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EurOCEAN 1998

Ocean Food Webs and Economic Productivity

EurOCEAN 1998 (1-3 July 1998, Lisbon, Portugal) formed part of the EXPO’98 held in Lisbon during the summer of 1998. The conference highlighted that the continued economic productivity of the oceans depends on the maintenance of their ecological integrity, much threatened by a global fisheries crisis, manifesting itself in runaway fishing mortality and vanishing social benefits. The conference reviewed the status of ocean ecosystems and the magnitude of fisheries impact on ocean ecosystems and their productivity. The conference report presented research community views and approaches to mitigate fisheries impacts with emphasis on Marine Protected Areas. The report focused on how institutions and actors may contribute to resolving the crisis of fisheries, and the ecological threats to ocean productivity that emanate from this crisis.