stillingsbetegnelse: PhD Scholarship in Fisheries Management

jobbeskrivelse:
A PhD Scholarship in Fisheries Management is available at the National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua) with expected starting date 01 August 2016. The scholarship is financed by two European projects, which both have a focus on the management of species of lesser importance in mixed-fisheries. The project will primarily be carried out in affiliation to the Section for Ecosystem-based Marine Management (EBMM) which is situated in Charlottenlund, Denmark, but collaboration will take place with the other institutes involved in these EU projects. DTU Aqua is an institute at the Technical University of Denmark. The purpose of DTU Aqua is to provide research, advice and education at the highest international level within the sustainable exploitation of living marine and freshwater resources, the biology of aquatic organisms and the development of ecosystems as well as their integration in ecosystem-based management. The institute has an international research staff comprising approx. 120 academic employees. Project description The scope of fisheries management is broadening from the narrow analysis of few main commercial species toward accounting for bycatches, i.e. the great range of species and sizes of lesser importance caught at the same time in unselective fisheries (mixed-fisheries). This unwanted part of catches is becoming politically important because it may trigger restrictive management decisions for the commercial fisheries, both as part of the ecosystem-based marine management (Marine Strategy Framework Directive MSFD, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/marine/eu-coast-and-marine-policy/marine-strategy-framework-directive/index_en.htm ), and because of the potential of these species to become limiting for some fleets in the frame of the landing obligation (=discard ban) of the Common Fisheries Policy CFP (http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/index_en.htm ), i.e. when a fishery can be closed because it has reached the authorized catch quantity (quota) of a low-value species even though it still has some quota left for more valuable commercial species. (so-called “choke species” effect) This issue is not new, but the current political framework leads to a growing focus on these less well-known populations where the actual biological knowledge and data available are unsufficient to conduct precise stock assessment and targeted management actions. By extension, the unwanted part of the catches includes also the undesirable size of commercial species. A lot of methods and management actions are already in development, but there is no unique way to tackle the problem, and the solutions must be tailored to the specificities of the various fisheries in a case-by-case approach. The aim of this PhD is to therefore to develop a systematic overview of which management actions are potentially most appropriate for selected bycatch in the demersal mixed-fisheries (primarily North Sea and Skagerrak), based on their individual specificities. The work will be framed to some extent by the developments and needs in the two European research projects in collaboration with international partners, as well by the scientific advice provided by ICES and STECF. This will include following workflow: 1. A diagnostic of the issues. A screening will be performed for a number of species, gathering knowledge on several aspects such as the state of the stocks, the data available, the characterization of their association with the commercial species across areas, seasons and gears at different scales, the reasons for discarding and the knowledge on existing mitigation measures. This will lead to a selection of specific case studies of interest. 2. Integration of selected case studies into mixed-fisheries modelling, to evaluate the impact on bycatch of the management measures directed towards the commercial catches in relation to achieving the objectives of the CFP and the MSFD. This work will include the use and extension of existing bio-economic

Arbejdsgiver Navn: Danmarks Tekniske Universitet

Arbejdsgiver telefonnummer: 45252525

Arbejdsgiver faxnummer: 45881799

Job kort beskrivelse:
Undervisning og forskning på universiteter og højere læreranstalter

land: Danmark

region: Hovedstaden

krævede uddannelse: Ikke angivet

Kilde til jobtilbud: AMS, Offentlige arbejdsformidlinger, Danmark