A data-limited method for assessing cumulative fishing risk on bycatch

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 837-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shijie Zhou ◽  
Ross M Daley ◽  
Michael Fuller ◽  
Cathy M Bulman ◽  
Alistair J Hobday
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Cumulative Risk ◽  
Additive Model ◽  
Mixture Distribution ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Distribution Model ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Bayesian Mixture ◽  
Gear Efficiency

Abstract To assess fishing effects on data-poor species, impact can be derived from spatial overlap between species distribution and fishing effort and gear catchability. Here, we enhance the existing sustainability assessment for fishing effect method by estimating gear efficiency and heterogeneous density from sporadic catch data. We apply the method to two chondrichthyan bycatch species, Bight Skate and Draughtboard Shark in Australia, to assess cumulative fishing mortality (Fcum) from multiple fisheries. Gear efficiency is estimated from a Bayesian mixture distribution model and fish density is predicted by a generalized additive model. These results, combined with actual fishing effort, allow estimation of fishing mortality in each sector and subsequently, the Fcum. Risk is quantified by comparing Fcum with reference points based on life history parameters. When only the point estimates were considered, our result indicates that for the period 2009 and 2010 Bight Skate caught in 14 fisheries was at high cumulative risk (Fcum ≥ Flim) while Draughtboard Shark caught by 19 fisheries was at low cumulative risk (Fcum ≤ Fmsy). Because of the high cost of conducting cumulative risk assessments, we recommend examining the distribution of fishing effort across fisheries before carrying out the assessments.

Sustainability assessment for fishing effects (SAFE) on highly diverse and data-limited fish bycatch in a tropical prawn trawl fishery

2009 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shijie Zhou ◽  
Shane P. Griffiths ◽  
Margaret Miller
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Fishery Management ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Point Estimates ◽  
Large Numbers

A new sustainability assessment for fishing effects (SAFE) method was used to assess the biological sustainability of 456 teleost bycatch species in Australia’s Northern Prawn Fishery. This method can quantify the effects of fishing on sustainability for large numbers of species with limited data. The fishing mortality rate of each species based on its spatial distribution (estimated from detection/non-detection data) and the catch rate based on fishery-dependent or fishery-independent data were estimated. The sustainability of each species was assessed by two biological reference points approximated from life-history parameters. The point estimates indicated that only two species (but 21 when uncertainty was included) had estimated fishing mortality rates greater than a fishing mortality rate corresponding to the maximum sustainable yield. These two species also had their upper 95% confidence intervals (but not their point estimates) greater than their minimum unsustainable fishing mortality rates. The fact that large numbers of species are sustainable can be attributed mainly to their wide distributions in unfished areas, low catch rates within fished areas and short life spans (high biological productivity). The present study demonstrates how SAFE may be a cost-effective quantitative assessment method to support ecosystem-based fishery management.

Setting biological reference points for sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) allowing for the spatial distribution of productivity and fishing effort

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 650-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Smith ◽  
Jessica A. Sameoto ◽  
Craig J. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Habitat Suitability ◽  
Spatial Model ◽  
Stock Assessment ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Placopecten Magellanicus ◽  
Fishing Vessels

Management for the major sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) fisheries in Canada is based on maximum sustainable yield (MSY) biomass and fishing mortality reference points applied to the whole stock, under the assumption that fishing mortality is uniformly distributed in space. However, scallop fishing vessels concentrate fishing in areas that consistently exhibit high densities resulting in a nonuniform spatial distribution of fishing effort. This study applies a spatial model for fishing effort derived from satellite vessel monitoring system data, scallop habitat suitability maps, and relative scallop density from a spatial stock assessment model to evaluate precautionary approach reference points in support of sustainable management. Target harvest rates were evaluated in terms of MSY for the higher habitat suitability areas. The results indicated that although MSY for the spatial model were similar to those when assuming a uniform distribution of effort, the biomass and catch rates over all areas were higher. The spatial model predicted that the MSY would be taken with less fishing effort, potentially lessening the benthic impacts from the scallop fishery.

scholarly journals Evolutionary impact assessment of the North Sea plaice fishery

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (7) ◽  
pp. 1126-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian M. Mollet ◽  
Jan Jaap Poos ◽  
Ulf Dieckmann ◽  
Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Maximum Yield ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Evolutionary Response ◽  
The Impact

There is growing evidence that fishing causes evolution in life-history traits that affect the productivity of fish stocks. Here we explore the impact of fisheries-induced evolution (FIE) on the productivity of North Sea plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) using an ecogenetic, individual-based model by comparing management scenarios with and without an evolutionary response. Under status-quo management, plaice evolve towards smaller size at age, earlier maturation, and higher reproductive investment. Current reference points of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and corresponding fishing-mortality rate (FMSY) that ignore FIE will decrease and cannot be considered sustainable. The nature and extent of the change through FIE depend on fishing effort and selectivity. The adverse evolutionary effects can be reduced — and even reversed — by implementing a dome-shaped exploitation pattern protecting the large fish. The evolutionarily sustainable maximum yield can be obtained by combining such a dome-shaped exploitation pattern with a reduction in fishing mortality and an increase in mesh size; it is similar to the MSY that would apply if life-history traits were static. Fisheries managers will need to trade off the short-term loss in yield associated with evolutionarily informed management with the long-term loss in yield FIE causes under evolutionarily uninformed management.

scholarly journals Implications of climate change for the management of North Sea cod (Gadus morhua)

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 1483-1491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence T. Kell ◽  
Graham M. Pilling ◽  
Carl M. O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Gadus Morhua ◽  
Stock Assessment ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Management Procedures

Abstract Robustness of both short-term stock biomass recovery and longer-term sustainable management strategies to different plausible climatic change scenarios were evaluated for North Sea cod (Gadus morhua), where climate was assumed to impact growth and recruitment. In the short term, climate change had little effect on stock recovery, which depends instead upon reducing fishing effort to allow existing year classes to survive to maturity. In the longer term, climate change has greater effects on stock status, but higher yields and biomass can be expected if fishing mortality is reduced. Incorporating environmental covariates in stock assessment predictions will not achieve sustainable resource use. The implications of climate change for biological reference points depend upon the mechanism through which temperature acts on recruitment, i.e. on juvenile survival or carrying capacity. It is not possible to distinguish between these processes with stock assessment data sets alone. However, this study indicates that reference points based on fishing mortality appear more robust to uncertainty than those based on biomass. Ideally, simpler management procedures are required that meet pre-agreed management objectives and are robust to uncertainty about the true dynamics.

scholarly journals Stock assessment and projections incorporating discard estimates in some years: an application to the hake stock in ICES Divisions VIIIc and IXa

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1185-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Fernández ◽  
S. Cerviño ◽  
N. Pérez ◽  
E. Jardim
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Stock Assessment ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Marine Science ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Age Structured ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Fernández, C., Cerviño, S., Pérez, N., and Jardim, E. 2010. Stock assessment and projections incorporating discard estimates in some years: an application to the hake stock in ICES Divisions VIIIc and IXa. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1185–1197. A Bayesian age-structured stock assessment model is developed to take into account available information on discards and to handle gaps in the time-series of discard estimates. The model incorporates mortality attributable to discarding, and appropriate assumptions about how this mortality may change over time are made. The result is a stock assessment that accounts for information on discards while, at the same time, producing a complete time-series of discard estimates. The method is applied to the hake stock in ICES Divisions VIIIc and IXa, for which the available data indicate that some 60% of the individuals caught are discarded. The stock is fished by Spain and Portugal, and for each country, there are discard estimates for recent years only. Moreover, the years for which Portuguese estimates are available are only a subset of those with Spanish estimates. Two runs of the model are performed; one assuming zero discards and another incorporating discards. When discards are incorporated, estimated recruitment and fishing mortality for young (discarded) ages increase, resulting in lower values of the biological reference points Fmax and F0.1 and, generally, more optimistic future stock trajectories under F-reduction scenarios.

scholarly journals Partial fishing mortality per fishing trip: a useful indicator of effective fishing effort in mixed demersal fisheries

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 556-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp ◽  
Niels Daan ◽  
Willem Dekker
Keyword(s):  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Auxiliary Equipment ◽  
Solea Solea ◽  
Seasonal And Spatial Variations ◽  
Sea Beam ◽  
Quota Management ◽  
Engine Power

Abstract Effort management has been proposed as an alternative for quota management in mixed demersal fisheries. It requires a metric to estimate the fishing mortality imposed by a given quantity of nominal fishing effort. Here, we estimate the partial fishing mortality rate imposed by one unit of fishing effort (Fpue) during individual fishing trips and explore the usefulness of this indicator for managing North Sea beam trawlers >300 hp targeting sole (Solea solea) and plaice (Pleuronectes platessa). Fpue is positively related to vessel engine power, and increased annually by 2.8% (sole) and 1.6% (plaice). The positive trend was due to an increase in skipper skills and investment in auxiliary equipment, the replacement of old vessels by new ones and, to a lesser extent, to upgrade engines. The average Fpue imposed per day at sea by a 2000 hp beam trawler was estimated to be 1.0 × 10−5 (sole) and 0.6 × 10−5 (plaice), and it showed substantial seasonal and spatial variations. The Fpue of sole and plaice were negatively related in summer and showed no relationship in winter. The existence of predictive seasonal and spatial patterns in Fpue opens up the possibility of fine-tuning management by directed effort restrictions and uncoupling management of plaice and sole.

scholarly journals Can stock–recruitment points determine which spawning potential ratio is the best proxy for maximum sustainable yield reference points?

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 1075-1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Legault ◽  
Elizabeth N. Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Maximum Sustainable Yield ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Sustainable Yield ◽  
Marine Science ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Scatter Plots ◽  
Stock Recruitment ◽  
Spawning Potential Ratio

Abstract Legault, C. M., and Brooks, E. N. 2013. Can stock–recruitment points determine which spawning potential ratio is the best proxy for maximum sustainable yield reference points? – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 1075–1080. The approach of examining scatter plots of stock–recruitment (S–R) estimates to determine appropriate spawning potential ratio (SPR)-based proxies for FMSY was investigated through simulation. As originally proposed, the approach assumed that points above a replacement line indicate year classes that produced a surplus of spawners, while points below that line failed to achieve replacement. In practice, this has been implemented by determining Fmed, the fishing mortality rate that produces a replacement line with 50% of the points above and 50% below the line. A new variation on this approach suggests FMSY proxies can be determined by examining the distribution of S–R points that are above or below replacement lines associated with specific SPRs. Through both analytical calculations and stochastic results, we demonstrate that this approach is fundamentally flawed and that in some cases the inference is diametrically opposed to the method's intended purpose. We reject this approach as a tool for determining FMSY proxies. We recommend that the current proxy of F40% be maintained as appropriate for a typical groundfish life history.

An Alternative Perspective on Recruitment Overfishing and Biological Reference Points

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 913-918 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. Sissenwine ◽  
J. G. Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Alternative Perspective ◽  
Conventional Models ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Yield Per Recruit ◽  
Spawning Biomass

Biological reference points are used to guide fisheries management decisions. The reference points most often used are expressed in terms of fishing mortality rate (F). Fmsy relates to the maximization of sustainable yield. In principle, it is a most useful reference point, but in practice it is difficult to estimate. Fmax and F0.1 relate to certain levels of yield per recruit and are easily estimated, but they ignore conservation of the resource. Recruitment overfishing has usually been understood to occur when a population has been fished down to a point where recruitment is substantially reduced or fails. It has not been used as a basis for a biological reference point because the definition is vague and cannot be readily related to fishing mortality. Levels of spawning biomass below which recruitment seems to be reduced have been used, but their determination from available data is usually difficult and controversial. We propose an alternative definition of recruitment overfishing in terms of the level of fishing pressure that reduces the spawning biomass of a year class over its lifetime below the spawning biomass of its parents on average. Conventional models and types of data can be used to determine this level of F, denoted as Frep, which clearly relates to the replacement of spawning biomass and thus to sustainability of a population and yield in the long term.

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