Speaker: Brian Wells, SWFSC & NWFSC Fish Ecology Division, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service

Topic: Process studies to quantify ecosystem dynamics in the California Current

I review a suite of biophysical factors in the Northeast Pacific Ocean Basin and California Current shelf ecosystem that directly or indirectly relate to forage, Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and seabird productivity in central California. The synthesis of our work over the last decade provides a framework for integrating ecosystem process studies with empirical hypothesis testing to benefit fisheries management.  Our hypothesis includes seasonality (phenology) as a key element determining forage, Chinook salmon, and seabird productivities. I will also show recent, promising advances in agent-based approaches to modeling these dynamics realistically.