Download Research Project Final Report

6. It is Defra’s intention to publish this form.
Please confirm your agreement to do so. ................................................................................... YES
NO
(a) When preparing SID 5s contractors should bear in mind that Defra intends that they be made public. They
should be written in a clear and concise manner and represent a full account of the research project
which someone not closely associated with the project can follow.
Defra recognises that in a small minority of cases there may be information, such as intellectual property
or commercially confidential data, used in or generated by the research project, which should not be
disclosed. In these cases, such information should be detailed in a separate annex (not to be published)
so that the SID 5 can be placed in the public domain. Where it is impossible to complete the Final Report
without including references to any sensitive or confidential data, the information should be included and
section (b) completed. NB: only in exceptional circumstances will Defra expect contractors to give a "No"
answer.
In all cases, reasons for withholding information must be fully in line with exemptions under the
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(b) If you have answered NO, please explain why the Final report should not be released into public domain
Executive Summary
7.
The executive summary must not exceed 2 sides in total of A4 and should be understandable to the
intelligent non-scientist. It should cover the main objectives, methods and findings of the research, together
with any other significant events and options for new work.
The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey, run by the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean
Science (SAHFOS), is the longest and geographically the most extensive marine biological survey in the
world.
During 2002-2007, the Defra contract MFO430 has contributed to the maintenance of the core monitoring
programme of the CPR survey and associated work that has a fisheries focus. The operational
management of the survey is quite complex, including logistics (the survey is globally operated by
commercial vessels), workshop maintenance, plankton analysis and archiving of data and samples,
possible application of the resulting data to fisheries research and the potential impact of climate change
on fisheries. The Survey relies on a team of scientists, technicians and other personnel that have many
decades of experience and knowledge, including a taxonomic skill base on phytoplankton, zooplankton
and fish larvae.
During the five years of Defra contract MFO430 the taxonomic expertise of SAHFOS has been maintained
with regular in-house analysis training. In 2003 and 2006 SAHFOS has also successfully hosted two
International Workshops on zooplankton taxonomy. Moreover, SAHFOS has published in early 2004 a
CPR Atlas (the first since 1973) showing maps with the distribution of 240 common plankton taxa in North
Atlantic (Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey Team, 2004). The Survey is at present contributing to a
taxonomic manual on zooplankton in waters around UK.
Analysis of plankton data collected by the CPR over more than 70 years have provided the first evidence
that the extensive changes in plankton production, biodiversity and species distribution, associated with
hydroclimatic changes, has had effects on fisheries production, particularly for cod, horse mackerel,
salmon and sandeels (Beaugrand & Reid, 2003; Beaugrand et al., 2003b; Frederiksen et al., 2006; Sims
et al., 2006).
Plankton provide food for larval fish at a crucial time in their life cycle, thus changes in plankton quantity
and quality can reduce the food value of the plankton, with a negative impact on fish recruitment.
The most relevant results of SAHFOS have shown that the biological manifestations of rising temperature
have variously taken the form of biogeographical, phenological, physiological and species abundance
changes (Beaugrand et al. 2002; Beaugrand et al. 2003b; Richardson & Schoeman 2004; Edwards &
Richardson, 2004). Although significant progress has been achieved in deriving correlations (e.g. the
change in plankton corresponding to the change in cod recruitment) our understanding is not yet at the
SID 5 (Rev. 3/06)
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