Shellfish productivity in the Irish Sea: Working towards a sustainable future (SUSFISH)

SUSFISH will produce guidelines for future fisheries management, ensuring sustainable development of the shellfish industry in Ireland and Wales for the next 50-100 years. This will be achieved by assessing the effects of climate change (via oceanographic models) on shellfish productivity in the Irish Sea and determining adaptation or mitigation strategies for the industry in the cross border TC area, including recommendations for protection of certain areas under Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). Aspects to be included are how current commercial shellfish productivity in the Irish Sea will respond to changes in temperature, salinity, water quality (eutrophication via organic and inorganic nutrients, acidification), sea level rise and changes in ocean current regimes. A range of climate change scenarios will be assessed from the IPCC worst-case scenario to conditions in the present day. SUSFISH will have significant socio-economic benefit for both Wales and Ireland, and will also be of international importance, as the project addresses issues that are of global concern.