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Case Studies

NECCTON Case Studies

NECCTON will be working in collaboration with a range of stakeholders to supporting fisheries management and biodiversity conservation through development and exploitation of NECCTON tools and products that will be developed over the coming years. Through a range of case study areas these tools can be applied and tested. 

fish
Case Study Topic Ensemble of species distribution models to determine hot spots of aggregation in support of management plans and Marine Protected Area definition in the Mediterranean Sea
Main Focus Fishery Management
Goals Determine hot spots of aggregation to support:
  • Management plans
  • Fisheries Regulated areas (FRA),
  • Marine Protected areas (MPA)
Associated stakeholder Food and Agriculture Organisation - General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM)
NECCTON Products Used
  • ESD-MED (ensemble Species Distribution models) applied to the Mediterranean Sea
  • ESD-MED based on survey data coupled with biogeochemical (LTL) outputs from MED-BFM
NECCTON Partners OGS, HCMR
Marine Forecasting Center MED
aquaculture farm area
Case Study Topic Mapping sources of pollutants transported towards Mediterranean aquaculture farm areas
Main Focus Fishery Management
Goals To explore the usefulness of new Copernicus Marine Service capability for mapping and forecasting pollutant transport for Mediterranean aquaculture farming
Associated stakeholder

Food and Agriculture Organisation and Fugro

Testimonial on importance of NECCTON contribution Dr. Laura Gomez Navarro, IMEDEA (Spain) and Utrecht University (Netherlands)
NECCTON Products Used New Copernicus Marine Service product that maps and forecast pollutants (micro-macro plastic, oil, trace metals, POPs) in marine ecosystems
NECCTON Partners UU, OGS
Marine Forecasting Center MED
bottom of the sea
Case Study Topic Natura 2000 marine protected areas in the Adriatic Sea
Main Focus Biodiversity Conservation
Goals
  • Application of marine spatial planning methods to monitoring effectiveness of biodiversity conservation in a MPA in the Adriatic Sea (HR3000469 - Viški akvatorij)
Associated stakeholder Blue World Institute of Marine Research and Conservation
NECCTON Products Used
  • Environmental conditions
  • Mapping of relevant benthos species 
  • Habitat maps for small pelagic and unspecified apex predator, multispecies distribution maps from Ecospace model 
  • Multiple pressure maps
NECCTON Partners OGS, HCMR, MINDS
Marine Forecasting Center MED
Biodiversity conservation
Case Study Topic Biodiversity conservation in the North West Black Sea 
Main Focus Biodiversity Conservation
Goals Mapping the impact of fish trawling on ecosystem functioning in the north-western Black Sea.
Associated stakeholder ICES Working Group on Fisheries Benthic Impact and Trade-offs
NECCTON Products Used
  • Maps of benthic traits
  • Maps of benthic species biomass
NECCTON Partners NIOZ, UoL
Marine Forecasting Center BS
Whales
Case Study Topic Climate-smart Marine Protected Area planning in the North West European Shelf
Main Focus Biodiversity Conservation
Goals • Spatial meta-analysis to show where a climate signal is projected to emerge for multiple parameters related to biodiversity conservation.
• Maps showing areas of climate change hotspots/bright spots, overlaid with locations of current/planned MPAs and other significant features.
Associated stakeholder UNEP - World Conservation Monitoring Centre.
NECCTON Products Used Projections of physics, biogeochemistry and Lower Trophic Levels for the North West Shelf
NECCTON Partners PML, HEREON
Marine Forecasting Center NWS
Small pelagic fish
Case Study Topic Small pelagic fish in the Bay of Biscay
Main Focus Fishery Management
Goals

• To understand and to simulate the past and future dynamics of small pelagic fish in the Bay of Biscay, including the effects of environmental conditions (temperature, plankton dynamics) and human pressure (fishing).
• To build robust projections by combining multiple higher trophic level and lower trophic level models and evaluate uncertainty (models ensemble)
• To identify the key drivers of the food web dynamics, and how they vary in time and space
Associated stakeholder ICES Working Group on Ecosystem Assessment of Western European Shelf Seas
NECCTON Products Used

Small pelagic fish biomass, and unspecified fish biomass from:

  • Ecosystem models
  • Species distribution models
  • Species population models
NECCTON Partners Ifremer, MOi, DTU,PML
Marine Forecasting Center NWS
Monitoring plankton diversity
Case Study Topic Monitoring plankton diversity and dynamics in the Parc Naturel Marin d'Iroise (PNMI)
Main Focus Biodiversity Conservation
Goals Phyto- and Zooplankton surveys by PNMI
  • Classical counting under a microscope (phytoplankton)
  • Quantitative imaging of zooplankton using Zooscan
  • Some Metabarcoding (eDNA)
Estimating zooplankton functional diversity
  • To inform the models
  • To test the correlation with sardine catch
  • Impact of zooplankton size on sardine stock
Associated stakeholder Office Français de la Biodiversité, Parc Naturel Marin d'Iroise (OFB)
NECCTON Products Used
  • physics & Lower trophic level outputs
  • Zooplankton diversity fields of the Copernicus Marine Service Global /IBI model 
  • Fish biomass fields of the Copernicus Marine Service Global/IBI model 
  • Correlation between the Ushant fronts (physics), zooplankton, and fish in the model
NECCTON Partners CNRS, SU, CLS, MOi
Marine Forecasting Center IBI
pollution of marine protected areas
Case Study Topic Monitoring pollution of marine protected areas surrounding Svalbard
Main Focus Biodiversity Conservation
Goals To explore & demonstrate that we can provide complementary information on the biogeochemical conditions, pollution and plastics, as well as biomass for zooplankton and fish at the sites of the protected marine Areas in the vicinity of Svalbard.
Associated stakeholder International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
NECCTON Products Used
  • Meso-zooplankton 
  • Dissolved organic matter (DOM) and particulate organic matter (POM)
  • Fish biomass
  • Small pelagic biomass (GLO) (important for sea birds),
  • micro-plastic,
  • Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and emerging organic contaminants (EOCs). 
NECCTON Partners NERSC, HEREON
Marine Forecasting Center ARC
Salmon
Case Study Topic Modelling and projecting fisheries potential in the arctic Atlantic Ocean
Main Focus Fishery Management
Goals Assess the consequences of climate change on fish biomass and therefore the fisheries potential in future climate scenarios.
Associated stakeholder ICES-WGINOR (Working Group on Integrated Ecosystem Assessments for the Norwegian Sea) and ICES-WGIBAR (Working Group on the Integrated Assessments of the Barents Sea)
NECCTON Products Used Fish biomass and small pelagics biomass
NECCTON Partners NERSC, HEREON
Marine Forecasting Center ARC
Baltic Sea
Case Study Topic Marine protected area monitoring and assessment in the Baltic Sea
Main Focus Biodiversity Conservation
Goals Develop ways to use NECCTON (and Copernicus Marine Service ) products for Marine Protected Area monitoring and assessment in the German part of the Baltic Sea, with focus on biodiversity and fisheries.
Associated stakeholder HELCOM
NECCTON Products Used • Mesozooplankton biomass
• Dissolved organic matter (DOM) and particulate organic matter (POM)
• Benthic biogeochemistry
• Small pelagic Biomass
• Unspecified fish biomass
NECCTON Partners BSH, HEREON
Marine Forecasting Center BAL
Tuna
Case Study Topic Spatial Management of Tuna Stocks and Fisheries under Climate Change
Main Focus Fishery Management
Goals Provide a demonstrator allowing users (stakeholders) to run projections of changes (e.g., 30 years) of key tuna species with fishing scenarios including spatial management measures and selected climate IPCC scenarios of greenhouse gas release
Associated stakeholder Pacific community (SPC), International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, SF, IC,Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Stakeholder Testimonials:
Dr. Hilario Murua,  Senior Scientist, ISSF (International Seafood Sustainability Foundation)

Dr. Kim Stobberup, Manager/Technical Adviser, Project Management Unit (PMU-NFITD)
NECCTON Products Used

Historical (hindcast) and future (projections under IPCC scenarios) simulations for ocean variables (temperature, currents, primary production, dissolved oxygen, zooplankton and micronekton)
NECCTON Partners MOi
Marine Forecasting Center GLO
Whale in the ocean
Case Study Topic Monitoring marine mammals in the Azores region
Main Focus Biodiversity Conservation
Goals • Assess the feasibility of conducting a monitoring of the common and spotted dolphin
• Evaluate the impact of climate change on the distribution of the species
Associated stakeholder Azores Regional Directorate of Maritime Affairs
NECCTON Products Used
  • Pelagic lower trophic level products: mesozooplankton, micronekton 
  • The species distribution model: NAWH-cetaceans 
NECCTON Partners IMAR, CLS
Marine Forecasting Center GLO
Pelagic fish
Case Study Topic Forecasting climate change impact on potential catches of open ocean large pelagic fish
Main Focus Fishery Management
Goals • What is the future potential fisheries production in the open oceans?
• How will climate change impact the balance between functional groups (small/large pelagics etc.)?
Associated stakeholder Fish-MIP
NECCTON Products Used
  • FEISTY
  • SEAPODYM
NECCTON Partners DTU, EII, MOi, PML
Marine Forecasting Center GLO

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NEWS AND PROJECT UPDATES

28 November 2023|News

NECCTON's Latest: Reports on Advancements in Key Products

We're pleased to announce the release of a comprehensive series of reports that unveil the innovative products our project aims to develop across various key areas. At NECCTON, we're dedicated to pushing the boundaries of innovation, and these reports underscore our commitment to delivering advanced solutions.

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12 July 2023|News

NECCTON's first Virtual Science Meeting

NECCTON's first virtual science meeting was a great success. Providing an opportunity for the whole team to gather and share details of scientific advancements in the first six months of the project. 

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03 July 2023|News

NECCTON Co-Design Stakeholder Workshop

Last week, the NECCTON Stakeholder Workshop: Co-design of Future Products was held virtually. This two-day workshop took place on June 28th and 29th with the aim of presenting NECCTON's future products and gathering stakeholder needs. The first public event of NECCTON attracted over 100 participants, including key stakeholders, project scientists, and potential users of NECCTON products.

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28 June 2023|News

Advancing the Conservation of Ocean Biodiversity through Copernicus Marine Service Evolution

The New Copernicus Capability for Tropic Ocean Networks project (NECCTON) aims to expand the Copernicus Marine Service product catalogue by delivering new and improved biogeochemical products, by means of new models of higher trophic levels, the benthic habitat, and of marine pollution. Launched in January 2023, the project received funding under a Horizon Europe Call for the evolution of the Copernicus Marine Service and will run...

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