Allora! Last week André Punt and I visited the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy to lead a workshop on Multi-species Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) for the Advanced School on Multispecies modelling Approaches for ecosystem-based marine Resource Management in the MEDiterranean Sea (AMARE-MED 2018). The AMARE-ED aims to establish best practice multi-species assessment methods through review, evaluation, and comparison of models and approaches by providing annual courses. Andre co-taught the first AMARE-ED course on Models of Intermediate ComplExity (i.e., MICE models) and Gadget, taught by Valerio Bartolino (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), last year in Sicily and was most excited for the invitation to work with the advanced school again. This year we were fortunate to teach 30 workshop participants from many countries around the Mediterranean Sea.

In a mere five days, Andre lead us through the basics of performing MSE and constructing multi-species models using Ecopath, Ecosim, and Rpath (GitHub). The group bonded in the air-conditioned basement computer lab [i.e., the ideal coding environment] as André introduced MSE, designing operating models, selecting candidate management strategies, coding and implementing MSE, presenting MSE results to fisheries managers, and using R and Rpath to code a multi-species MSE with technical interactions. Workshop participants completed hands-on exercises covering: coding a MSE based on Potential Biological Removals (Wade, 1998); coding a MSE with technical interactions; setting up an Ecopath model in Rpath; conditioning a Rpath model using optimization in R; and a culminating project to code a multi-species MSE with technical interactions using Rpath, compare management strategies, and present their findings. This last exercise was truly the most rewarding experience for both André and the workshop participants because it provided an opportunity to apply all that was learned in one creative (and lightly competitive) group assignment. Ultimately, this was one of the first times that a multi-species model in Ecopath/Rpath incorporating technical interactions was included in an MSE framework!

Our Italian getaway was not just all work! We learned about three examples of MSEs being developed for Mediterranean Sea fisheries from local fisheries scientists. Betulla Morello, representing the GFCM, presented on “Management Strategy Evaluation towards providing advice within the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean”. Piera Carpi, representing the CEFAS, discussed “A ‘shortcut’ MSE using a non-equilibrium simulator”. Finally, Igor Celic, representing OGS, shared their work on “Multiple ecosystem simulations as a tool for evaluation of management measures: the case of the EU Landing Obligation”. We then embarked on an excursion to the Miramare Marine Protected Area, a fifteen minute walk from the institute to learn about one of the oldest and smallest MPAs in Italy. Then workshop participants had the opportunity to go on a guided snorkeling tour of the MPA or on a tour of the mussel farms in the Gulf of Trieste. The day closed with a traditional dinner by the sea with good company! André’s doppelgänger was sighted at a nearby salsa lesson. Or perhaps it was really André—the world may never know.

André and I are grateful for the steering committee, supporting organizations, ICTP institute, and most of all the workshop participants for the invitation and enthusiasm for learning. We are eager to see the projects these scientists will pursue in the future!

The 5^th IMBIZO (Zulu word for gathering) took place at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute from 2 – 5 October. The meeting involved three workshops, one of which was “Management Strategy Evaluation: Achieving transparency in natural resource management by quantitatively bridging social and natural science uncertainties”. This workshop was co-chaired by Ingrid van Putten (CSIRO), Cisco Werner (NOAA) and ex-Punt-labber Gavin Fay (now an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth). André Punt gave the keynote address outlining the history of Management Strategy Evaluation and the challenges applying it. The Workshop also included a talk by SAFS alum Ana Parma and talks that covered the gamut from natural to social science. An outcome from the workshop is a planned paper on a general framework for providing decision support – watch this space..

André Punt attended the final Symposium of the MyFish project. His keynote address Strategic Management Decision Making in a Complex World: Quantifying, Understanding and Using Trade-offs outlined how Management Strategy Evaluation can be used to compare alternative management options and how statistics and plots can be used to highlight trade-offs among the options. PuntLab alum Jim Thorson was one of the session leads as was Ocean Modelling Forum co-Director Phil Levin. The conference included five primary sessions: “Science and Management in a Societal Setting”, “Identifying Trade-offs and Conflicting Objectives”, “Incorporating Knowledge on Trade-Offs and Conflicting Objectives into Decision Making”, “Targets and Limits in a Variable World”, and “Practical Implementation of Targets and Limits: Institutional Frameworks which Deliver”. The papers presented to the conference will be published in the ICES Journal of Marine Science (André’s paper is already accepted).

Hear yea, hear yea! Chantel Wetzel  has won a NOAA Gold Medal for her work on data-moderate stock assessment models. Wetzel, along with Puntlab alumnus Jason Cope,  E.J. Dick and Alec MacCall were nominated by NMFS “for developing an innovative method that triples the number of high-quality stock assessments and increases allowable catch limits for fishermen. “

Way to go Chantel!