Cold-water shellfish as harvestable resources and important ecosystem players

Abstract

Abstract The symposium, Shellfish—Resources and Invaders of the North, took place 5–7 November 2019 in Tromsø, Norway. Approximately 110 participants presented and discussed 60 talks and 25 posters. Of these, ten articles are published in this symposium issue. The goal of this symposium was to discuss the role of shellfish, both as harvestable resources and as important ecosystem players in northern hemisphere cold marine environments. To provide perspective for the symposium, the development of four major crustacean fisheries (northern shrimp, snow crab, Homarus, Norway lobster) are reviewed. Our review showed that landings of all these fisheries are still in a state of flux due to inherent population dynamics, fishing, and climate change. The talks and posters covered a broad range of state-of-the-art bioecological knowledge and present challenges in the assessment and management of the most ecologically and/or commercially important cold-water shellfish species belonging to the phyla Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Echinodermata. Various alternative harvesting and management techniques were presented along with perspectives for shellfish aquaculture. Methods and models for stock assessment were thoroughly covered as well as the ecological role of shellfish, their population dynamics, new insights into their biology and genetics, and their changing distribution and significance as invasive species.