Mobilisation of data to stakeholder communities. Bridging the research-practice gap using a commercial shellfish species model
Language
EN
Article de revue
This item was published in
PLoS ONE. 2020-09-23, vol. 15, n° 9, p. e0238446
English Abstract
Knowledge mobilisation is required to “bridge the gap” between research, policy and practice.
This activity is dependent on the amount, richness and quality of the data published. To
understand the impact of a changing ...Read more >
Knowledge mobilisation is required to “bridge the gap” between research, policy and practice.
This activity is dependent on the amount, richness and quality of the data published. To
understand the impact of a changing climate on commercial species, stakeholder communities
require better knowledge of their past and current situations. The common cockle (Cerastoderma
edule) is an excellent model species for this type of analysis, as it is well-studied
due to its cultural, commercial and ecological significance in west Europe. Recently, C.
edule harvests have decreased, coinciding with frequent mass mortalities, due to factors
such as a changing climate and diseases. In this study, macro and micro level marine historical
ecology techniques were used to create datasets on topics including: cockle abundance,
spawning duration and harvest levels, as well as the ecological factors impacting
those cockle populations. These data were correlated with changing climate and the Atlantic
Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index to assess if they are drivers of cockle abundance and
harvesting. The analyses identified the key stakeholder communities involved in cockle
research and data acquisition. It highlighted that data collection was sporadic and lacking in
cross-national/stakeholder community coordination. A major finding was that local variability
in cockle populations is influenced by biotic (parasites) and abiotic (temperature, legislation
and harvesting) factors, and at a global scale by climate (AMO Index). This comprehensive
study provided an insight into the European cockle fishery but also highlights the need to
identify the type of data required, the importance of standardised monitoring, and dissemination
efforts, taking into account the knowledge, source, and audience. These factors are
key elements that will be highly beneficial not only to the cockle stakeholder communities
but to other commercial species.Read less <
English Keywords
Fisheries
Spawning
Fisheries science
Biomass
Marine ecology
Latitude
Europe
Marine fish