Understanding the ecosystem role of Pacific herring in coupled social-ecological systems: advancing forage fish science

迫切需要了解低营养级鱼类在社会生态系统中的关键作用。在不列颠哥伦比亚省，太平洋鲱鱼以海洋哺乳动物、海鸟和鱼类为食，并与浮游动物竞争：鲱鱼的变化波及整个食物网。此外，鲱鱼供应商业渔业和原住民渔业。工业渔业捕捞鲱鱼卵和鱼饵，而原住民海带产卵渔业允许成年鱼逃脱。由于这些强大的生态和人类联系，显著的下降和缺乏恢复对整个系统产生了巨大的影响。改善鲱鱼的生态科学需要基于生态系统的分析和综合该渔业对生态和人类的强烈影响。我们的目标是了解鲱鱼服务、渔业、衰落和复苏，直接与海达和海尔图克第一民族合作，作为支持伙伴，对他们来说，鲱鱼植根于传统文化。项目合作者包括研究这种生态和文化联系的生态学家、遗传学家、生态系统和DFO科学家、考古学家和社会科学家。我们由生态系统、渔业和分子科学家组成的跨学科团队将与这些合作者合作，实现一种独特的社会生态系统方法。首先，将评估鲱鱼丰度变化的替代假设，包括气候引起的生长变化、死亡和补充、疾病、海洋哺乳动物的捕食和过度捕捞。接下来，我们将对鲱鱼的生态系统服务和管理进行空间分析，整合生态系统建模和分子遗传学的最新进展，来自我们合作伙伴的数据，以及传统的生态知识。最后，我们将综合这些创新的基于生态系统的倡议，以推进饲料鱼类科学，并了解捕捞如何改变社会生态系统。结果将使我们的支持伙伴能够参与鲱鱼的共同管理，使用创新的基于生态系统的倡议来支持养殖、当地生态系统和渔业。

There is a pressing need to understand the pivotal role of low-trophic level fish in social-ecological systems. In British Columbia, Pacific herring feed marine mammals, seabirds and fish, and compete with zooplanktivores: herring changes ripple through the entire food web. Moreover, herring supply both commercial and First Nations fisheries. Industrial fisheries harvest herring roe and bait, while First Nations spawn-on-kelp fisheries allow adult fish to escape. Because of these strong ecological and human connections, significant declines and lack of recovery have had large system-wide impacts. Improved ecological science of herring requires ecosystem-based analysis and integration of this fishery's strong ecological and human impacts. We aim to understand herring services, fisheries, decline and recovery, working directly with Haida and Heiltsuk First Nations as Supporting Partners, for whom herring are embedded in traditional culture. Project collaborators include ecologists, geneticists, ecosystem and DFO scientists, archaeologists and social scientists researching this ecological and cultural nexus. Our interdisciplinary team of ecosystem, fishery and molecular scientists will work with these collaborators, enabling a unique social-ecological systems approach. First, alternative hypotheses of changes in herring abundance will be assessed, including climate-induced changes to growth, mortality and recruitment, disease, predation by marine mammals, and overfishing. Next, we will conduct a spatial analysis of herring's ecosystem services and management, integrating the latest advances in ecosystem modelling and molecular genetics, data from our partners, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Finally, we will synthesize these innovative ecosystem-based initiatives to advance forage fish science and understand how harvesting alters social-ecological systems. Outcomes will enable our Supporting Partners to engage in co-management for herring, using innovative ecosystem-based initiatives to support culture, local ecosystems and fisheries.