This award supports a U.S.-U.K. project development workshop in biological oceanography. The organizers are Gary Kleppel of the Nova University Oceanographic Center, Dania, Florida and Keith Brander of the Fisheries Laboratory, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of the United Kingdom. Scientists from other parts of the United Kingdom (Wales and Scotland) and Ireland will also participate. The purpose of the workshop is to synthesize the current state of knowledge on environmental regulation of productivity in the Irish Sea, and to identify data gaps and research objectives for a future regional cooperative research effort. The Irish Sea is a shallow body of water bordered by Scotland, England, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Island of Man. Although it has been the site of many traditional biological investigations, questions involving the links between natural environmental variability and productivity (including fish production) in the Irish Sea remain unanswered. The workshop will focus on problems concerning the relationships between organisms and their physical environments, pelagic food webs, and the factors limiting larval fish survival. While work on the Irish Sea benefits local regional and scientific interests in the British Isles, it also augments current research on these same questions in the U.S. and in other countries. The workshop provides an opportunity for participants to plan a regional study on the issues of immediate interest to the region and on the broader issue of global climate change and its impact on marine food webs and production.
