About this Project

A collaboration between MDM students and the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia is creating new ways to understand human impacts on fish populations. MDM students are producing dynamic visualizations of marine ecosystems based on an integration with the Ecopath ecosystem modeling approach, used around the world for ecosystem-based management. The visualizations are to be used for high-level Ocean Summits where government officials, environmental groups, and commercial fishers will use the interactive tools to help make informed policy decisions.

The first phase of the project involves modeling native species of fish and typical seabed ecologies for the Gulf of Mexico. Future phases of the project will produce visualizations for other regions as well as games designed to generate sustainable strategies for fisheries around the world.