Themes

Theme 1 - Fish stock delineation and management

Interaction of fisheries stock delimitation and fish population biology. Metapopulations and the unique challenges of ocean-dwelling species' population biology. Fisheries management – delimitation, assessment, and prediction: traditional demographic modelling methods (phenotypic assessment, mark-and-recapture, etc). -6- Proposal form EuroMarine call April 2016 Ecosystem-based approaches and current best practices: their effectiveness and the challenges. Fishery-induced changes to life history of exploited marine fishes, including reduced sizes and ages, local extinctions, reduction in age at maturity, and changes to mortality patterns. Current status of selected fisheries, future prospects in possible changing environments and under anthropogenic pressures.

Theme 2 - Population genomics and fisheries

Proposed topics: Fisheries genetics at the genomic scale - In what ways does the scale of data provided by genomic techniques advantage stock delimitation, assessment, and prediction? The importance and value of evaluating “qualitative genetic change” in contrast to quantitative demographic techniques. The application of genomic techniques to fisheries – what methods/markers are available? Which are most appropriate? Genome-wide population genomics; genome-wide association studies (GWAS); population transcriptomics; QTLs; locus-specific targeted gene analyses. The utility of neutral versus adaptive genetic markers for defining stock units. Seascape genomics. The role of genomic stock fingerprinting and its enforcement. Case studies.

Theme 3 - The future of fisheries management in the genomic era

Proposed topics: In this session we chart the future of genomics in fisheries science by exploring the challenges that both over-fishing and climatic-change represent to fish stocks and their potential impact on the genetic integrity, diversity, and evolutionary potential of exploited fish species. The crucial need for the development of genomic long-term monitoring tools. The importance of adaptive variation and local adaptation: critical for defining management units and setting priorities for conservation, and predicting response to changing climate and the extent and importance of natural versus anthropomorphic drivers of adaptation in fish stocks. What challenges/barriers exist to the effective use of genomic techniques to fisheries resource assessment? How can they be surmounted? How best are these new techniques to be applied and what scale is most appropriate? How are these data to be interpreted with respect to fisheries management and informing fisheries policies both at the national and European level? What are the immediate/current goals and how can they be achieved?  

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