Title : Modelling the population dynamic of the
king scallop Pecten maximus in the English
Channel.
Contact : Philippe Cugier [email protected]
Abstract : The king scallop Pecten maximus is an
emblematic and commercially important
species in the English Channel, notably as it
constitutes the first species in landings for the
French fishing fleet in this area. Within the
framework of the ANR COMANCHE project (2011-
2013), which aims is to improve our knowledge of
this species in the whole English Channel, it
is planned to model the king scallops biology
both at individual (ecophysiology) and population
(dynamics of population) scales, in connection
with the ecosystem through a 3D modelling of
the primary production. The work proposed here
will concentrate on 1/ the development of a
population dynamic model of the king scallop
based on models already existing in the laboratory
(for clam (Paphia rhomboïdes) and dog cockle
(Glycymeris glycymeris)), 2/ the spatialisation of
this model at the scale of the English Channel by
its coupling with a 3D hydrodynamics and
primary production model already calibrated and
validated, 3/ its coupling with a model of
individual growth developed by partners of the
ANR project. The objective is to better
understand the determinism of the king scallop
distribution in the English Channel linking
physical and trophic constraints through a
coupled model. Such a tool will be useful to evaluate
the impacts of environmental or anthropogenic
factors on the evolution of king scallop
population.
