Mare Cognitum - Nordic Seas Ecosystem

Mare Cognitum 1993 - 2001

Mare Cognitum aimed to identify the major factors and mechanisms
causing variability in the Nordic Seas ecosystem. Insight into the
functioning of the ecosystem will serve as a basis for development of
prognoses of ocean climate, biological production and state of the
fish stocks. This is vital knowledge for our future goal: an
ecosystem approach to management of the resource withing the Nordic
Seas.

Mare Cognitum was designed to look at the following issues: Large
scale circulation; climate and Arctic front dynamics; climate and deep
water formation; climate and water mass exchange in the Nordic Seas;
Hydrodynamic numerical modelling; organic carbon fluxes and budgets in
the Greenland Sea; Climate variability and biological production;
vertical mixing, stratification and primary production; the effect of
nutrients, light and turbulence on primary and secondary production;,
Life histories and population dynamics of Calanus spp.; Interactions
and feeding ecology of pelagic fish populations; Migration and feeding
of Norwegian spring spawning herring; Climate variability ,
zooplankton production and growth of Norwegian spring-spawning
herring; Biology of salmon during the oceanic feeding migrations;
Genetics and population structure of Calanus and blue whiting;
Abundance estimation of zooplankton and fish by broad-band acoustics.

The programme is currently completing its synthesis phase.

Information supplied by Dr. Melle Webjoern