Publication Abstract

How fish surveys provide a 'backbone' of jellyfish research

T. Bastian, M.K.S. Lilley, D. Stokes, S. Beggs, C.P. Lynam*, G.C. Hays, J. Davenport and T.K. Doyle

Jellyfish populations are apparently increasing in response to environmental changes (e.g. climate change, eutrophication, overfishing). These increases may ultimately affect commercially important fish stocks. To address this issue it is critical to understand broad scale distribution and abundance of jellyfish. However, due to financial and logistical constraints, dedicated jellyfish surveys are rare and alternatives must be found. Here we demonstrate how collaboration with fisheries scientists has allowed us to scale up our jellyfish research from small-scale targeted surveys to effective basin-wide studies. Jellyfish by-catch data from the Irish Ground Fish Survey (Irish Marine Institute) have provided original insights into the distribution of the jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca over an area of 164,620 km² around Ireland and the UK, where the species has had major impacts on the aquaculture industry. In the northern Irish Sea, the 0-Group Gadoid Fish Survey organised by the fisheries services of Northern Ireland (Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute) has allowed us to assess basin-wide jellyfish distribution and abundance. Such by-catch data sets are extremely useful to investigate the existence of possible trends in inter-annual variations of jellyfish abundance, as has successfully been done in few other places in the world. We therefore call for further development of collaborations between academic marine biologists and scientists from fisheries services, in order to gather enough information to address the current concern about the role of jellyfish in marine ecosystems and their potential impacts on human activities in an effective, robust manner.

Reference:

T. Bastian, M.K.S. Lilley, D. Stokes, S. Beggs, C.P. Lynam*, G.C. Hays, J. Davenport and T.K. Doyle (2010) How fish surveys provide a 'backbone' of jellyfish research. ICES Annual Science Conference. 20-24 September 2010. Nantes, France. ICES CM 2010/R:06