Welcome Arrivals? The Ecology and Distribution of Range-Shifting Gilthead Seabream Sparus aurata in UK Inshore Waters

随着气候变化导致物种范围的变化和扩张，确定英国渔业和水产养殖的潜在新目标物种，并通过适当的监管确保这些新的和不断变化的资源的可持续开发是至关重要的。环境、渔业和水产养殖科学中心目前正在开展一个项目（“c -鲈鱼”），研究和模拟欧洲海鲈鱼的空间种群动态，以支持保护这一重要的商业和娱乐鱼类物种。该项目的一个明确目标是将目前为鲈鱼开发的方法应用于其他一些重要物种，包括金头鲷（Sparus aurata）。后者在商业上和娱乐上都是欧洲最受欢迎的暖温带海洋鱼类之一。几个世纪以来，它一直是地中海水产养殖的主题，目前是那里最多产的养殖鱼类。主要是一种温水鱼，其活动范围的北部界限是在英吉利海峡和凯尔特海。由于气候变化，海水表面温度的上升被认为是近几十年来鲷鱼的活动范围明显扩大的原因，现在在康沃尔的一些河口经常可以捕捉到这种鱼。随着气候的进一步警告，这个物种可能会沿着英国海岸进一步扩大其活动范围。这个学生项目是CEFAS和位于康沃尔的埃克塞特大学生态与保护中心的合作项目。总体目标是更好地了解当地的种群生态和鲷鱼的运动。使用各种技术（标记、耳骨生长环分析、饮食分析等），我们将确定：康沃尔的鱼在多大程度上是洄游鱼或本地出生和繁殖的鱼；种群的大小和年龄结构是什么（尤其重要的是，因为金头鲷在出生时是雄性，在第三或第四年时变性为雌性）；有多少鱼在河口之间移动；鱼在那里过冬（南欧还是康沃尔附近的深水区？）这个物种是如何融入当地的食物网的——它在不同的年龄吃哪些猎物？这些信息将被输入到模型中，以预测该物种的进一步范围扩张，基于气候预测，然后将被用来开发一个空间种群模型（基于C-Bass模型），该模型可用于通知这一宝贵物种的管理。CEFAS和埃克塞特大学之间的合作将为学生提供与渔业管理直接相关的基础种群生物学方面的优秀培训。ue Penryn校区位于康沃尔郡，地理位置优越，学术导师拥有成功领导实地研究所需的专业知识。因此，这次合作为CEFAS提供了一个极好的机会，将其利益相关者驱动的研究扩展到一个新的重要物种。作为回报，埃克塞特大学受益于CEFAS在渔业研究各个方面的高水平专业知识，这使得在Penryn校区门口开发具有真正影响潜力的新研究系统成为可能。

With species range shifts and expansions due to climate change it is essential to identify potential new target species for UK fisheries and aquaculture and to ensure the sustainable exploitation of these new and shifting resources through appropriate regulation. CEFAS - the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science - is currently conducting a project("C-Bass") to study and model spatial population dynamics of European sea bass to support the conservation of this commercially and recreationally important fish species. A stated aim of that project is to apply the methodology that is being developed for bass to a number of other important species, including gilthead bream (Sparus aurata). The latter is, commercially and recreationally, one of the most sought after warm-temperate marine fish species in Europe. It has been the subject of aquaculture in the Mediterranean Sea for many centuries and is currently the most prolifically farmed fish there. Predominantly a warm water fish, the northern limit of its range is in the English Channel and Celtic Sea. The rise of sea surface water temperatures, as a consequence of climate change, is thought to be responsible for an apparent range expansion of gilthead bream in recent decades, with the species now being commonly caught in a number of Cornish estuaries. With further climate warning this species is likely to expand its range further along the British coast.This studentship project is a collaboration between CEFAS and the University of Exeter's Centre for Ecology and Conservation in Cornwall. The overall aims are to gain a better understanding of the local population ecology and movements of gilthead bream. Using a variety of techniques (tagging, analysis of growth rings in earbones, diet analysis etc) we will determine: to what extend fish in Cornwall are migrants or locally born and bred; what the size- and age-structure is of the population (especially important because gilthead bream start life as male and undergo sex change to become female in their 3rd or 4th year); how much the fish move between estuaries; where the fish spend the winter months (Southern Europe or deep water off Cornwall?); and how this species is integrated in the local food web - whichprey does it eat at different ages? This information will be fed into models to predict this species' further range expansion, based on climate predictions, and will then be used to develop a spatial population model (based on the C-Bass model) that can be used to inform management of this valuable species. This collaboration between CEFAS and the University of Exeter will provide the student with excellent training in fundamental population biology that is directly relevant to fisheries management. The UoE Penryn campus in Cornwall is geographically ideally situated and the academic supervisors have the expertise required to succesfully lead the field based research. This collaboration provides CEFAS therefore with an excellent opportunity to expand their stakeholder-driven research to a new and important species. In return, the University of Exeter benefits from the high level of expertise in all aspects of fisheries research at CEFAS which allows for the development of a new study system with real impactpotential on the Penryn Campus doorstep.