Moullec F, Barrier N, Guilhaumon F, Peck MA, Ulses C, Shin YJ

Rebuilding Mediterranean marine resources under climate change

The Mediterranean Sea ranks among the most overexploited and fastest warming ocean regions. Moullec and co-authors used an integrated modeling approach to explore the effects of changes in fishing pressure on marine resources and ecosystem functioning under a worst-case climate change scenario. The study found that reducing fishing mortality or improving fishing selectivity could increase the total biomass and catch of high trophic level species. This could reverse the projected climate-induced decrease in their biomass and catch by the end of the century in the western Mediterranean basin. Using ecological indicators, the study demonstrated the positive effects of a more sustainable fisheries management on ecosystem structure and functioning under climate change.

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