© 2003 by ICES/CIEM International Council for the Exploration of the Sea/Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer
An ecosystem model of food web and fisheries interactions in the Baltic Sea
a Department of Systems Ecology, Stockholm University SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
b Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin Madison, WI 53706, USA
c Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
*Correspondence to S. Hansson; tel: +46 8 16 42 48. e-mail: sture.hansson{at}ecology.su.se.
Because fisheries operate within a complex array of species interactions, scientists increasingly recommend multispecies approaches to fisheries management. We created a food web model for the Baltic Sea proper, using the Ecopath with Ecosim software, to evaluate interactions between fisheries and the food web from 1974 to 2000. The model was based largely on values generated by multispecies virtual population analysis (MSVPA). Ecosim outputs closely reproduced MSVPA biomass estimates and catch data for sprat (Sprattus sprattus), herring (Clupea harengus), and cod (Gadus morhua), but only after making adjustments to cod recruitment, to vulnerability to predation of specific species, and to foraging times. Among the necessary adjustments were divergent trophic relationships between cod and clupeids: cod exhibited top-down control on sprat biomass, but had little influence on herring. Fishing, the chief source of mortality for cod and herring, and cod reproduction, as driven by oceanographic conditions as well as unexplained variability, were also key structuring forces. The model generated many hypotheses about relationships between key biota in the Baltic Sea food web and may ultimately provide a basis for estimating community responses to management actions.
Keywords: Baltic Sea, cod, Ecopath with Ecosim, fisheries, food web, herring, multispecies virtual population analysis, predator–prey interactions, sprat, top-down control
Received 27 May 2002; accepted 12 March 2003.
1 Present address: Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, WA 98112, USA.
2 Present address: School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6.
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