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History of Marine Animal Populations aims to enhance knowledge and understanding of how and why the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine life in the oceans change over the long term Global Scope of Project HMAP has grown in the past 18 months to encompass the globe. We are about 100 historians, archaeologists, and marine scientists, working on 16 case studies 2007 Scientific Results • Bluefin Tuna Used to be Common in Northern European Waters click here to play movie Danish bluefin tuna fishery, 1949 © Danmarks Radio Archives Development of bluefin tuna fisheries in northern European waters 2007 Scientific Results Taxonomic Composition of Fish Bones Recovered From Stone Age (7000-3900 BC) 100 Percentage 80 % gadids % flatfish 60 40 20 6 - Bornholm 5 - NE Sjælland 4 - NW Funen 3 - E. Jutland 2 - Limfjord 1 - Vendsyssel 0 Enghoff, MacKenzie and Niesen, in press Fish. Res. •gadids (cod, haddock, pollock, whiting, saithe) were very common even though temperatures were 2-3 higher than now •We can have cod in future if exploitation is reduced 2007 Scientific Results Early Human Impact on Megamolluscs Steps Toward Project Synthesis Steps Toward Realm Synthesis History of Nearshore Program A joint HMAP-NaGISA initiative to identify specific local sites on which historical (pre 1980) records of biodiversity are available and to resample them under the auspices of the NaGISA project, thus including them in NaGISA`s global nearshore database and ongoing monitoring efforts while assessing specific regional trends in biodiversity www.nagisa.coml.org/history_of_the_near_shore.htm Synthesis Outputs Oceans Past, Earthscan (London) 2007 Fisheries Science 2007 Mega-Mollusks, British Archaeological Reports 2007 1) historical baselines in as many ecosystems as possible 2) relative exploitation level of as many ecosystems as possible 3) changes in size composition of species in as many ecosystems as possible through historical time 4) Fishing method and fishing effort development around the globe through historical time Visualization & Communication Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Big Fish Eat Little Fish Visualization & Communication • ”…probably all the great fisheries are inexhaustible; that is to say that nothing we do seriously affects the number of fish”. • Thomas Henry Huxley 1883 Jackson, Brave New Ocean, Diversitas conference, Oaxaca 2005 Science Impact Scientific impact • We now know that the distribution and abundance of marine animal populations experience dramatic changes over time • Changes are attributed to climatic and human forces • , and while few marine species have gone extinct, conservationists worry that entire marine ecosystems have been depleted beyond recovery • An understanding of historical patterns of resource exploitation is key to identifying what has actually been lost in the habitat • and is an essential part of developing and implementing recovery plans for depleted marine ecosystems and ecosystem attributes. • The HMAP approach offers a means to obtain a broader theoretical and analytical perspective on marine ecosystems • to inform present and future environmental management policies. Scientific impact • Marine environmental history is now recognized as a necessary complement to ecosystem analysis and as a major new contribution to the field of environmental history • V. Winiwarter et al., Env. & History 10, 501-530 (2004) • J. R. McNeill, Env. History 10 (2005) • J. W. Bolster, Env. History 11, 567-597 (2006) • M. Schrope, Nature 443, 622-624 (2006) Societal Societal Impact Impact of Results of Results to Date • Potential users of HMAP results will include the scientific community, conservation organisations, and national, international and inter-governmental fisheries and ecosystem management agencies. • US-NOAA, Canada DFO, the European Commission, the Helsinki Commission for the Protection of the Baltic Marine Environment (Helcom), the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the Mediterranean Science Commission (CIESM), the International Whaling Commission, and UN-FAO Societal Impact of Results to Date • How much is it worth to us? Project Data Available in OBIS Published in OBIS Number Date published (month, year) a) Datasets 8 to 09/07 b) Species with location data 73 c) Unique locations 10462 d) Total species by location records 73 To be published in OBIS Number Anticipate d date (month, year) a) Datasets 20 2: 11/07 2: 12/07 10: 07/08 6: 01/09 b) Species with location data c. 85 c) Unique locations c.30000 d) Total species by location records c. 85 Education & Outreach Weight reduction by species and method 82 80 78 76 pct. 74 72 70 68 66 64 Olavius 1787 Method 2005 Cod Photo: Maibritt Bager. Courtesy of lokalarkivet i Skagen Haddock Plaice Courtesy of Danish National Archive, Copenhagen. Next Steps • develop a broad global perspective of the changes in (exploited) marine animal populations and ecosystem exploitation status over centuries and decades, and across systems and taxa • examine the ecological and socio-culturalpolitical basis for recovery of marine animal populations and ecosystems around the world Limits to Knowledge • Our knowledge of the past relies on interpretations of evidence that has survived the attrition of time and economy • Inevitably, therefore, it is partial knowledge • Can we overcome the conflict of scientific approaches? • History - an ideographic exercise • Sift the evidence to establish (unique) fact • Biology - a nomothetic endeavour • recognise recurrent patterns that can be generalised into a model