Climatologies derived from satellite data (1998 to 2007) were used to elucidate seasonal and latitudinal patterns in winds, sea surface temperature (SST), and chlorophyll concentrations (chl) over the Oregon shelf. These were further used to reveal oceanographic conditions normally associated with harmful algal blooms (HABs) and toxic shellfish events along the Oregon coast. South of 43°N, around Cape Blanco, summer upwelling started earlier and finished later than north of 43°N. Spring blooms occur when light limitation is relieved, before the initiation of upwelling, and secondary, more intense blooms occur approximately 2 wk after upwelling is established. North of 45°N, SST and chl are heavily influenced by the Columbia River plume, which delays upwelling-driven cooling of the surface coastal ocean in spring, and causes phytoplankton blooms (as indicated by increased chl) earlier than expected. The presence of saxitoxin in coastal shellfish, which causes paralytic shellfish poisoning, was generally associated with late summer upwelling. The presence of domoic acid in shellfish, which leads to amnesic shellfish poisoning, was greatest during the transition between upwelling and downwelling regimes. This work demonstrates that satellite data can indicate physical situations when HABs are more likely to occur, thus providing a management tool useful in predicting or monitoring HABs.

Phytoplankton species were enumerated from 72 samples collected biweekly during the upwelling season (May to August) of 2001−2010 to test for effects of interannual variations in upwelling and decadal basin-scale variability on phytoplankton species composition and community structure. Cluster analysis of phytoplankton community structure identified 7 groups; 1 group was dominated by dinoflagellates while the other groups were dominated by diatoms but with variable ratios of diatom-to-dinoflagellate abundance ranging from 4 to 847. The most abundant diatoms were Thalassiosira spp., Chaetoceros spp., Asterionellopsis glacialis, Cylindrotheca closterium, Leptocylindrus spp., Nitzschia and Pseudo-nitzschia spp., with dominance varying among the 7 groups. Variations in phytoplankton community structure were not related to the strength of upwelling within a given year; rather, differences were related to when a sample was collected within an upwelling/downwelling cycle. Community structure was also analyzed by non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination. The x-axis scores of the ordination, which is an index of community structure, were correlated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) but not with seasonally averaged coastal upwelling strength. Positive values of the index corresponded with positive PDO years (2002−2007), and negative index values with negative PDO years (2001, 2008−2010). Thus changes in the sign of the PDO seem to be more influential in explaining the interannual variations in phytoplankton community structure than seasonally averaged coastal upwelling.

Lipids and fatty acids (FA) were investigated in 4 species of forage fish: northern anchovy Engraulis mordax, Pacific sardine Sardinops sagax, Pacific herring Clupea pallasi, and whitebait smelt Allosmerus elongatus, for their ability to serve as biological indicators of ocean conditions in the California Current large marine ecosystem (CCLME). Samples were collected during the oceanographically contrasting years of 2005 and 2006. Upwelling was severely curtailed in the spring and early summer of 2005, leading to delayed biological productivity, whereas upwelling was relatively normal in spring 2006. Principal components analysis described 78% of the variance within the lipid and FA dataset using the first 2 principal components. We found significant intra-and interspecific, interannual, and seasonal differences in lipid and FA profiles using univariate and permutation-based multivariate analysis of variance. Indicator species analysis showed distinct lipid and FA properties associated with each fish species. Using the ratio of docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3) to eicosapentaeonic acid (C20:5n-3), we detected a transition from a diet composed primarily of dinoflagellate origin in early 2005 to a diet resulting from diatom-based productivity by late summer 2006. This shift was due to interannual differences in primary production, which was confirmed through phytoplankton sampling. Our study demonstrates that lipid and FA biomarkers in the forage fish community can provide information on ocean conditions and productivity that affect food web structure in the CCLME.KEY WORDS: Forage fish · Small coastal pelagics · Lipids · Fatty acids · Bottom-up effects · Warm ocean conditions · EPA · DHA Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 405: [71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85] 2010 mate change on temperate marine food webs. Likewise, indicators of change in marine trophic dynamics are needed to improve ecosystem-based models that are under development for fisheries management (Fulton et al. 2005). Investigating lipids and fatty acids (FA) in forage fish will provide insight into physiological mechanisms that determine how intra-and interannual changes in the ocean environment alter the availability (to higher trophic levels) of energy from primary production.Forage fish are key species for evaluating climatemediated changes in prey availability because they are planktivorous and because their population numbers fluctuate between dominant taxa over contrasting environmental periods (Chavez et al. 2003). We examined 4 abundant species of forage fish over 2 yr of contrasting oceanographic conditions and productivity (2005 and 2006) in the northern California Current large marine ecosystem (CCLME). The forage fish were northern anchovy Engraulis mordax, Pacific sardine Sardinops sagax, Pacific herring Clupea pallasi, and whitebait smelt Allosmerus elongatus. Although changes in forage prey quantity have direct effects on predator pop...

Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) integrates the connections between land, air, water and all living things including human beings and their institutions. The location of the Irish Sea, between major historical industrial centres, its history of use and exploitation, combined with its hydrographic characteristics, have led to the current patterns of use. EBM efforts have been ongoing for over a decade but political boundaries have led to fragmented governance. The forthcoming UK exit from the European Union (EU) may pose further challenges. This chapter examines articulations between political boundaries, spatial scales of Marine Spatial Planning and nested social-ecological systems including the gyre in the western Irish Sea, and Dublin Bay. Examples of emerging best practices are provided and the challenges of data availability for ecosystem services are considered.

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