The BONUS INSPIRE Project is designed to substantially advance our knowledge on commercial fish species in the Baltic (cod, herring, sprat and flounder). These species form more than 95% of the commercial catches, and represent key elements in the functioning of the Baltic Sea ecosystem(s).
Tne BONUS INSPIRE Project will fill in critical gaps in knowledge that currently exist concerning
- the mechanisms of changes in spatial distributions of different life-history stages of fish (due to various drivers such as climate, fishing and species interactions).
- the impact of such changes on the structure and function of the Baltic ecosystem(s).
- the sensitivity and robustness of analytical fish stock assessment, particularly for flatfish.
To accomplish these goals, the BONUS INSPIRE Project will answer the following questions:
- What habitat (both pelagic and benthic) conditions characterize the spatial distributions of cod, herring, sprat and flounder?
- To what extent do fishing and species interaction affect the local and basin-scale distribution of exploited stocks?
- What drives spatial connectivity and migrations of different fish species/populations?
- How does stock structure and separation of natural populations impact stock assessment outcomes?
Scientific and technological objectives
The scientific & technological objectives of the BONUS INSPIRE Project are:
- To quantify processes generating heterogeneity in spatial distributions of cod, herring, sprat and flounder. This means to quantify habitat associations of the focal species at different life stages.
- To quantify and map potential hazards to the connectivity between identified key habitats, and assess the impact of anthropogenic and climatic environmental changes on habitat connectivity.
- To quantify the population dynamics and interactions of the focal species in a spatially explicit context.
- To develop spatially explicit advice for ecosystem-based fisheries management of Baltic cod, herring, sprat and flounder, accounting for the spatial heterogeneity in fish distributions.