Meeting in Bergen (NO), 9-13 February 2010

Open workshop on modelling and data collection in inland fisheries
10 February 2010
 
Participants: L. Baulier (IMR), D. Boukal, D. Dankel, J. Devine (IMR/UiB), B. Diaz Pauli (UiB), K. Ferter (UiB), O. Fiksen (UiB), M. Heino, J. Heuschele (UiB/DFG), M. Jankovský, K. Jung (UiB), J. Kolding (UiB), M. Vašek, V. Pavlová, N. Rodriguez (UiB), M. Wiech (U Basel), F. Zimmermann (UiB).
 
The program included short presentations by D. Boukal, M. Vašek, M. Jankovský, J. Kolding, O. Fiksen, K. Ferter (who presented the topic of K. Korsbrekke) and D. Dankel on various aspects of fish and fishermen dynamics in freshwater and on modelling. We proceeded by a detailed discussion of the model of optimal exploitation strategies. Detailed program is here.
 

The meeting took place at the premises of the Department of Biology at the University of Bergen.	David Boukal presents the Lipno project.
Martin Jankovsky shows newest analyses of logbook data.	Oyvind Fiksen explains models of early fish life histories.
Dorothy explains experimental procedure that collects stakeholder preferences, using ice cream as an example, with Mojmír and Viola watching. Regrettably, only imaginary ice cream is used in this tutorial.	Whiteboard with the main results from the second day of discussions. Lots of things to work on in the coming months, but we are making good progress...

 

 

"Živá voda" meeting in Frymburk (CZ), 19 March 2010

Workshop organized in the Wellness Hotel, Frymburk, by the local nonprofit organisation "Přátelé čisté vody (Friends of Clean Water)" and focused on several aspects of water quality and environmental issues at Lake Lipno.
 
Participants (BC team): D. Boukal, J. Kubečka.
 
We were invited to the workshop to present the subproject's main goals and methods to the workshop participants, who included a number of local stakeholders: local authorities, officers from the Czech Anglers' Union and representative of the Lipno hydroelectric plant. As part of our presentations, we have also carried out a small pilot study on stakeholder preferences, which will be used later during the large-scale field study.
 

Jan Kubečka talks about the current knowledge of fish stocks in Lake Lipno.

 

Workshop participants discuss the questionnaire on stakeholder preferences at Lake Lipno, handed out during David Boukal's presentation.

 

12th Czech Ichtyological Conference, Vodnany (CZ), 19-20 May 2010

An international meeting with 70 participants from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and USA organized by the Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia.
 
Participants (BC team): D. Boukal, J. Kubečka, M. Jankovský.
 
We have presented the main activities of the subproject to the broad audience in two talks by David Boukal ("Modelování vlivu selektivního rybolovu na populace sladkovodních ryb: co víme a kam směřujeme? / Modelling the impact of selective fishing on populations of freshwater fish: what do we know and where do we go next?") and by Martin Jankovský ("Selektivní chování rybářů jako hlavní činitel mezidruhových korelací identifikovaných v dlouhodobých datech rybářských statistik / Selective fishing as the main driver of interspecific correlations in long-term catch statistics"). A number of Czech colleagues were interested in our lines of research, which are quite novel in the context of Czech fisheries science. This lead to vivid discussions and exchange of ideas during the meeting.

List of participants can be found here and list of presentations here (in Czech).

 

Fishery Dependent Information Conference, Galway (Ireland), 23-36 August 2010

An international conference for managers, scientists and the fishing sector on the collection and interpretation of traditional and non-traditional information in the context of the ecosystem approach organized by the Marine Institute in Galway, Ireland.
 
Participants (BC team): M. Jankovský.
 
Martin Jankovský presented some results stemming from the subproject in Theme Session 6: Application of Fisher Knowledge in Scientific Assessments and Fishery Management. His talk ("Anglers‘ catches vs. real fishstock in Czech reservoirs") dealt with the comparison of data reported by fishermen and collected during scientific surveys. The results imply that certain types of scientific surveys can be used as independent validation of anglers' catches, but some intriguing differences in the data remain currently unexplained.
 

Book of abstracts can be found here and presentations here.

 

Expert exchange: visit to Bergen (NO), 17-31 August 2010

Collaboration of the BC and IMR teams
Participants from BC team: D. Boukal (17-31 August), M. Jankovský (17-21 August), T. Stachová (24-31 August).
 
The visit was focused on joint work on both modelling and data analyses and was framed by detailed discussions of the model of optimal exploitation strategies and statistical analyses of logbook data. We have combined intensive work during the weekdays with social activities during some of the evenings and weekends.

We were even fortunate enough to have some sunny summer days. Bergen is famous for its rain, but this time it only rained for one week!
 

For us, the landlocked, the views of hillside houses and the sea bay around downtown Bergen were always stunning ...	... as were the boats moored very much in front of the office in which we have spent two very productive weeks.

 

Tereza and Dorothy study the intricate details of the stakeholder model in Dolly's office ...	... backed by detailed scribblings and modelling instructions on the whiteboard.

 

And this is how our scribblings look like.	We also visited a newly built fish lab at the University of Bergen the second week. Plenty of small fish - a great inspiration for our modelling.

 

We were quite lucky with the weather indeed and had a good share of midsummer sun in the first few days ...	... as it is not common to have a chance to sit outside during an evening in Bergen, and enjoy the hospitality of the Bergen hosts.

 

It rained the whole second week, as we worked indoors, but the last weekend was fantastic again ...	... and we set off to the island chain just outside Bergen to a place called Golten, a large rugged rock at the edge of the open sea.

 

We tried our fishing luck there and got some small fish...	... and some bigger fish (these are a mackerel and a pollock).

 

We ate some of them on the spot (which is the best of the best) ...	... and enjoyed the weather a little more.

 

So the visit felt like a success, both in scientific and in social terms (left to right: Tereza Stachová, Dolly Dankel, Mikko Heino, David Boukal).

 

Symposium DINFISH2010, České Budějovice (CZ), 13-16 August 2010

An international symposium with focus on the dynamics of inland fish and fisheries, organized by BC and IMR teams as part of the subproject. The symposium was attended by more than 40 registered paricipants from Europe, United States, New Zealand and Angola. Our keynote speakers were Prof. Robert Arlinghaus from the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin (Germany), Dr. Jeppe Kolding from University of Bergen (Norway), Dr. Alfred Sandström from Institute of Coastal Research, Swedish National Board of Fisheries and Prof. Lennart Persson from the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umea University (Sweden).
 
Participants (BC team): D. Boukal, J. Kubečka, M. Jankovský, T. Stachová, M. Vašek.
Participants (IMR team): D. Dankel, M. Heino.
 
We have presented six talks during the symposium: "Interplay of environmental changes and fishing pressure in exploited fish populations" (D. Boukal), "Case study of presumed pikeperch collapse in Lake Lipno" (D. Boukal), "How can I include stakeholders in my science?" (D. Dankel), "Assessing fish population dynamics with minimal data" (M. Heino), "Stock-catch analyses of selected fish species in Czech reservoirs " (M. Jankovský), "Angler behaviour as possible driver of interspecific catches‘ synchrony" (M. Jankovský), "Pikeperch abundance and population structure" (M. Vašek) and "Structure and dynamics of fish assemblages in Rimov reservoir" (M. Vašek).
 

The symposium website and more information on the participants and talks can be found here.

 

ICES Annual Science Conference, Nantes (France), 20-24 September 2010

An international conference organized by ICES, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, and open to managers, scientists and the fishing sector. The conference is traditionally run in parallel sessions, some of which have a broad focus and apply to the exploitation of fish stocks in general, not only to marine fisheries.
 
Participants (BC team): D. Boukal.
 
David Boukal presented some results stemming from the subproject in Theme Session M: Fisheries-induced adaptive changes and their consequences: why should we care, and what can we do?, co-chaired by Mikko Heino. His talk ("Interplay of environmental changes and fishing pressure in exploited fish populations") dealt with possible impacts of several types of environmental changes on life history evolution of exploited planktivorous fish. The results imply that environmental changes can both mitigate and aggravate fisheries-induced evolutionary change.
 

More information can be found here. The list of theme sessions including presentations is here.

 

Expert exchange: visit to Bergen (NO), 7-14 December 2010

Collaboration of the BC and IMR teams
Participants from BC team: D. Boukal (7-14 December), T. Stachová (10-14 December).
 
The visit was focused on summarizing the joint work on modelling and data analyses, with emphasis on the model of optimal exploitation strategies and analyses of stakeholder data collected during 2010.

 

The offices of Institute of Marine Research are located at the tip of the little peninsula ...	... and one can pass the boats used by the Institute on the way from the hotel to the offices on a chilly December morning.

 

We spend most of the time indoors working intensively on the project ...	... but experience the Christmas atmosphere in the evenings, when it is at its best anyway.

 

Closing workshop of the subproject, Praha (CZ), 15-18 December 2010

Open workshop summarizing the main results of the subproject on modelling, data collection and analyses of Czech recreational fisheries
16 December 2010
 
Participants (BC and IMR teams): D. Boukal, D. Dankel, M. Jankovský, J. Kubečka, T. Stachová, M. Vašek.
Participants (guests): M. Čech (Biology Centre AS CR, Č. Budějovice), J. Duras (Povodí Vltavy, s.p.), V. Gall (Ministry of Agriculture), M. Hladík (Czech Anglers' Union, Regional Board of South Bohemia), R. Heimlich (Ministry of Agriculture), L. Kalous (Czech University of Life Sciences, Praha), T. Kepr (Czech Anglers' Union, Regional Board of South Bohemia), P. Kienast (Povodí Ohře), I. Krechler (Povodí Moravy), B. Ličko (Czech Anglers' Union, Council), M. Novotný (Novonet, Praha), M. Petrtýl (Czech University of Life Sciences, Praha), Z. Sajdlová (Biology Centre AS CR, Č. Budějovice), P. Spurný (Mendel University, Brno), P. Šmíd (Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia, Vodňany), P. Vít (Povodí Ohře), J. Vostradovský (Czech Anglers' Union), P. Vrána (Czech Anglers' Union, Council).
 
The meeting took place in the beautiful building of the Headquarters of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Praha. The program included short presentations by P. Spurný, M. Novotný, D. Boukal, J. Kubečka, M. Vašek and D. Dankel on various aspects of Czech recreational fisheries. Emphasis was put on the extent of data that are currently being collected by the local authorities of the Czech Anglers' Union and the way these data can be used, together with independent scientific surveys and mathematical models, to gain insight into the status of the exploited fish stocks and help design sustainable management strategies. The open workshop was use to disseminate the main results obtained so far during the project and to outline the most promising direction for future research and collaborations between scientists and fishermen. Workshop description is posted here and detailed program here.
 
Two team members, David Boukal and Jan Kubečka, gave a press conference summarizing the current state-of-the-art research of fish populations in Czech man-made reservoirs. Their interviews with the media have so far been covered e.g. by Akademický bulletin, official website of the Czech Academy of Sciences, project MedVed, science online portal Veda.cz and Scienceweek blog (all in Czech).
 
The remaining time during the workshop was devoted to discussions within the subproject team. We discussed the main results and began the preparation of documents necessary for formal closure of the subproject. Moreover, we have discussed potential follow-ups to the project, including the preparation of papers that could not have been completed within the project.
 
Nevertheless, we have concluded that despite the quite short duration of the project, we were able to firmly establish a fruitful collaboration and to set research questions that can be followed in the future. The current results are already strong enough to provide novel insights into the status and management of Czech recreational fisheries and to provide scientific advice to the various stakeholders involved in the management of Czech man-made reservoirs.
 

The interior of the Headquarters of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Praha ...	... an equally beautiful and inspiring setting for the workshop.

 

Dorothy Dankel is giving finishing touches to her presentation for the final workshop of the sub-project...	... which kicks off with a lecture by Prof. M. Spurný on recreational fisheries ...

 

followed by talks by M. Novotný on regular data collection ...	... while D. Boukal summarizes the data analyses carried out during the subproject ...

 

and D. Dankel talks about resolving stakeholder conflicts ...	... to the very stakeholders concerned.

 

The workshop was wrapped up with a business dinner (during which we introduce Czech fish to our Nowegian guest) ...	... at a restaurant not far from the Academy Headquarters but also close to the Charles Bridge.

The bridge is indeed a fitting place to end the online report on a sub-project that helped us bridge the distance between Czech Republic and Norway and set up an enjoyable and fruitful collaboration!