From single species surveys towards monitoring of the Barents Sea ecosystem

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThe Barents Sea, a large, high-latitude shelf sea, has been monitored and investigated for more than a century. More than 1800 occasional expeditions have been organized both by Norway and Russia, and since the1960s the collaboration between the Institute of Marine Research (IMR, Bergen) and the Knipovich Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (PINRO, Murmansk) has been strengthened by developing and carrying out joint surveys. Monitoring changes in the Barents Sea fish stocks and collecting information needed for stock assessments and advice for fisheries management were the driving forces behind the increased effort spent on marine research. This triggered the development of sampling and observation methodology, the design of scientific research vessels for using various equipment and gear, and the development of new technologies for processing several types of samples. Increased data collection generated a need for the development of complex database systems and software that, could analyze larger data sets. Joint large-scale monitoring over the last 50 years, together with joint management of living marine resources during the last 20 years, resulted in high stock biomasses of commercially important fish stocks and thus the successful development of fisheries in the Barents Sea. Here, we describe the development of Barents Sea monitoring from single species (or fishery) surveys that were focused on target species/groups to integrated ecosystem surveys that aim to describe the status and main changes in the Barents Sea ecosystem.

Caught in broad daylight: Topographic constraints of zooplankton depth distributions

“…The Barents Sea is a large marine ecosystem (1.6 × 10 6 km 2 ) on the Arctic continental shelf and hosts economically and ecologically important fish stocks (Gjøsæter ; Eriksen et al ). It is monitored extensively each year through a joint Norwegian/Russian monitoring program by the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) and Knipovich Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (Eriksen et al ). The annual ecosystem survey takes place in autumn and covers key physical and biological components of the ecosystem using different sampling equipment.…”

Key processes regulating the early life history of Barents Sea polar cod

“…Sampling protocol and survey description can be found in Toresen et al (1998), Michalsen et al (2013) and Eriksen et al (2018). In short, the amount of backscatter sampled by the echosounders along the survey track is partitioned among species based on acoustic properties and the species composition in trawl hauls taken along the track.…”

“…The annual surveys, in which polar cod was covered, have been conducted in autumn (mostly September) since 1972, but have undergone major changes over the years. In the early period, the survey was a capelin and polar cod survey, then a pelagic fish survey, then a multispecies survey, and finally, from 2004, an "ecosystem survey" known as the Barents Sea Ecosystem Survey (BESS) (Gjøsaeter 2011;Eriksen et al 2018).…”

“…Sampling protocol and survey description can be found in Toresen et al (1998), Michalsen et al (2013) and Eriksen et al (2018). For the most part, data over the total distribution area of polar cod were aggregated to form a stock size estimate for the total stock.…”

Peer Review #1 of "Holistic Environmental Approaches and Aichi Biodiversity Targets: accomplishments and perspectives for marine ecosystems (v0.1)"

“…Characterization of marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning can be achieved through theoretical, numerical, experimental or monitoring approaches (Costello et al, 2017;Eriksen et al, 2018 Manuscript to be reviewed investment in traditional taxonomic techniques and biodiversity sampling and provides new opportunities to assess challenging and remote locations (Brown et al, 2016;Lacoursière-Roussel et al, 2018). Moreover, scientific research vessels now deploy vast arrays of equipment and gears simultaneously to answer increasingly complex research questions about whole ecosystems rather than as individual components (e.g.…”