Modelling of fish behaviour

Abstract

This session addressed the aims of integrating the scientific knowledge of fishery scientists, behavioural ecologists, and mathematical modellers in a multidisciplinary approach to the study of fish behaviour in exploited ecosystems. The following main topics were considered as relevant for this session. (i) Mechanistic and descriptive approaches in modelling of fish behaviour. (ii) Individual-based and other simulation models of natural and fishing-gear-induced behaviour. (iii) Modelling of adaptive changes in fish behaviour of exploited fish stocks in response to selective fishing. (iv) Development of numerical models that incorporate fish behaviour into estimating resource abundance. (v) Development of statistical models to handle a large amount of behavioural data, such as that from data storage tags and other acoustic instruments. The session opened with a keynote speech by Professor Jean-Louis Deneubourg, ‘‘Patterns and Group-Living Organisms’’. In addition, 10 oral presentations and 2 posters were presented during this session. The majority of the contributions focused on topic 2, with four presentations on gear-induced behaviour and three on naturally induced behaviour. There was one presentation on topic 1. Unfortunately, no presentations were given on topic 3; this may reflect a lack of relevant data, but that would make the topic suitable for a modelling approach. On topic 4 there was one presentation. Two verbal presentations were given on topic 5, as were two posters. The shortage of presentations on a topic is an indication of where there are gaps in knowledge and where additional research is needed. During the discussions following the presentations, the keynote speaker Professor Jean-Louis Deneubourg pointed out that the approach used to develop models on fish behaviour is similar to that used for other groups of living animals. The models presented during this session can be divided into two categories: large-scale phenomena (e.g. models on migration, long-term dynamics of schools) and short-term models (e.g. models on fishing operations, behaviour in relation to gears).