - | 701,961 EUR |
Abstract
It is essential to account for multi-species dynamics if we want to manage marine resources efficiently and sustainably. To this end, we need to acknowledge that multi-species interactions exist both above and beneath the sea-surface, and that they are linked through fishermen behavior. For example, cod and haddock are both substitutes in the market (above the sea-surface) and competitors beneath the sea surface. Fishermen's catch and landing decisions are the pivotal element of marine socio-ecological systems, as they essentially connect what happens above and below the sea surface. Regulation that ignore those systemic feedbacks will lead to suboptimal, or even undesired, outcomes. We propose a series of work-packages to analyze the interplay between the behavioral, market, and biological dimensions of the fisheries system and the regulations they are embedded in. First, we undertake a statistical analysis of landing tickets and related vessel-level data to describe fishermen behavior and we complement this by a game-theoretical analysis of the underlying incentives. Second, we focus on the multi-species dynamics beneath the sea-surface and investigate how using economic information would inform biological stock projections and the debate on "balanced harvesting." Third, we go beyond standard bio-economic tools to analyze the interplay between regulations and fishermen's incentives with help of evolutionary game-theory, and we uncover fundamental behavioral preferences using economic experiments. Fourth, we develop unified conceptual framework to span WP 1-3 and we forge the learned lessons into policy advice. A unique strength of this proposal is that it combines and integrates state-of-the art biological and economic modeling, statistical investigations and economic experiments. We are a dedicated team of theoretically and empirically minded ecologists and economists that are united by the aim to forward the sustainable management of renewable resources.