The New England Region

2021 ◽  
pp. 47-111
Author(s):  
Jason S. Link ◽  
Anthony R. Marshak
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Nutrient Loading ◽  
Atlantic Cod ◽  
Coastal Development ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Atlantic Halibut ◽  
Sea Scallop ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Ecosystem Level

This chapter describes the New England region and the major issues facing this marine fisheries ecosystem, and presents some summary statistics related to the 90 indicators of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) criteria. New England contains the second-lowest number of managed taxa among U.S. marine ecosystems, including historically important groundfish species such as Atlantic cod, haddock, Atlantic halibut, commercially valuable Atlantic sea scallop and American lobster, and federally protected Atlantic salmon. The New England social-ecological system is an environment that is responding to the consequences of overfishing, habitat loss, coastal development, and nutrient loading. Overall, EBFM progress has been made at the regional and subregional levels in implementing ecosystem-level planning, advancing knowledge of ecosystem principles, and examining system trade-offs. While much information has been obtained and applied regarding ecosystem-level calculations, syntheses, and models, only partial progress has been observed in using these system-wide emergent properties in management actions. Despite many of these large-scale efforts toward greater scientific understanding of the New England ecosystem, challenges remain toward effectively implementing formalized EBFM management actions and enacting ecosystem-level control rules. Namely, this region currently lacks a completed fishery ecosystem plan (FEP), and only partial progress has occurred toward considering system catch limits for this region. This ecosystem is excelling in the socioeconomic status of its LMRs, and is relatively productive, as related to the determinants of successful LMR management.

The U.S. Pacific Region

2021 ◽  
pp. 343-414
Author(s):  
Jason S. Link ◽  
Anthony R. Marshak
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Loading ◽  
Coastal Development ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Fisheries Resources ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Ecosystem Level ◽  
Pacific Sardine ◽  
Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management

This chapter describes the Pacific region and the major issues facing this marine fisheries ecosystem, and presents some summary statistics related to the 90 indicators of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) criteria. The Pacific contains the sixth-highest number of managed taxa in the nation, including commercially and recreationally important salmon, Pacific sardine, and other coastal pelagic species, Pacific groundfish (e.g., rockfishes, flatfishes, halibut, Pacific hake, Pacific cod, sablefish, lingcod), cephalopods, Dungeness crab, and highly migratory fishes. The Pacific ecosystem emerges as an environment with biota and marine communities that are responding to the consequences of historical overexploitation of its fisheries resources, habitat loss, increasing coastal development, nutrient loading, HABs, ocean acidification, climate forcing, marine heatwaves, and other ocean uses. Overall, EBFM progress has been made at the regional level, and to a certain degree within subregions, in terms of implementing ecosystem-level planning, advancing knowledge of ecosystem principles, and in assessing risks and vulnerabilities to ecosystems through ongoing investigations into climate vulnerability and species prioritizations for stock and habitat assessments. While information has been obtained and calculations and models developed, and some progress has been made toward incorporating ecosystem information in LMR management, limited progress has been made on using ecosystem-level emergent properties in management frameworks or exploring system trade-offs.

The U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region

2021 ◽  
pp. 113-174
Author(s):  
Jason S. Link ◽  
Anthony R. Marshak
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Loading ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Eastern Oyster ◽  
Coastal Development ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Level Control ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Atlantic Region ◽  
Ecosystem Level ◽  
The U.S

This chapter describes the Mid-Atlantic region and the major issues facing this marine fisheries ecosystem, and presents some summary statistics related to the 90 indicators of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) criteria. While containing lower numbers of managed taxa among the eight regional U.S. marine ecosystems, this region has relatively well-managed state and federal fisheries that are important both nationally and along the U.S. Atlantic coast, including Atlantic menhaden, blue crab, eastern oyster, black sea bass, summer flounder, and striped bass. The Mid-Atlantic is an environment that is subject to stressors that include habitat loss, coastal development, nutrient loading, climate-related species range shifts, hurricanes, other ocean uses, and proliferation of invasive species. Overall, EBFM progress has been made at the regional and subregional level in terms of implementing ecosystem-level planning, advancing knowledge of ecosystem principles, and in assessing risks and vulnerabilities to ecosystems through ongoing investigations into climate vulnerability and species prioritizations for stock and habitat assessments. While information has been obtained and models developed, only partial progress has been observed toward applying ecosystem-level emergent properties or reference points into management frameworks. While the Mid-Atlantic is leading in many aspects of its LMR and ecosystem-centric efforts, challenges remain toward effectively implementing additional facets of EBFM, and particularly enacting ecosystem-level control rules. This ecosystem is excelling in the areas of LMR and socioeconomic status, the quality of its governance system, and is relatively productive, as related to the determinants of successful LMR management.

The U.S. South Atlantic Region

2021 ◽  
pp. 175-236
Author(s):  
Jason S. Link ◽  
Anthony R. Marshak
Keyword(s):  
Reef Fishes ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
The South ◽  
Atlantic Region ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
The Status ◽  
Ecosystem Level ◽  
South Atlantic Region

This chapter describes the South Atlantic region and the major issues facing this marine fisheries ecosystem, and presents some summary statistics related to the 90 indicators of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) criteria. The South Atlantic contains the third-highest number of managed taxa of the eight regional U.S. marine ecosystems, including commercially and recreationally important reef fishes (snappers and groupers), penaeid shrimps, coastal migratory pelagic fishes (cobia, mackerels, dolphin/wahoo), and coral reef resources. The South Atlantic is a species-rich environment subject to several major stressors that include habitat loss, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, and intermittent high category hurricanes with increasing frequency over the past decades, along with the consequences of overfishing that continue to affect LMRs in this region. Overall, EBFM progress has been made in terms of implementing ecosystem-level planning, advancing knowledge of ecosystem principles, and in assessing risks and vulnerabilities to ecosystems through ongoing investigations into climate vulnerability and species prioritizations for stock and habitat assessments. Although the South Atlantic is progressing toward EBFM, little overall progress has been observed toward applying ecosystem-level emergent properties into management frameworks. While the South Atlantic is advancing in terms of its LMR management priorities and ecosystem efforts, some challenges remain to effectively implement formalized EBFM planning. Limited information regarding the status and biomass of fishery stocks and protected species in this region, and data gaps for many environmental factors have constrained EBFM implementation and prevented the application of ecosystem-level properties into management actions.

The U.S. North Pacific Region

2021 ◽  
pp. 415-484
Author(s):  
Jason S. Link ◽  
Anthony R. Marshak
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Regional Warming ◽  
The North ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Ecosystem Level ◽  
North Pacific Region ◽  
The North Pacific

This chapter describes the North Pacific region and the major issues facing this marine fisheries ecosystem, and presents some summary statistics related to the 90 indicators of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) criteria. The North Pacific contains the fifth-highest number of managed taxa, including commercially and recreationally important groundfish (e.g., walleye pollock, Pacific cod, sablefish, lingcod, halibut, rockfishes, yellowfin sole), cephalopods, king-and Tanner crabs, salmon, and steelhead. The North Pacific ecosystem has biota and marine communities that are responding to the consequences of fishing pressure, climate oscillations, and other ocean uses. More recent stressors, including substantial regional warming, associated species shifts, increasing human population density, and proliferation of invasive species are affecting this system and altering its composition, dynamics, and LMR production. Overall, a moderate to high degree of EBFM progress has been made in the eastern Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska in terms of implementation, advancing knowledge of ecosystem principles, examining trade-offs, assessing risks and vulnerabilities, and in beginning to establish and use ecosystem-level reference points for management. While much information has been obtained and applied toward ecosystem-level calculations, syntheses, and models, continued progress in applying these system-wide emergent properties into regional management frameworks remains necessary.

scholarly journals A Stepwise GIS Approach for the Delineation of River Valley Bottom within Drainage Basins Using a Cost Distance Accumulation Analysis

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 827
Author(s):  
Gasper L. Sechu ◽  
Bertel Nilsson ◽  
Bo V. Iversen ◽  
Mette B. Greve ◽  
Christen D. Børgesen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Data ◽  
Nutrient Loading ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Drainage Basins ◽  
Valley Bottom ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Cost Distance ◽  
River Valleys

River valley bottoms have hydrological, geomorphological, and ecological importance and are buffers for protecting the river from upland nutrient loading coming from agriculture and other sources. They are relatively flat, low-lying areas of the terrain that are adjacent to the river and bound by increasing slopes at the transition to the uplands. These areas have under natural conditions, a groundwater table close to the soil surface. The objective of this paper is to present a stepwise GIS approach for the delineation of river valley bottom within drainage basins and use it to perform a national delineation. We developed a tool that applies a concept called cost distance accumulation with spatial data inputs consisting a river network and slope derived from a digital elevation model. We then used wetlands adjacent to rivers as a guide finding the river valley bottom boundary from the cost distance accumulation. We present results from our tool for the whole country of Denmark carrying out a validation within three selected areas. The results reveal that the tool visually performs well and delineates both confined and unconfined river valleys within the same drainage basin. We use the most common forms of wetlands (meadow and marsh) in Denmark’s river valleys known as Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDE) to validate our river valley bottom delineated areas. Our delineation picks about half to two-thirds of these GDE. However, we expected this since farmers have reclaimed Denmark’s low-lying areas during the last 200 years before the first map of GDE was created. Our tool can be used as a management tool, since it can delineate an area that has been the focus of management actions to protect waterways from upland nutrient pollution.

scholarly journals A multiscale approach to balance trade-offs among dam infrastructure, river restoration, and cost

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (47) ◽  
pp. 12069-12074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel G. Roy ◽  
Emi Uchida ◽  
Simone P. de Souza ◽  
Ben Blachly ◽  
Emma Fox ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
River Restoration ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Dam Removal ◽  
The United States ◽  
Multiscale Approach ◽  
Funding Policy ◽  
Net Benefit ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Aging Infrastructure

Aging infrastructure and growing interests in river restoration have led to a substantial rise in dam removals in the United States. However, the decision to remove a dam involves many complex trade-offs. The benefits of dam removal for hazard reduction and ecological restoration are potentially offset by the loss of hydroelectricity production, water supply, and other important services. We use a multiobjective approach to examine a wide array of trade-offs and synergies involved with strategic dam removal at three spatial scales in New England. We find that increasing the scale of decision-making improves the efficiency of trade-offs among ecosystem services, river safety, and economic costs resulting from dam removal, but this may lead to heterogeneous and less equitable local-scale outcomes. Our model may help facilitate multilateral funding, policy, and stakeholder agreements by analyzing the trade-offs of coordinated dam decisions, including net benefit alternatives to dam removal, at scales that satisfy these agreements.

scholarly journals Jelly surge in the Mediterranean Sea: threat or opportunity?

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
CINZIA GRAVILI
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nutrient Loading ◽  
Coastal Development ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Mediterranean Ecosystem ◽  
Marine Biota ◽  
Fish Farms ◽  
Commercial Fish ◽  
The Mediterranean

  The rise in water temperature in the Mediterranean Sea, and associated migrations of temperate marine biota, are occurring in the context of a global warming causing an expansion of the tropical jellyfish range, exacerbating jellyfish outbreaks linked to coastal development, nutrient loading, and overfishing. The gelatinous component of plankton is considered as ‘the dark side of ecology’ capable of appearing and disappearing at unpredictable times. In the last decade an increasingly high number of gelatinous plankton blooms are occurring and this makes us wonder if ‘a Mediterranean Sea full of jellyfish is a probable future’. The reasons for rising jellyfish blooms are, probably, manifold. Current studies are aimed to highlight how climatic change is interacting with the Mediterranean ecosystem favouring entrance, abundances and success of alien species and triggering ‘regime shifts’ such as from fish to jellyfish. Jellyfish damage the economic success of power plants, fish farms, tourism, and affect fisheries consuming larvae of commercial fish species. On the other hand, several studies were also taken into account on uses for jellyfish as biofuels and foods but more experimentation is needed to improve the first encouraging results.

scholarly journals An overview of thriving through transformation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boyd Dirk Blackwell
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New South ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Competing Interests ◽  
Biennial Conference ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
The University

The articles published in this special issue come from the blind peer review and refinement of papers presented to the biennial conference of the Australia New Zealand Society for Ecological Economics (ANZSEE) held at the University of New England (UNE) in Armidale, New South Wales (NSW), Australia on 19-23 October 2015. All papers jointly contribute to helping transform the human existence toward one that is socially, culturally, environmentally, ecologically, economically and politically sustainable. Transforming our human existence to meet these multiple dimensions of ‘true’ sustainability is a difficult task, balancing potentially competing interests and, inevitably, involving trade-offs between these dimensions.

scholarly journals A framework for ecosystem impacts assessment using an indicator approach

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 592-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.A. Livingston ◽  
K. Aydin ◽  
J. Boldt ◽  
J. Ianelli ◽  
J. Jurado-Molina
Keyword(s):  
Fishery Management ◽  
Ecosystem Impacts ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Indicator Approach ◽  
Research Organizations ◽  
Ecosystem Indicators ◽  
Ecosystem Level ◽  
Associated Species ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Assessment of the historical, present, and future states of marine ecosystems and the effects that humans and climate have on the state of an ecosystem are crucial to the scientific advice required to implement an ecosystem-based fishery management system. Management of federal groundfish fisheries in Alaska considers not just the target fishery, but also the possible impact those fisheries might have on other species and the ecosystem. Management actions have ranged from providing protection of endangered species in the region to preventing new fisheries from starting on key foodweb components such as forage fish. A scientific framework for providing ecosystem-based advice that puts the ecosystem first has been evolving over the past few years. This framework provides a way of assessing ecosystem factors that influence target species, the impact the target fishery may have on associated species, and ecosystem-level impacts of fishing. An indicator approach that describes ecosystem status, and trends and measures of human and climate influence has been developed to provide advice to fishery managers. This approach is now being expanded to utilize a variety of models to predict possible future trends in various ecosystem indicators. Future implementation challenges include the refinement of these predictive models, and the inclusion of climate into the models. Identification of sensitive and meaningful ecosystem indicators is also required before a more formalized decision-making process, one that includes ecosystem considerations, can be developed. Most important, the culture of fishery management and research organizations needs to change to embrace the ecosystem-based protections already mandated by various laws.

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