The Bay of Biscay project

The Bay of Biscay is important for French fisheries. It is a complex ecosystem that has been scientifically investigated for many years, and has now been chosen by lfremer for a major integrated project for the next decade. The general objectives are: u • To understand interactions between fishing resources, the environment and the human pressure on a regional scale • To determine how social and economic factors control the behaviour of the various system components • To analyse, understand and forecast the evolution of the system according to various climatic and economic scenarios This multidisciplinary project, involving an important lfremer task team of 80 man/ years, was launched in 2001.