PARTICIPATORY MODELLING OF INTEGRATED ECOSYSTEM-BASED MANAGEMENT REGIME FOR INVASIVE CRABS

Most people think of invasive species only as a nuisance with negative impacts on biodiversity and costs to society. However, some invasive species may also bring benefits, and this may prove challenging when deciding on the right management strategy. Both the red king crab and the snow crab are invasive in the Barents Sea and affect native ecosystems. While initially only a nuisance getting entangled in fishing nets, the red king crab has become a significant source of income to fishers that have been allocated quotas. The snow crab has also evolved into a valuable fishery, attracting interest from commercial fishers in Norway, Russia and internationally and has even created conflicts regarding its ownership. While the ecosystem impact is regulated through fishing on red king crab, the management hardly accounts for ecosystem impacts of the snow crab invasion. The PICO project has investigated how one can identify suitable compromises in managing these two invasive crabs. The project underscores the importance of bringing stakeholders together to co-create new knowledge. The aim has been to find solutions that reconcile different value systems. In the first project period, we focused on understanding the knowledge status on the potential ecological impacts of the crabs, developed theoretical models, and tested surveys that were used to captured people's opinions. We hope this will contribute to the solution of conflicts and controversies characteristic of recent management of crabs in Norway. The project has conducted different surveys and experiments to gain new insights into how various groups of stakeholders and the general public judge different aspects of the crabs’ further spread: risks of harmful effects on ecosystems and potential for further spread, new opportunities for commercial development, and valuation of the ecosystem services that the crabs represent a threat to. Including these values in the theoretical models is important in order to understand the different trade-offs in the management of crab fisheries. In the final phase of the project, bioeconomic models are developed that can compare outcomes of different management alternatives and provide input to policy. Representatives of management have provided input to the models, and a stakeholder workshop was organized in 2022 discussing different dilemmas related to the management of the red king crab, followed by another workshop and public events in 2023. Here key findings and experiences were shared, and the project received further input on how stakeholder involvement in these kinds of complex economic analyses may include environmental and other concerns and result in a more far-sighted management of these invasive species.

PICO har kombinert ulike disipliner i tilnærmingen til forvaltningen av invaderende krabber i norske farvann, og prosjektgruppen med deltagere fra Norge, Danmark og Ghana har dannet et sterkt grunnlag for videre tverrfaglig samarbeid. Gjennom å studere spredningen og forvaltningen av kongekrabbe fra ulike økonomiske vinkler, vurdere interessenters og øvrig befolknings oppfatninger av risiko og verdsetting av natur og økosystemtjenester, har prosjektet dannet et bredere kunnskapstilfang for å vurdere ulike forvaltningsalternativer. Arbeidet har skjedd med innspill fra og i dialog med perspektiver fra både interessenter og eksperter. Regelverksendringer og revurderinger av forvaltningsregime for begge arter har vært under diskusjon i senere tid, og resultatene fra PICO vil kunne utgjøre kunnskapsbaserte og godt forankrede bidrag til videre utvikling av politikk og regulering av de nye krabbeartene. De bioøkonomiske modellene utviklet i prosjektet antyder eksempelvis forsiktighet med å skulle utvide sonen for kvoteregulert fiskeri av kongekrabbe, på grunnlag av estimert verdsetting av økosystemtjenester ved begrenset videre spredning hos befolkningen. Dette vil også kunne ha betydelig overføringsverdi for andre invaderende fremmedarter, kjennetegnet av et tilsvarene dilemma som forvaltningen av kongekrabbe og snøkrabben – skadelig for eksisterende økosystemer og bestander, men samtidig en betydelig økonomisk ressurs. PICO har også bidratt til globale diskusjoner omkring denne tematikken, som forventes å bli stadig mer aktuell i årene fremover. Prosjektmedlemmer har deltatt i FAOs workshop fiskerier og invaderende arter under klimaendringer, med bidrag i påfølgende rapport.

The main objective of the proposed project is to co-create new knowledge through participatory modelling and design an integrated ecosystem-based management (EBM) regime for Red King crab (RKC) and Snow crab (SC) in the Barents Sea. Invasive species that are both harmful and valuable at the same time, such as the RKC and the SC are difficult to manage since preferences and risk perceptions for impacts of these species differ among different interest groups. Therefore, effective management of these species must consider these heterogeneities for which new knowledge is required. The project will combine theoretical, applied and interdisciplinary approaches. Among the project partners are natural and social scientists, fisheries managers and stakeholders from the crab fishing industry. The dissemination of results targets relevant users of the knowledge created. First, the project will use stakeholder workshops for knowledge co-creation and knowledge dissemination among the managers of invasive species and RKC and SC stakeholders in Norway. Secondly, Forskningdagene, an annual event for science dissemination, will be used to disseminate the results of the project. Social media and project webpage will be used in the dissemination of both activities and results of the project. The project will also target managers of invasive species in other countries, international organisations and fisheries scientists through scientific publications and a Special Session on management of invasive species at the 2022 International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET) conference. Overall, the project will significantly improve the understanding and management of the growing RKC and SC fisheries in northern Norway, contribute to UN sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and develop management guidelines for RKC and SC in Norway which will be available for use by managers of invasive species in other countries.