History of Marine Animal Populations
Encyclopedia
The History of Marine Animal Populations (HMAP) is an international, interdisciplinary research
initiative (www.hmapcoml.org http://www.hmapcoml.org). It comprises the historical component of the Census of Marine Life
(www.coml.org http://www.coml.org) and is designed to measure and explain patterns of long-term change in the diversity, distribution and abundance of life in the ocean
s.
Aim
The overarching aim of the HMAP project is to improve knowledge and understanding of the interaction of humankind with the marine environment since the earliest times. Attaining this goal will yield information on long-term changes in stock abundance, the historic ecological impact of large-scale human harvesting and the role of marine resource utilization in the development of human societies. Such evidence, in turn, will broaden and deepen knowledge of the contemporary condition of the marine environment and provide the time series and ecological insight required to assess the future sustainability
of marine animal populations.
Activities
HMAP engages in three principal types of activity:
Discipline Building: to further the twin sub-disciplines of marine environmental history
and historical ecology
, HMAP organises graduate summer school
s, conferences and workshops; the HMAP approach is firmly embedded in the teaching and research effort of several universities around the globe: Roskilde University
and the Technical University, Denmark, University of Hull
and Cambridge University, UK
, University of New Hampshire
and University of Connecticut
, USA
, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
, Murdoch University
, Australia
, Simon Bolivar University, Caracas
, Venezuela
, University of Haifa
, Israel
, and the European University of St Petersburg, Russia
.
Research: to enhance knowledge and understanding of ecosystem dynamics, HMAP sponsors teams of historian
s, archaeologists, marine ecologists, biologist
s and fisheries scientists
to analyse historical and environmental data relating to the exploitation by humans of marine animal populations over the last 2000 years. This research effort is currently focused on the following regional and thematic case studies (c = research completed):
Outreach and legacy: to maximize public dissemination and secure the legacies of the project HMAP is currently focusing on regional policy briefings and web products while ensuring the publication of research syntheses.
An Interdisciplinary Approach
The structure and vision of HMAP highlights the power of an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the long term development of life in the ocean. Historical research reveals what we can know about the history of ocean exploitation and changing coastal communities. Ecological and historical analysis offers insight into the changes in human and natural systems over historical time. It also reveals what we do not yet know and, in some cases, cannot know about these changes. Only the interdisciplinary combination of expertise can fully develop the scope of what is known, unknown and unknowable about the environmental history of the oceans.
Results
The findings of the HMAP research effort are disseminated in the following forms:
Research Datasets: the HMAP Data Pages (www.hull.ac.uk/hmap http://www.hull.ac.uk/hmap) is an open access facility that currently holds approximately 750,000 records drawn from historical archives relating to the case studies listed above.
Books: among the books produced by the HMAP team are:
Oceans Past: Management Insights from the History of Marine Animal Populations, edited by David J. Starkey, P. Holm & Michaela Barnard (London, 2007)
Fisheries Research, HMAP Special Issue, edited by B.R. MacKenzie & H. Ojaveer (2007)
Early Human Impact on Megamolluscs, edited by Andrzej Antczak and Roberto Cipriani (Archaeopress, Publishers on British Archaeological Reports, 2008)
Il Mare Com’era, The English title: Human-environment interactions in the Mediterranean Sea since the Roman period until the 19th century: an historical and ecological perspective on fishing activities, (eds.),R. Gertwagen, S. Raicevich, T. Fortibuoni, O. Giovanardi, (Chioggia, 2008)
Dutch Herring, An Environmental History, c. 1600-1860, Bo Poulsen (Amsterdam, 2008)
An Environmental History of North Sea Ling and Cod Fisheries, 1840-1914, René Taudal Poulsen (Fisheries and Maritime Museum, Esbjerg, 2007)
The Exploited Seas: New Directions in Marine Environmental History, edited by P. Holm, T.D. Smith & David J Starkey (St John’s, Nfld, 2001)
Shifting Baselines in the Sea: Using the Past to Inform the Present, edited by J.B.C. Jackson, E.S. Sala (University of California Press
, in review)
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
initiative (www.hmapcoml.org http://www.hmapcoml.org). It comprises the historical component of the Census of Marine Life
Census of Marine Life
The Census of Marine Life was a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a 10-year scientific initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans...
(www.coml.org http://www.coml.org) and is designed to measure and explain patterns of long-term change in the diversity, distribution and abundance of life in the ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
s.
Aim
The overarching aim of the HMAP project is to improve knowledge and understanding of the interaction of humankind with the marine environment since the earliest times. Attaining this goal will yield information on long-term changes in stock abundance, the historic ecological impact of large-scale human harvesting and the role of marine resource utilization in the development of human societies. Such evidence, in turn, will broaden and deepen knowledge of the contemporary condition of the marine environment and provide the time series and ecological insight required to assess the future sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
of marine animal populations.
Activities
HMAP engages in three principal types of activity:
Discipline Building: to further the twin sub-disciplines of marine environmental history
Environmental history
Environmental history, a branch of historiography, is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time. In contrast to other historical disciplines, it emphasizes the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs. Environmental historians study how humans both shape their...
and historical ecology
Historical ecology
Historical ecology is a research program that focuses on the interaction between humans and the environments in which they live. Rather than concentrating on one specific event, historical ecology aims to study and understand this interaction across both time and space in order to gain a full...
, HMAP organises graduate summer school
Summer school
Summer school is a school, or a program generally sponsored by a school or a school district, that teaches students during the summer vacation....
s, conferences and workshops; the HMAP approach is firmly embedded in the teaching and research effort of several universities around the globe: Roskilde University
Roskilde University
Roskilde University is a Danish public university founded in 1972 and located in Trekroner in the Eastern part of Roskilde. The university awards bachelor and master's degrees as well as Ph.D...
and the Technical University, Denmark, University of Hull
University of Hull
The University of Hull, known informally as Hull University, is an English university, founded in 1927, located in Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire...
and Cambridge University, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...
and University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Murdoch University
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Simon Bolivar University, Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, University of Haifa
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and the European University of St Petersburg, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Research: to enhance knowledge and understanding of ecosystem dynamics, HMAP sponsors teams of historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
s, archaeologists, marine ecologists, biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
s and fisheries scientists
Fisheries science
Fisheries science is the academic discipline of managing and understanding fisheries. It is a multidisciplinary science, which draws on the disciplines of oceanography, marine biology, marine conservation, ecology, population dynamics, economics and management to attempt to provide an integrated...
to analyse historical and environmental data relating to the exploitation by humans of marine animal populations over the last 2000 years. This research effort is currently focused on the following regional and thematic case studies (c = research completed):
-
- c South West African Shelf (lead: University of Cape TownUniversity of Cape TownThe University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
) - c South East Australian Shelf and Slope (CSIRO, TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
) - South West Pacific (NIWANiwaNiwa or NIWA can refer to:* Niwa District, Aichi, a district in Japan* National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research of New Zealand* Nintendo Independent Wiki Alliance, a group of independent fan wikis that focus on various Nintendo franchises....
, Wellington, NZ) - Indonesian Shark Fishery (Murdoch, Western AustraliaMurdoch, Western AustraliaMurdoch is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Melville. Murdoch University and St John of God Hospital Murdoch are located in Murdoch, as will be the proposed Fiona Stanley Hospital. The suburb is named after Sir Walter Murdoch....
) - Filipino Whale Fishery (ManilaManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
) - Taiwanese Tuna Fishery (Murdoch, Western Australia)
- Caribbean SeaCaribbean SeaThe Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
(Scripps Institution, San Diego) - c NewfoundlandNewfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
& Grand BanksGrand BanksThe Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a group of underwater plateaus southeast of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. These areas are relatively shallow, ranging from in depth. The cold Labrador Current mixes with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream here.The mixing of these waters...
(University of Hull) - Gulf of Maine Cod Fishery (University of New Hampshire)
- WhiteWhite SeaThe White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
and Barents Seas (European University at St Petersburg) - Baltic SeaBaltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
(Estonian Marine Institute/DIFRES, CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
) - North Sea (medieval) (University of York)
- North Sea (modern) (University of Hull, Roskilde University)
- Mediterranean and Black SeaBlack SeaThe Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
(Universities of Haifa & Southern DenmarkUniversity of Southern DenmarkThe University of Southern Denmark, with campuses located in the southwestern part of Denmark - i.e. Funen, Southern Jutland and Sealand - is a research and educational institution with deep regional roots and an international outlook. Reaching even further south, the university offers a number of...
) - World Whaling (University of New Hampshire)
- Mega Molluscs (Simon Bolivar University, Venezuela)
- History of Nearshore (Roskilde University & Suffolk UniversitySuffolk UniversitySuffolk University is a private, non-sectarian, university located in Boston, Massachusetts and with over 16,000 students it is the third largest university in Boston...
, MA)
- c South West African Shelf (lead: University of Cape Town
Outreach and legacy: to maximize public dissemination and secure the legacies of the project HMAP is currently focusing on regional policy briefings and web products while ensuring the publication of research syntheses.
An Interdisciplinary Approach
The structure and vision of HMAP highlights the power of an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the long term development of life in the ocean. Historical research reveals what we can know about the history of ocean exploitation and changing coastal communities. Ecological and historical analysis offers insight into the changes in human and natural systems over historical time. It also reveals what we do not yet know and, in some cases, cannot know about these changes. Only the interdisciplinary combination of expertise can fully develop the scope of what is known, unknown and unknowable about the environmental history of the oceans.
Results
The findings of the HMAP research effort are disseminated in the following forms:
Research Datasets: the HMAP Data Pages (www.hull.ac.uk/hmap http://www.hull.ac.uk/hmap) is an open access facility that currently holds approximately 750,000 records drawn from historical archives relating to the case studies listed above.
Books: among the books produced by the HMAP team are:
Oceans Past: Management Insights from the History of Marine Animal Populations, edited by David J. Starkey, P. Holm & Michaela Barnard (London, 2007)
Fisheries Research, HMAP Special Issue, edited by B.R. MacKenzie & H. Ojaveer (2007)
Early Human Impact on Megamolluscs, edited by Andrzej Antczak and Roberto Cipriani (Archaeopress, Publishers on British Archaeological Reports, 2008)
Il Mare Com’era, The English title: Human-environment interactions in the Mediterranean Sea since the Roman period until the 19th century: an historical and ecological perspective on fishing activities, (eds.),R. Gertwagen, S. Raicevich, T. Fortibuoni, O. Giovanardi, (Chioggia, 2008)
Dutch Herring, An Environmental History, c. 1600-1860, Bo Poulsen (Amsterdam, 2008)
An Environmental History of North Sea Ling and Cod Fisheries, 1840-1914, René Taudal Poulsen (Fisheries and Maritime Museum, Esbjerg, 2007)
The Exploited Seas: New Directions in Marine Environmental History, edited by P. Holm, T.D. Smith & David J Starkey (St John’s, Nfld, 2001)
Shifting Baselines in the Sea: Using the Past to Inform the Present, edited by J.B.C. Jackson, E.S. Sala (University of California Press
University of California Press
University of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
, in review)