[Coral-List] ICRS 2020: session on tropical fisheries + climate changes

[James Robinson]

Greetings all,

We are excited to announced our session *How will tropical fisheries
respond to climate changes on coral reefs?* at the 2020 International Coral
Reef Symposium (5-10 July 2020, Bremen, Germany), and invite you to submit
abstracts for oral presentations.

http://www.icrs2020.de/program/session-program/#c247

Our session will address the following topics:


   - Novel or unexpected reef fisheries arising from ocean warming
   - Socio-economic adaptations to ecological changes in tropical fish
   communities
   - Tropicalization of fisheries in temperate ecosystems
   - Gear and ecosystem management to help fishers adapt to climate change
   - Adaptive management for climate-impacted coral reef fisheries
   - Nutritional implications of climate change for tropical coastal
   communities

and ask these questions:

   - Which fisheries will emerge from climate-impacted coral reefs?
   - How will social-ecological forces, such as fishing effort and
   ecosystem management, respond to and shape these novel fisheries?
   - How can interactions between environmental changes, fishers’ behavior
   and market access be managed to sustain nutrient provisioning from tropical
   ecosystems?

*Abstract Deadline: 1 September 2019* (
http://www.icrs2020.de/program/call-for-abstracts/)

Coral reef fisheries are a conduit for many valuable ecosystem goods and
services. For people, seafood products are of high nutritional value and an
important source of income to many coastal communities. For reef
ecosystems, fishing can influence ecosystem functioning through selective
removal of species and individuals, often flattening biomass pyramids and
reducing biodiversity. Yet as marine heatwaves cause declines in coral
habitat and tropical fishes migrate polewards in response to long-term
ocean warming, climate impacts are also altering the structure and function
of fish assemblages to produce new and unexpected ecological
configurations. In response, coral reef fishers are exploiting increases in
herbivore productivity after coral bleaching events, while the
tropicalization of fish communities is altering catch compositions at
regional scales. Future tropical fisheries will thus be constrained by
ecological responses to climate change (e.g. how species compositions
change), and be shaped by how coastal communities interact with altered
ecosystems. Examples from Kenya suggest that ecosystem protection through
gear regulation can compensate for climate impacts while, for Pacific
islands, gear diversification may help fishers to target climate change
'winners', such as pelagic fishes. For food security, trade networks could
be harnessed to ensure that climate-impacted regions can access seafood,
but this will require an improved understanding of the nutritional
implications of climate changes.

We look forward to your submissions!

Best

*James Robinson*, LECReefs, Lancaster University (UK) *Alice Rogers*
Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) *Kirsty Nash* University of
Tasmania (Australia) *Shaun Wilson* University of Western Australia
(Australia)