2013 - University College Cork

RESEARCH PROJECTS
66
Biodiversity and Resource Management
BEAUFORT - ECOSYSTEMS APPROACH TO
FISHERIES MANAGEMENT
Research Centre/Department/School: CMRC and AFDC
Start Year: 2008 – End Year: 2015
Funding Body: Marine Institute
Researchers: Dr Michelle Cronin,
Mike Fitzpatrick, Dr Mark Jessopp,
Martha Gosch, Cian Luck, Dr Susie Brown,
Dr Emer Rogan, Gemma Hernandez-Milian
Contact PI: Prof Gavin Burnell (g.burnell@ucc.ie)
Jeremy Gault (j.gault@ucc.ie)
Website: http://www.beaufort-eafm.eu/
Funded under the Irish Beaufort Marine Research Awards, the EAFM is a 7 year €3.9m project involving
a consortium comprising research groups from University College Cork, Queens University
Belfast, and the Marine Institute. The EAFM is a move away from traditional single stock fisheries
management and includes links between fish species and wider fisheries-ecosystem interactions
e.g. if sand-eel stocks are depleted what impacts does this have on both commercial species like
cod and other animals such as dolphins and seabirds. Critically the EAFM also recognises that a
management system which ignores social aspects of fisheries is bound to fail and in UCC the project
is jointly delivered by the CMRC and BEES (AFDC).
CMRC: The Centre is involved in two core elements of the EAFM project, marine governance and
interactions between top predators and Irish fisheries. The research builds on previous and ongoing
research at CMRC, addressing fundamental aspects of the ecology of pinnipeds and seabirds,
such as estimating population sizes, habitat use and foraging ecology of key marine mammal and
seabird species in Irish waters.. This is complemented by governance research which is focussed
on key issues surrounding the legal and policy frameworks, effective stakeholder mapping and
engagement and capacity building for collaborative management approaches.
BEES (AFDC): The school is conducting Ecological Risk Assessments for the Effects of Fishing
(ERAEF) under the EAFM project. These assessments identify the activities within fisheries with the
potential to impact aspects of the ecosystem, including target and non-target species, habitats and
communities. In addition to examining the impact of fishing activities on the ecosystem as a whole,
the school is looking in detail at the interactions between fisheries and cetacean species. Dietary
information is being collected from stranded and bycatch animals and is being used to identify dietary
preferences, estimate annual food consumption, assess their role top predators and the impacts of
overfishing/stock collapse on these species. The outputs from these elements of the EAFM project
can be used to contribute to management plans for fisheries and the species they impact.
KEY PUBLICATIONS & OUTPUTS
Cronin, M. A., Gerritsen, H & D. Reid. 2012. Evidence of low
spatial overlap between grey seals and a specific fishery off the
west coast of Ireland. Biological Conservation 150, 136-142.
Cronin, M. A. 2011. The conservation of seals in Irish waters:
how research informs management. Marine Policy 35, 748-755
Cronin, M. A. 2011. The status of the harbour seal (Phoca
vitulina vitulina) in the Republic of Ireland. NAMMCO Sci
Publ. 8: 129-142.
Fitzpatrick, M., Graham, N., Rihan, D. J., and Reid, D. G. 2011.
The burden of proof in co-management and results-based
management: the elephant on the deck! – ICES Journal of
Marine Science, 68: 1656–1662.