Decoding Blue Whiting Population Structure
The seminar is open to all!
On Friday October 11th at 12:30h in N-129, Brendon Lee, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Iceland, will present:
Decoding Blue Whiting Population Structure: Insights from Long-Term Trends in Distribution and Abundance in Icelandic Waters
Widely distributed pelagic fish populations support some of the largest global fisheries and play a critical role in ecosystem dynamics. Effective fisheries management and conservation strategies require an understanding of their population structure: What are the boundaries of their distribution? How does abundance and demographic structure vary? How do these dynamics shift over time, and what environmental factors drive these changes? Critically, can this information be aggregated to better inform population structure? This knowledge is particularly relevant in understanding how populations respond to climate change and other anthropogenic impacts.
In this talk, we examine the population structure of blue whiting, a key species in the northeast Atlantic, using 27 years of survey data from Icelandic waters. Our approach identifies distinct environmental drivers and population patterns that can inform both local and large-scale management.
More broadly, the methods used in this study can be adapted to test hypotheses across species with diverse life-history strategies in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. These insights can guide ecosystem management, resource conservation, and marine spatial planning, including the development of Marine Protected Areas.
The seminar is in person in N-129 and on zoom!