Fisheries Centre Research Reports. INCOFISH Ecosystem Models: Transiting from Ecopath to Ecospace
Abstract
A unique combination of environmental factors including primary productivity, water currents, water masses, temperature, salinity and nutrient level in the East China Sea (ECS) has supported a highly productive fishery and rich biodiversity. Since the 1950s, the government of the People’s Republic of China has introduced a range of spatial management measures including marine protected areas (MPAs), fishery protected areas (FPAs) and large-scale seasonal spatial fishing closures to protect the ECS marine resources. Based on the constructed ECS Ecopath and Ecosim model, this study focuses on the spatial model (Ecospace) description. The main spatial information consisting of environmental factors in the ECS are briefly reviewed, and basic data input to the ECS Ecospace model, such as habitat, location of MPAs, allocation of fleets and main scenarios are introduced
