scholarly journals The Importance of Involving Stakeholders and Scientists in the Management of Marine Fisheries

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony D. Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
The State ◽  
Expert Advice ◽  
Fish Stock ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Aquatic Environments ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Stock Assessments ◽  
Set Up ◽  
European Regional

In recent years there has been increasing concern over the state of fish stocks, especially those that support key fisheries and supply food to many consumers. There is also concern over the state of aquatic environments, and the effects of climate change. Fisheries management is controlled by government agencies, often cooperating with similar agencies from other nations. This paper deals with the need for expert advice on fisheries, involving fishers as well as scientists. Mention is made of a Fisheries Partnership set up in Europe, bringing fishers and scientists together with other stakeholders to discuss the problems of managing fish stocks. The partnership was especially successful in improving relationships between fishers and scientists, and made significant improvements to some fish stock assessments. European Regional Advisory Councils were later established to play a similar role. They are providing significant advice on fisheries, but they do not yet play a key role in actual management. It is important to consider how stakeholders and scientists can become more actively involved in fisheries management. There is a crucial need to develop new, more participatory ways of managing fisheries.

scholarly journals The Importance of Involving Stakeholders and Scientists in the Management of Marine Fisheries

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony D. Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
The State ◽  
Expert Advice ◽  
Fish Stock ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Aquatic Environments ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Stock Assessments ◽  
Set Up ◽  
European Regional

In recent years there has been increasing concern over the state of fish stocks, especially those that support key fisheries and supply food to many consumers. There is also concern over the state of aquatic environments, and the effects of climate change. Fisheries management is controlled by government agencies, often cooperating with similar agencies from other nations. This paper deals with the need for expert advice on fisheries, involving fishers as well as scientists. Mention is made of a Fisheries Partnership set up in Europe, bringing fishers and scientists together with other stakeholders to discuss the problems of managing fish stocks. The partnership was especially successful in improving relationships between fishers and scientists, and made significant improvements to some fish stock assessments. European Regional Advisory Councils were later established to play a similar role. They are providing significant advice on fisheries, but they do not yet play a key role in actual management. It is important to consider how stakeholders and scientists can become more actively involved in fisheries management. There is a crucial need to develop new, more participatory ways of managing fisheries.

scholarly journals Costs and Returns of Fishermen in the Massachusetts Inshore Lobster Fishery

1975 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Gates ◽  
J. M. D'Eugenio
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
The State ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Sufficient Criterion ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
The Past ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Lobster Fishery

The inshore lobster fishery is one of the more important ones in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, accounting for approximately 14 percent of the total landed value of all species in Massachusetts in 1971. Until recent years this fishery accounted for virtually all the pot landings in the state. Despite numerous attempts at conservation such as gear regulation, size restrictions, and prohibitions on harvesting egg-bearing females, the fishery has been subject to rapidly increasing effort and virtually constant landings. In the past decade it has become obvious to many fishery biologists and economists that conservation of fish stocks is a necessary but not sufficient criterion for fisheries management. Resource managers have become increasingly aware of the interdependence between economic factors and the intensity, location and composition of fishing effort.

scholarly journals Effective fisheries management instrumental in improving fish stock status

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 2218-2224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Hilborn ◽  
Ricardo Oscar Amoroso ◽  
Christopher M. Anderson ◽  
Julia K. Baum ◽  
Trevor A. Branch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Marine Fish ◽  
Food System ◽  
Fish Stock ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
The World ◽  
Fish Catch ◽  
Intensively Managed

Marine fish stocks are an important part of the world food system and are particularly important for many of the poorest people of the world. Most existing analyses suggest overfishing is increasing, and there is widespread concern that fish stocks are decreasing throughout most of the world. We assembled trends in abundance and harvest rate of stocks that are scientifically assessed, constituting half of the reported global marine fish catch. For these stocks, on average, abundance is increasing and is at proposed target levels. Compared with regions that are intensively managed, regions with less-developed fisheries management have, on average, 3-fold greater harvest rates and half the abundance as assessed stocks. Available evidence suggests that the regions without assessments of abundance have little fisheries management, and stocks are in poor shape. Increased application of area-appropriate fisheries science recommendations and management tools are still needed for sustaining fisheries in places where they are lacking.

How to Make Individual Transferable Quotas Work Economically, Socially, and Environmentally

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashid Sumaila
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Fish Stock ◽  
Open Market ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Total Allowable Catch ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Individual Transferable Quotas ◽  
Management Objectives ◽  
Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management

The economic tool of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) gives their owners exclusive and transferable rights to catch a given portion of the total allowable catch (TAC) of a given fish stock. Authorities establish TACs and then divide them among individual fishers or firms in the form of individual catch quotas, usually a percentage of the TAC. ITQs are transferable through selling and buying in an open market. The main arguments by proponents of ITQs is that they eliminate the need to “race for the fish” and thus increase economic returns while eliminating overcapacity and overfishing. In general, fisheries’ management objectives consist of ecological (sustainable use of fish stocks), economic (no economic waste), and social (mainly the equitable distribution of fisheries benefits) issues. There is evidence to show that ITQs do indeed reduce economic waste and increase profits for those remaining in fisheries. However, they do not perform well in terms of sustainability or socially. A proposal that integrates ITQs in a comprehensive and effective ecosystem-based fisheries management system that is more likely to perform much better than ITQs with respect to ecological, economic, and social objectives is presented in this article.

Ocean Recovery

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Hilborn ◽  
Ulrike Hilborn
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Fish Stock ◽  
General Audience ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
The Status ◽  
Comprehensive Survey ◽  
Graduate Seminars ◽  
The Impact

Over the last 2 decades, the scientific and popular media have been bombarded by gloom-and-doom stories on the future of fisheries, the status of fish stocks, and the impact of fishing on marine ecosystems. Dozens of certification and labeling schemes have emerged to advise consumers on what seafood is sustainable. In recent years, an opposing narrative has emerged emphasizing the success of fisheries management in many places, the increasing abundance of fish stocks in those places, and the prescription for sustainable fisheries. However, there has been no comprehensive survey of what really constitutes sustainability in fisheries, fish stock status, success and failures of management, and consideration of the impacts of fishing on marine ecosystems. This book will explore very different perspectives on sustainability and bring together the data from a large number of studies to show where fish stocks are increasing, where they are declining, the consequences of alternative fisheries management regimes, and what is known about a range of fisheries issues such as the impacts of trawling on marine ecosystems. Aimed principally at a general audience that is already interested in fisheries but seeks both a deeper understanding of what is known about specific issues and an impartial presentation of all of the data rather than selected examples used to justify a particular perspective or agenda. It will also appeal to the scientific community eager to know more about marine fisheries and fishing data, and serve as the basis for graduate seminars on the sustainability of natural resources.

scholarly journals Inclusion of ecosystem information in US fish stock assessments suggests progress toward ecosystem-based fisheries management

2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin N Marshall ◽  
Laura E Koehn ◽  
Phillip S Levin ◽  
Timothy E Essington ◽  
Olaf P Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
System Level ◽  
Fish Stock ◽  
Predation Mortality ◽  
Stock Assessments ◽  
Stomach Contents Analysis ◽  
Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management ◽  
Assessment Reports

Abstract The appetite for ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) approaches has grown, but the perception persists that implementation is slow. Here, we synthesize progress toward implementing EBFM in the United States through one potential avenue: expanding fish stock assessments to include ecosystem considerations and interactions between species, fleets, and sectors. We reviewed over 200 stock assessments and assessed how the stock assessment reports included information about system influences on the assessed stock. Our goals were to quantify whether and how assessments incorporated broader system-level considerations, and to explore factors that might contribute to the use of system-level information. Interactions among fishing fleets (technical interactions) were more commonly included than biophysical interactions (species, habitat, climate). Interactions within the physical environment (habitat, climate) were included twice as often as interactions among species (predation). Many assessment reports included ecological interactions only as background or qualitative considerations, rather than incorporating them in the assessment model. Our analyses suggested that ecosystem characteristics are more likely to be included when the species was overfished (stock status), the assessment is conducted at a science centre with a longstanding stomach contents analysis program, and/or the species life history characteristics suggest it is likely to be influenced by the physical environment, habitat, or predation mortality (short-lived species, sessile benthic species, or low trophic-level species). Regional differences in stomach contents analysis programs may limit the inclusion of predation mortality in stock assessments, and more guidance is needed on best practices for the prioritization of when and how biophysical information should be considered. However, our results demonstrate that significant progress has been made to use best available science and data to expand single-species stock assessments, particularly when a broad definition of EBFM is applied.

scholarly journals Reflections on the success of traditional fisheries management

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 1040-1046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Hilborn ◽  
Daniel Ovando
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Statistical Models ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Marine Resources ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Stock Assessments ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
Management Approaches ◽  
Precautionary Management

Abstract The argument persists that the continued overexploitation by many fisheries around the world is evidence that current approaches to fisheries management are failing, and that more precautionary management approaches are needed. We review the available estimates of the status of fish stocks from three sources: the FAO's “State of Marine Resources”, a database on scientific stock assessments, and recent estimates from statistical models designed to determine the status of unassessed fish stocks. The two key results are (i) that stocks that are scientifically assessed are in better shape and indeed are not typically declining but rebuilding, and (ii) that large stocks appear to be in better shape than small stocks. These results support the view that stocks that are managed are improving, while stocks that are not managed are not. Large stocks receive far more management attention than small stocks in jurisdictions that have active fisheries management systems, and most unassessed stocks are simply not managed. We assert that fisheries management as currently practised can (and often does) lead to sustainable fisheries, and what is needed is to actively manage the unassessed fisheries of the world. More precautionary management is not necessarily needed to ensure the sustainability of managed fisheries.

scholarly journals When is a fish stock collapsed?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Yletyinen ◽  
WE Butler ◽  
G Ottersen ◽  
KH Andersen ◽  
S Bonanomi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
The State ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Occurrence Rate ◽  
Fish Stock ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
The Public ◽  
Population Turnover

AbstractMarine fish stock collapses are a major concern for scientists and society due to the potentially severe impacts on ecosystem resilience, food security and livelihoods. Yet the general state of harvested fish populations has proven difficult to summarize, and the actual occurrence rate of stock collapses remains unclear. We have carried out a literature review and multi-stock analysis to show that numerous definitions exist for classifying stocks as collapsed, and that the classification of a stock’s status is sensitive to changes in the collapse definition’s formulation. We suggest that the lack of a unified definition has contributed to contrasting perceptions on the state of fish stocks. Therefore, we comprehensively define what constitutes a fish stock collapse and provide a time-series based method for collapse detection. Unlike existing definitions, our definition is process-based, because it links together three important phases of collapse events: the abrupt decline, an ensuing period of prolonged depletion, and potential recovery. Furthermore, these phases are specified in terms of population turnover. Through systematic evaluation, our definition can accurately distinguish collapses from less severe depletions or natural fluctuations for stocks with diverse life histories, helping identify the stocks in greatest need of reparatory measures. Our study advocates the consistent use of definitions to limit both alarmist and conservative narratives on the state of fish stocks, and to promote cooperation between conservation and fisheries scientists. This will facilitate clear and accurate communication of science to both the public and to policy-makers to ensure healthy fish stocks in the future.

scholarly journals Implementing ecosystem-based fisheries management: from single-species to integrated ecosystem assessment and advice for Baltic Sea fish stocks

2013 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 1187-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Möllmann ◽  
Martin Lindegren ◽  
Thorsten Blenckner ◽  
Lena Bergström ◽  
Michele Casini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Gadus Morhua ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Fish Stock ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management ◽  
Sea Fish

Abstract Theory behind ecosystem-based management (EBM) and ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) is now well developed. However, the implementation of EBFM exemplified by fisheries management in Europe is still largely based on single-species assessments and ignores the wider ecosystem context and impact. The reason for the lack or slow implementation of EBM and specifically EBFM is a lack of a coherent strategy. Such a strategy is offered by recently developed integrated ecosystem assessments (IEAs), a formal synthesis tool to quantitatively analyse information on relevant natural and socio-economic factors, in relation to specified management objectives. Here, we focus on implementing the IEA approach for Baltic Sea fish stocks. We combine both tactical and strategic management aspects into a single strategy that supports the present Baltic Sea fish stock advice, conducted by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). We first review the state of the art in the development of IEA within the current management framework. We then outline and discuss an approach that integrates fish stock advice and IEAs for the Baltic Sea. We intentionally focus on the central Baltic Sea and its three major fish stocks cod (Gadus morhua), herring (Clupea harengus), and sprat (Sprattus sprattus), but emphasize that our approach may be applied to other parts and stocks of the Baltic, as well as other ocean areas.

Managing fish stocks under climate uncertainty

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 1531-1541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Rothschild ◽  
Changsheng Chen ◽  
R. Greg Lough
Keyword(s):  
Decision Theory ◽  
Fishery Management ◽  
Causal Chain ◽  
The State ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
Fish Stock ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Formal Framework ◽  
Past Data ◽  
State Of The Environment

Abstract The quantitative evaluation of the management of fish stocks under uncertainty requires a formal framework. Decision theory provides that framework. Application of decision theory to fishery management requires information about both the fish stock and the state of the environment. Using Georges Bank haddock as a case study, it is possible to determine the probability of good or poor recruitment using past data and a constant environment. Understanding the state of the environment is more difficult, however, because fixed levels of recruitment, in particular, are associated with different population characteristics, which drastically reduce the sample size for any particular recruitment–environment scenario. Decision theory challenges us to improve our capability of predicting the state of nature, and it appears that this can be accomplished best by reducing the length of the causal chain, a goal now made feasible by the availability of high-resolution, high-frequency ocean models.

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