The goal of the Science for Ecosystem-based Management Initiative (SEMI) is to research the ecological interactions and processes necessary to sustain ecosystem composition, structure and function in the environments in which fish and fisheries exist. Understanding the factors that sustain the ecosystem will provide the scientific underpinnings needed to inform ecosystem-based management of groundfish in the Pacific Northwest.

Ecosystem-based management can be an important complement to existing approaches of fisheries management. By understanding the complex ecological relationships within which exploited fishes exist, researchers can better anticipate the effects of the ecosystem on fisheries and the effects of fishing on the ecosystem.

The SEMI will draw upon expertise from within and outside the NWFSC to address the following five research foci:

• Interactions of a target fish stock with predators, competitors and prey
• The effects of weather and climate on target species and their ecological communities
• The effects of fishing on marine ecosystems and fish habitat
• Interactions between fishes and their habitat
• Marine Protected Areas as a fisheries conservation and management tool