Dr Cristina Piñeiro-Corbeira1,2, Dr. Johanna Zimmerhackle2, Dr. Abbie Rogers2, Dr. Michael Burton2, Dr. Karen Filbee-Dexter2,3, Dr. Kjell Magnus Norderhaug3, Professor Thomas Wernberg2,3, GEAK Network4
1University Of A Coruña, A Coruña, Spain, 2School of Biological Sciences and UWA Oceans Institute, UWA, Crawley, Australia, 3Institute of Marine Research, His, Norway, 4GEAK Network: Thomas Wernberg, Karen Filbee-Dexter, Johanna Zimmerhackle, Abbie Rogers, Michael Burton, Mads Thomsen, Albertus J. Smit, Kjell Magnus Norderhaug, Cristina Piñeiro-Corbeira, Aaron Eger, Adam Gouraguine, Adriana Verges, Akshata Mehta, Alejandro Buschmann, Brooke Weigel, Camille Lavoie, Daniel Smale, Hege Gundersen, João Franco, Kasper Hancke, Kira Krumhansl, Laura Rogers-Bennett, Mark Rothman, Pippa Moore, San Starko, Scott Bennett, Thibaut de Bettignies, Nora Salland, Kyle Cavanaugh, ,
Kelp forest are highly productive marine ecosystems that dominate temperate reefs in most marine environments worldwide and provide numerous ecological, economic and cultural benefits to humans. Among these services is the key role kelp forests play in supporting coastal fisheries. Yet, the value of the contribution to commercial and subsistence fisheries remains uncertain and often does not consider how reliant these associated species are on the kelp forest itself. To contribute to this knowledge, we developed a dependency value to assess reliance of commercial species on kelp forests, based how each species used the kelp forest throughout its life cycle. We used these values and fisheries catch data for targeted ‘kelp associated species’ between 2005 and 2020 to investigate the value of fisheries supported by kelp forests at global scale. Data were collected through the GEAK network at ecoregion scale (n=65) with help of regional experts. We estimated the economic value of fisheries using a total economic valuation framework. We found a diversity of fisheries were supported by kelp forests, ranging from Gadus spp., herring, octopus, sea urchins and crabs in cold temperate regions to rockfish, abalone and lobsters in warm temperate regions hemisphere. This knowledge can provide a value proposition for kelp forest restoration and protection and can be used in ecosystem based management decisions surrounding coastal ecosystems and maintaining healthy fisheries.
Biography:
My research work is focused on the study of short- and long-term changes in intertidal and subtidal macroalgae communities and their relationship to increased natural and anthropogenic disturbances at both global and local scales. Part of my studies have a multidisciplinary approach, in order to know how the loss of habitat-forming species such as many seaweeds, affect coastal populations that live from the ecosystem services them provide. Currently, both approaches have as a priority to know the health status of kelp forests and their main threats in NW Spain, and their importance for artisanal fisheries in this region.
