scholarly journals A Review Characterizing 25 Ecosystem Challenges to Be Addressed by an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management in Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francois Bastardie ◽  
Elliot J. Brown ◽  
Eider Andonegi ◽  
Robert Arthur ◽  
Esther Beukhof ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Ecosystem Monitoring ◽  
Ecosystem Effects

The impacts of fisheries on ocean resources are no longer considered in isolation but should account for broader ecosystem effects. However, ongoing ecosystem-wide changes added to the inherent dynamics of marine ecosystems, create challenges for fisheries and fisheries management by affecting our ability to ensure future fishing opportunities and sustainable use of the seas. By reviewing a corpus of fisheries science literature, we contribute to informing managers and policymakers with considerations of the various threats to fisheries and the marine ecosystems that support them. We identify and describe 25 ecosystem challenges and 7 prominent families of management options to address them. We capture the challenges acting within three broad categories: (i) fishing impacts on the marine environments and future fishing opportunities, (ii) effects of environmental conditions on fish and fishing opportunities, and (iii) effects of context in terms of socioeconomics, fisheries management, and institutional set-up on fisheries. Our review shows that, while most EU fisheries are facing a similar array of challenges, some of them are specific to regions or individual fisheries. This is reflected in selected regional cases taking different perspectives to exemplify the challenges along with fishery-specific cases. These cases include the dramatic situation of the Baltic Sea cod, facing an array of cumulative pressures, the multiple and moving ecosystem interactions that rely on the North Sea forage fish facing climate change, the interaction of fishing and fish stocks in a fluctuating mixed fishery in the Celtic Sea, the bycatch of marine mammals and seabirds and habitat degradation in the Bay of Biscay, and finally the under capacity and lack of fundamental knowledge on some features of the EU Outermost Regions. In addition to these ecoregion specific findings, we discuss the outcomes of our review across the whole of European waters and we conclude by recognizing that there are knowledge gaps regarding the direction of causality, nonlinear responses, and confounding effects. All of the challenges we identify and characterize may guide further data collection and research coordination to improve our fundamental understanding of the system and to monitor real changes within it, both of which are required to inform an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM). An European EAFM could build upon an array of management measures currently tailored for fisheries management only, including promoting funding interdisciplinary research and ecosystem monitoring. Such integrative management should reduce uncertainties in environmental, social and economic trends, and lower the risk for disruptive events or ecosystem effects with far-reaching consequences, including a shift toward less productive marine ecosystems.

scholarly journals Incorporating environmental forcing in developing ecosystem-based fisheries management strategies

2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 500-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuanbo Guo ◽  
Caihong Fu ◽  
Norm Olsen ◽  
Yi Xu ◽  
Arnaud Grüss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Environmental Forcing ◽  
Ecosystem Effects ◽  
Ecosystem Level

Abstract This study incorporated two pathways of environmental forcing (i.e. “larval mortality forcing” and “somatic growth forcing”) into an end-to-end ecosystem model (Object-oriented Simulator of Marine ecOSystEms, OSMOSE) developed for the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) off western Canada, in order to evaluate alternative fisheries management strategies under environmental changes. With a suite of ecosystem-level indicators, the present study first compared the ecosystem effects of different pathways of environmental forcing scenarios; and then evaluated the alternative fisheries management strategies which encompassed a series of fishing mortality rates relative to FMSY (the fishing mortality rate that produces maximum sustainable yield) and a set of precautionary harvest control rules (HCRs). The main objectives of this study were to (i) explore the ecosystem effects of different environmental forcing scenarios; (ii) identify the impacts of different fishing mortality rates on marine ecosystem structure and function; and (iii) evaluate the ecosystem-level performance of various levels of precautionary HCRs. Results indicated that different pathways of environmental forcing had different ecosystem effects and incorporating appropriate HCRs in the fisheries management process could help maintain ecosystem health and sustainable fisheries. This study provides important information on future fisheries management options within similar marine ecosystems that are facing global changes.

scholarly journals Highly mixed fisheries: fine-scale spatial patterns in retained catches of French fisheries in the Celtic Sea

2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Mateo ◽  
Lionel Pawlowski ◽  
Marianne Robert
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Biological Interactions ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Fishing Activity ◽  
Fisheries Policy ◽  
Celtic Sea

Efficiency of mixed-fisheries management and operational implementation of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management rely on the ability to understand and describe the technical and biological interactions between fleets, gears and species. The present study aims to describe fine-scale spatial patterns of the French demersal mixed fisheries in the Celtic Sea and discusses their implications in terms of management. Analysis was made by integrating vessel monitoring systems and logbook data collected between 2010 and 2012 at a 3′*3′ spatial scale through the use of principal component analysis followed by hierarchical clustering. It revealed spatial regions defined by a distinct homogeneous composition of retained catches. Each cluster was also described in terms of the fishing activity: vessel length, effort, power and gear used. The analysis revealed a complex spatial structure in the species assemblage caught and suggests that a single situation cannot describe the mixed fisheries of the Celtic Sea, but rather that there are several distinct cases of mixed fisheries. Our results also highlight the limitations of using the current level of data aggregation commonly requested in international data calls to model these fisheries and suggest that improvements should be made to ensure efficient evaluation of management options. Analyses of spatially resolved fisheries data such as the one presented here open a range of potential applications. In the context of the Common Fisheries Policy reform and the landing obligation, comparison of our results with applications of the same methodology to a subset of vulnerable species or to catches of fish below the minimum conservation reference size would help to identify the geographical areas to avoid and assess potential effort reallocation strategies based on groups of target species.

scholarly journals The isotopic niche of Atlantic, biting marine mammals and its relationship to skull morphology and body size

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimiliano Drago ◽  
Marco Signaroli ◽  
Meica Valdivia ◽  
Enrique M. González ◽  
Asunción Borrell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Isotopic Niche ◽  
Apex Predators ◽  
Skull Morphology ◽  
Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management

AbstractUnderstanding the trophic niches of marine apex predators is necessary to understand interactions between species and to achieve sustainable, ecosystem-based fisheries management. Here, we review the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios for biting marine mammals inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean to test the hypothesis that the relative position of each species within the isospace is rather invariant and that common and predictable patterns of resource partitioning exists because of constrains imposed by body size and skull morphology. Furthermore, we analyze in detail two species-rich communities to test the hypotheses that marine mammals are gape limited and that trophic position increases with gape size. The isotopic niches of species were highly consistent across regions and the topology of the community within the isospace was well conserved across the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, pinnipeds exhibited a much lower diversity of isotopic niches than odontocetes. Results also revealed body size as a poor predictor of the isotopic niche, a modest role of skull morphology in determining it, no evidence of gape limitation and little overlap in the isotopic niche of sympatric species. The overall evidence suggests limited trophic flexibility for most species and low ecological redundancy, which should be considered for ecosystem-based fisheries management.

scholarly journals Public Officials’ Knowledge of Advances and Gaps for Implementing the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries in Chile

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2703
Author(s):  
Rodrigo A. Estévez ◽  
Stefan Gelcich
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Mandatory Requirement ◽  
Support Decision Making

The United Nations calls on the international community to implement an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) that considers the complex interrelationships between fisheries and marine and coastal ecosystems, including social and economic dimensions. However, countries experience significant national challenges for the application of the EAF. In this article, we used public officials’ knowledge to understand advances, gaps, and priorities for the implementation of the EAF in Chile. For this, we relied on the valuable information held by fisheries managers and government officials to support decision-making. In Chile, the EAF was established as a mandatory requirement for fisheries management in 2013. Key positive aspects include the promotion of fishers’ participation in inter-sectorial Management Committees to administrate fisheries and the regulation of bycatch and trawling on seamounts. Likewise, Scientific Committees formal roles in management allow the participation of scientists by setting catch limits for each fishery. However, important gaps were also identified. Officials highlighted serious difficulties to integrate social dimensions in fisheries management, and low effective coordination among the institutions to implement the EAF. We concluded that establishing clear protocols to systematize and generate formal instances to build upon government officials’ knowledge seems a clear and cost effective way to advance in the effective implementation of the EAF.

scholarly journals Balanced harvesting in fisheries: a preliminary analysis of management implications‡

2015 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 1668-1678 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Garcia ◽  
J. Rice ◽  
A. Charles
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Fishery Management ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
Multispecies Fisheries ◽  
Natural Productivity ◽  
Partial Implementation ◽  
Spawning Sites

Abstract Balanced harvest (BH) proposes to distribute a moderate mortality from fishing across the widest possible range of species, stocks, and sizes in an ecosystem, in proportion to their natural productivity so that the relative size and species composition are maintained, in line with the CBD requirement for sustainable use. This proposal has many and not always intuitive implications for fisheries management, e.g. in relation to selectivity, protection of juveniles and spawning sites, models of harvesting strategies, a focus on size and species, the impacts of discarding, aspects of emblematic species and ecosystem services, operational complexity, partial implementation, ecosystem rebuilding, and relations with broader management frameworks. The paper closes with a discussion of BH implementation, concluding that a logical step would be to integrate several separate initiatives to move fisheries into a more ecosystem-conscious context. Implementation challenges will be encountered, but there are lessons to be drawn from fishery ecosystems already close to BH, as in some tropical multispecies fisheries, and further, the implementation challenges are already being taken on in many well-managed fisheries and areas as management begins to address the realities of what ecosystem-based fishery management actually entails.

Multiattribute Analysis and the Concept of Optimum Yield

1984 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 1393-1406 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Healey
Keyword(s):  
Decision Analysis ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
The United States ◽  
Operational Definition ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Optimum Yield ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Skeena River

This paper reviews the origin and operational definition of the optimum yield (OY) concept and demonstrates how techniques of decision analysis can provide an analytical model for OY. The concept of OY was formalized as the guiding principle of fisheries management in the United States and Canada in 1976. The policies of both countries make it clear that a wide range of biological, economic, and social factors are to be taken into account in determining OY. Confusion exists, however, about precisely which of these factors should determine OY in any fishery and what is their relative importance. Uncertainty also exists about how to take biological, economic, and social factors jointly into account as the concept of OY implies one must. Established biological and economic models in fisheries are not adequate for such an analysis because their focus is single- rather than multi-objective. Operational techniques of decision analysis, such as multiattribute utility analysis, are specifically designed to deal with multiobjective problems like OY. I propose that a simple, linear, utility model be used to assess the optimality of alternative yield strategies in fisheries management. I illustrate the application of the model by assessing OY options in the New England herring (Clupea harengus) fishery and the Skeena River salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) fishery. The advantages of the model are that it is simple and intuitively appealing, that it permits a wide range of types and qualities of data to be incorporated into the evaluation of management options, that it is amenable to sensitivity analysis, and that it is adaptable to a variety of decision rules.

A fisheries management success story: the Gisborne, New Zealand, fishery for red rock lobsters (Jasus edwardsii)

1997 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Breen ◽  
Terese H. Kendrick
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Unit Price ◽  
Success Story ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Structured Model ◽  
Jasus Edwardsii ◽  
Fishery Data ◽  
Catch Rates ◽  
Related Mortality ◽  
Future Management

After individual quotas were imposed in 1990, the fishery for Jasus edwardsii in the Gisborne area showed continuing declines in catch and catch rate to 1993, and the total quota could not be caught in this area. There were few legal-sized but many sublegal-sized lobsters. Pots caused mortality of sublegal lobsters through handling, pot-related Octopus predation, and thefts from commercial pots. The industry, in conjunction with recreational fishers and Maori, developed a scheme to address these problems. The aim was to increase landed value to compensate for quota reductions, and to do this by landing more lobsters in winter (when prices were higher) and landing smaller lobsters (which had a higher unit price). A shortened season was designed to reduce pot-related mortality. Part of the scheme—a proposal to reduce the minimum legal size of male lobsters—caused controversy. However, the package was evaluated with a simple model and then accepted by the Minister of Fisheries. Results were substantially increased catch rates since 1993, a successful shift to a winter fishery, and a shift in length frequencies toward larger sizes. A simple size-structured model fitted to the fishery data and used to evaluate future management options is also described.

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