Fisheries impact on the East China Sea Shelf ecosystem for 1969-2000

Fisheries impact on the East China Sea Shelf ecosystem for 1969-2000 Article

Li, Y, Zhang, Y. (2012). Fisheries impact on the East China Sea Shelf ecosystem for 1969-2000 . 66(3), 371-383. 10.1007/s10152-011-0278-8

An ecosystem model representing the continental shelf of the East China Sea was fitted to a time series of data available from 1969 to 2000 using Ecopath with Ecosim. We used a process-oriented model to explore the extent to which changes in marine resources and the ecosystem were driven by trophic interactions and fishing activities. Fishing effort was used to drive the model, and observed catches were compared with the predicted catches in modeling. A reduction in the sum of the squared deviations of the observed and predicted catches was used as a metric for calibrating and assessing the goodness-of-fit of the model. Trophodynamic indicators were used to explore the ecosystem's structural and functional changes from 1969 to 2000. The model's predictions were consistent with observed catches for most functional groups. Trophodynamic indicators suggest a degradation pattern over time: both the mean trophic level of community and a modified version of Kempton's index of biodiversity decreased over the time, while the total flow to detritus and the loss of production due to fishing increased from 1969 to 2000. Additionally, the ratio of demersal/pelagic abundances decreased as a result of an overall decrease in the abundance of demersal species and increase in pelagic fish in the ecosystem. © 2011 Springer-Verlag and AWI.