QBEX

Quantifying Benefits and impacts of fishing exclusion zones on bioresources around Marine Renewable Energy Installations (QBEX) is a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) funded project bringing together scientists from the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom(MBA), the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), the Universities of University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, University of Plymouth, Heriott-Watt, International Centre for Island Technology (Orkney Campus) and Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML).
Overview
The project addresses the extent in which the ‘spillover’ of bioresource abundance (species of commercial, ecological and conservation importance) as a consequence of protected area (non-fishing) status of Marine Renewable Energy Installations (MREIs) enhance adjacent areas.
Aims and objectives
The principal aim of the proposed research is to quantify the extent to which ‘spillover’ of bioresource abundance (fish and invertebrate species) enhances adjacent areas as a consequence of fishing exclusions within and around Marine Renewable Energy Installations (MREIs). The focus of the research is to use novel technologies for determining the spatial movements of fish and shellfish across a wide-range of spatio-temporal scales (spanning metres to 100s of kilometres, and minutes to years). Space use will be related quantitatively to the changing physical and biological environment and will inform an understanding of the effects of fish spatial dynamics on field monitoring-derived estimates of abundance of fish and macroinvertebrates comprising the community assemblage found within and adjacent to MREI sites. The social and economic costs of MREIs on fisheries will also be assessed, which together with the novel combination of tracking technologies and environmental sampling will allow the first test of the importance of potential spillover to regions adjacent to MREIs.
The specific objectives are:
# To quantify the spatio-temporal change in distribution and abundance of two commercial species (e.g. edible crab (Cancer pagurus), cod (Gadus morhua) using novel methodologies, and in relation to environment (waves, current, noise mapping) and potential predators (seabirds and marine mammals).
# To determine and value any spillover effect of bioresource abundance from Marine Renewable sites to adjacent areas.
# To identify the extent to which changes represent spatial re-distribution or increased abundance, and role of within-species size interactions.
Modules
The aims and objectives are being met by 5 modules across the partner organisations.
Module 1. Animal movements (Partners participating: MBA, Cefas, Exeter)
Module 2. Animal distribution and abundance (Exeter, MBA, Cefas)
Module 3. Integration of animal movements with physical characterisation (MBA, Exeter, Cefas, Plymouth, ICIT)
Module 4. Estimating ‘spillover’ from spatial dynamics and abundance and its effects on fisheries (MBA, Exeter, Cefas, ICIT)
Module 5. Determining the social and economic costs and benefits of ‘spillover’ from MREIs to inform marine spatial planning decisions PML
Module 1. Animal movements
The spatial movements and distribution of individuals of key species is being tracked through time at each of the two sites using novel technology and methods. The purpose is to quantify the movements and space use of a high number of individuals (n > 100) of each study species over periods as long as several years to be able to determine spatial re-distributions over similar temporal scales in relation to space within and adjacent to the MREI that exclude or limit fishing activity. Species to be studied in detail will be relevant to site. We are focusing on two commercially important species per site, for example candidate species include brown crab , Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), thornback ray or blonde ray (Raja brachyura).
Space use of individuals within the MREI (test) and in adjacent (control) areas will be recorded using two complementary methods that cover different spatial scales. First, the long-term space use within the test and control areas will be quantified using an acoustic monitoring array which is unique in the UK. The array comprises individual seabed landers
that each carry an acoustic transceiver with a spherical detection volume of diameter ~700 m.
Each transceiver-equipped lander monitors movements of acoustic transmitter tagged animals at the minute scale for up to time periods of 3 years. Data are retrieved remotely by a shipborne acoustic modem without the need for lander recovery until the planned mission end date.
Then the acoustic release of a rope canister on each lander is triggered for recovery by ship. By deploying the acoustic landers such that detection areas are adjacent to or focus on probable preferred habitat types, the test and control areas will be effectively monitored autonomously to allow both space occupation times and movements between key areas of test and control areas to be quantified directly. This provides key data to objectives 1 - 3 on individual spatial changes that when collated across individuals gives precise measurement of spatial re-distributions (fluxes) of key species between test and control sites. Because of the long-term nature of this monitoring, daily, seasonal and annual changes in re-distributions at the site will be quantified.
Second, wider wider scale dispersal outside the MREI (test) and adjacent (control) areas will be measured using animal-attached data storage tags variously from both Star-Oddi and CTL. These miniature electronic dataloggers enable pressure (depth) and temperature to be recorded every few sec for over a year, with data being stored in non-volatile Flash memory for 20 years. Data are retrieved primarily from tags returned via fisheries for reward,
with return rates for commercial species such as plaice, turbot and ray being between 30 and 50%, for example. Any fish not caught by fishermen will eventually die from natural causes (usually disease or predation) and decompose. Some of the tags we use are buoyant, brightly coloured, and carry a reward/return label. They will float to the sea surface and some will eventually be washed ashore where they may be found by members of the public and returned. This method of data recovery has already proved successful with cod in the Irish and Celtic seas, and with European silver eels and jellyfish in the Atlantic. Tags provide data on the swimming depth of the animal that give estimates of vertical activity over a wide range of scales, from tidal and daily patterns to seasonal trends. Depth data can also be used to estimate the horizontal trajectories of both fish and macro-invertebrates with movement paths reconstructed using advanced tidal-based Markov-chain probabilistic geolocation methods (e.g. Pedersen et al. 2007) . This analysis will provide estimates of the amount of time animals spend in the test and control sites compared to wider afield, and will identify migration routes and whether fish return to the MREI site or adjacent areas and over what time scale such philopatry occurs.

We are undertaking the deployment of DSTs on a macro invertebrate and the same on a fish species at the North Hoyle site and to continue the monitoring and data retrieval of 200 tags (100 acoustic; 100 dataloggers) deployed on species at the Wave Hub site. Funding for the latter was provided to the MBA by DECC and continued monitoring of these tags represents significant added value to the current project. Data storage tag deployments at North Hoyle will also allow assessment of how species use habitats within and around the R2 Gwynt y Môr wind farm development.
Module 2. Animal distribution and abundance
Whilst movement studies will focus on several species, additional approaches will allow us to look at the full range of macrospecies present in the biological communities within the MREI (test) and adjacent (control) sites. Relative abundance of animals in test and control areas will be quantified using a novel combination of methods. Communities of mobile macrobenthic invertebrates, fish, seabirds and marine mammals will be sampled. A balanced experimental design of deployments of static sampling gear (for invertebrates: baited traps) across seasons and years will be used to estimate relative abundance in areas, and drop-down video cameras (towed and drop-down) will provide data on benthic and demersal fish abundance and on habitat types where species abundance is high. Recent research shows that underwater video cameras provide relative abundance estimates comparable to those derived by static gear, such as longlines and nets [http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v13/n3/p231-243/ (Brooks et al., 2011).] Sampling gear will be deployed at set stations within test and control areas that are closely matched for principal habitat type (e.g. depth, substratum type). Frequency of sampling will be 6 days every 6 months for baited traps and 3 times per year for remote camera deployments. Estimates of relative abundance of shoaling fish in the water column will also be made from surveys using Cefas’s dual-frequency split-screen sonar that will accompany a proportion of sampling cruises. Furthermore, top predator relative abundance in test and control areas will be quantified from monthly shipborne, visual surveys (seabirds) and long-term deployments of C-POD devices that record the number and type of marine mammal vocalisations together with ambient environmental noise levels.
This combined approach will allow the macrobenthic invertebrate, fish, seabird and marine mammal communities present in test and control areas through time to be quantified. This will provide important population biological data for estimating changes in relative abundance of not only the tracked species, but the communities they are part of. The proposed research will undertake the described animal community sampling at the Wave Hub site [http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/370/1959/502.full.pdf+html (Witt et al., 2012)]. There is considerable added value to the current project in the availability of time series of seabird surveys and passive acoustic monitoring of marine mammals at the Wave Hub site since 2008. At the North Hoyle site the entire suite of sampling surveys will be undertaken should additional funding be provided to Module 6. Notwithstanding further funding support, annual environmental monitoring data for fish and epibenthic invertebrates at North Hoyle will be available to this project through collaboration with CMACS Ltd.
Commercial fishing activities in control areas will be monitored and assessed using Vessel Monitoring Scheme (VMS) data [http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0001111 (Witt & Godley, 2007).] Both Exeter and MBA partners have extensive experience of validating and using such data for spatial analyses. It is proposed to integrate these vessel movements with those of fish movement patterns (track reconstructions from data storage tags) and with point counts for seabirds and passive acoustic monitoring for marine mammals. Taken together the methods allow a multi-trophic perspective as well as contributing to informing concerns regarding impacts of MREIs on higher verteabrates and their overlap with fisheries.
Module 3. Integration of animal movements with physical characterisation
Estimations of fish and large invertebrate (shellfish) biomass ‘spillover’ from MREI to adjacent areas depend on accurate measurements of changes in movement/space use patterns of animals that result in changes in spatial distributions over longer time scales (see Module 1). Prior to making such estimates it will be necessary to explore how animal movements, both within and outside MREI areas and further afield (due to longer range migration or dispersal events), are influenced directly by physical factors. For example, it is conceivable that the differential habitat use shown by fish across an MREI site may be linked to heterogeneous physical fields such as variability in current velocity irrespective of factors linked more closely to the exclusion of fishing per se. Therefore, animal movements and changes in relative abundance will be related to data on waves and current fields and background and anthropogenic noise (broadband sound) at the appropriate scales to identify potential physical influences to dispersal and re-distribution.
We will take both Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches for testing significant associations between animal space use and environmental variations. We will analyse time series of space use (presence/absence) derived from acoustic monitoring (fish, marine mammals) in test and control sites with time series of remotely sensed physical data e.g. current velocities and wave heights from both test and control areas. Specifically for fish space use recorded by the acoustic monitoring array, we will employ a novel method that uses social network theory to determine how animals move freely within their environment. By assigning specific habitat or locations (such as acoustic transceivers) as network nodes and the movement of individuals between these locations as the connections between these nodes, rigorous descriptive and statistical analyses can be performed on the global and local properties of an animal’s movement. This novel approach is likely to offer a new, more holistic method for analysing small-scale animal movement from telemetry data. Explicitly, these analyses have the potential to describe home range behaviour, passive and transient space use and the possible outcome of targeted disturbance upon a movement network at the individual or population level, so isare well suited for analysingto characterising differences in space use of individuals between test and control sites and in relation to changes in environmental fields. We propose to derive temporal changes in two-dimensional physical fields from HF radar-derived sea surface measurements of wave height and current velocity and for water temperature and primary productivity from satellite remote sensing.
Lagrangian trajectories of individual fish calculated from electronic tag data using a tidal-geolocation algorithm will be related to wider scale changes in two-dimensional modelled physical fields through time. Influence of physical factors on dispersal patterns and distributional changes will be tested using null model (random walk) simulations to identify the extent to which the environment determines the patterns and scale of movements. The research team have particular expertise in this area of work (see Sims et al., 2006, 2008). It will be possible using this approach to examine whether animals remain in particular areas more often than would be expected compared with random, or if movement distances and directions were solely determined by physical factors (e.g. current velocity). This will enable assessment of how site attached animals might be to MREI (test) and adjacent (control) sites, and over what time periods and times of year.
Module 4. Estimating ‘spillover’ from spatial dynamics and abundance and its effects on fisheries
The approach taken in Module 4 is to estimate spillover empirically using fish/shellfish movement and abundance data, and to develop and test individual-based spatial models of potential spillover effects on fisheries and its implications for sustainable exploitation.
The movement data of fish and shellfish will be used to estimate spillover in two principal ways. First, animal presence data at transceivers for all individuals will be compared between MREI (test) and adjacent (control) sites to determine whether the mean number of transmitter pings per fish (a higher number being proportional to greater time spent per area) is greater in test vs control sites. The spatial dynamics of any difference identified will be investigated using the spatial-network analysis described previously (see Module 3). We will use this to test hypotheses: for example, if the test area has a higher mean fish/shellfish presence compared with adjacent areas, is that a year-round characteristic or does it change over shorter time scales? Hence, what is the net movement rate between test and control areas? This will be quantified statistically after stratifying the analysis for area preference. The acoustic array presence/absence data will also be used to compare changes between test and control sites with relative abundance changes for focal (tracked) species recorded during experimental sampling (Module 2). This comparison will allow validation of the individual presence/absence data as a proxy for relative abundance of focal species within test and control areas. The second empirical approach will analyse the track reconstructions from returned data storage tags to provide temporally resolved maps of individual movements and areas occupied by that species. These data give changes in species distribution such that changes in location frequency per test vs control sites can be analysed for increasing time periods (e.g. from one month to one year). The purpose of this approach is to estimate the proportions of time individual animals spend in test and control areas and the timing and rates of movement between those areas. Both approaches will inform the modelling work to enable robust up scaling from individuals to population-level movement rates and space use. The combination of empirical and modelling approaches will provide more realistic estimates of any potential spillover between test and control sites and its impacts on fisheries.
The implications of MREIs for commercial fisheries will depend crucially upon how their physical presence and operations affect space use by both target species and fishers. Spatial fishery models show that rates of exchange of animals between areas accessible and inaccessible to fishing determine outcomes in terms of both spawning potential and fishery yield. We will use an individual-based modelling (IBM) approach to identify how patterns of space use by fish/shellfish determine these outcomes when MREIs are introduced into stock areas. Track reconstructions from data storage tags (Module 1), together with information on how movement patterns relate to environmental variations (Module 2), will be used to generate decision rules for simulating animal movements in relation to development areas. Targeting behaviour and response to exclusion zones by fishers will be modelled based on analysis of VMS data for control areas (Module 2). The IBM framework will be applied to assess the fishery implications of MREI scenarios, particularly in relation to targets and thresholds for sustainable exploitation.
Module 5. Determining the social and economic costs and benefits of ‘spillover’ from MREIs to inform marine spatial planning decisions
Working with local stakeholders (commercial fishers, recreational anglers, MMO, IFCA and MREI developers), the costs and benefits of fishing exclusion zones in MREIs will be assessed. Through earlier research projects that members of the team have conducted, we have established close links with fishers and local agencies such as the IFCAs (formerly known as Sea Fisheries Authorities). We will use these links to collect both primary and secondary data. The areas used for fishing by commercial fishers and recreational anglers is being gathered from the stakeholders using maps of the case study sites during face-to-face interviews. The fishing areas used will further be confirmed through secondary data on vessel sightings and VMS data (including that from Module 2) that will be collated from local IFCAs and the MMO for all vessels that use the areas around MREIs in case study sites. We will collate the position (latitude and longitude), the activity (fishing or steaming) and the gear type used for all vessels including both under and over 15 metre vessels, and use these data to explore changes in areas used for fishing over at least two years. Correlations between data on the areas used for fishing and the data on animal movement, abundance and distribution (Modules 1 and 2) will be performed to understand how fishers are adapting to any spillover effect.
To evaluate local stakeholders perceived changes to income, fishing costs and businesses as a result of the fishing exclusion zones in MREIs, questionnaires will be developed for commercial fishers, recreational anglers and charter boat operators. The questionnaires will be designed to elicit the impacts that establishing MREIs has on respondents’ costs and incomes. In order to explore changes that respondents perceive to be due to the MREI, repeat surveys (one each year) will be conducted. The questionnaires will include open and close ended questions to gather specific information about changes in fishing activities including number and type of gear used, costs of fishing operations and income from fishing. Costs incurred by commercial and recreational fishers will be analysed based on a combination of the costs data collected directly from fishers e.g. daily cost of fishing, and data on the vessels location and number of trips from the sightings dataset. Income data will focus primarily on the vessels income from fishing (based on wet weight and value of landings data collated from MMO) but will also consider the gross earnings of those vessels that are used for other purposes such as charter hire by recreational anglers.
To further explore the perceptions and attitudes of fishers, their leaders and businesses towards the establishment of fisheries exclusion zones around MREIs, the questionnaires will include a section that will directly seek respondent’s views to such co-location. These questions will use Likert scale responses by asking respondents agreement/disagreement with particular statements such as their level of support for establishing no-take areas in MREI arrays. The questionnaires will also ask respondents to rank or rate changes in catches, displacement effects and conflicts before and after the establishment of MREIs, and mechanisms of how such conflicts could be addressed. The scaled data on whether a respondent agreed or disagreed to given statements will be used to calculate mean scores for each issue under investigation for respondents grouped by gear types and stakeholder category. Statistical analyses including analysis of variance and ordination analysis (e.g. non-metric-multidimensional scaling) will be used to examine differences in mean scores between fishermen, their leaders and charter operators and the similarity or dissimilarity in their scoring. This analysis will refine our understanding of the socio-economics of co-locating marine protected areas and MREIs and provide sound information for use in marine spatial planning.
Future modules
Several additional modules are being examined.

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