Ecosystem-based fisheries management: progress in the NE Atlantic

Fisheries management in the NE Atlantic has recently adopted a precautionary approach to setting catch limits. This has been accompanied by the development of more complex and multi-species modelling tools for predicting stock size and structure. The scientific community are now being asked to provide an ‘ecosystem-based approach’ to fisheries management. In this paper, we consider the science needs of this shift to a consideration of more complex systems to include both ecological and socio-economic components. At present, this involves use of the precautionary approach and multi-species management regimes, but will need to include multi-annual quota assessment, ‘stake-holder’ involvement and marine protected areas. How will these approaches sit together and how will science support them? As an example, we will consider what management of the North Sea demersal fishery may involve in 20 years time.     

New regional fisheries management regimes: establishing the South East Atlantic fisheries organisation

On the 20th of April 2001 the coastal States and fishing nations of the South East Atlantic Ocean adopted the “Convention on the Conservation and Management of Fishery Resources in the South East Atlantic Ocean”. This article analyses the process of negotiating the convention, from its initiation by Namibia in 1995 until its adoption in 2001. It argues that the fisheries played a secondary role in the process, while the negotiations revolved around the appropriate status and implementation of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement of 1995.     

Contemporary management issues confronting fisheries science

Stock collapses have occurred worldwide. The most frequently cited cause is over-fishing, suggesting that fisheries management has been ineffective in controlling exploitation rates. The progression of a fishery from an over-exploited to a collapsed state involves impairment of the reproductive capacity of the target species, i.e. recruitment over-fishing. In many cases, this occurs by reduction of the spawning stock biomass (SSB) through the systematic elimination of spawning components within a stock complex. While operational definitions of minimum levels of SSB have been developed, they have seldom been applied and never adopted in a Canadian groundfish management context. The answer to the question of how much is enough to perpetuate a stock under exploitation has been illusive. Serebryakov [J. Cons. Int. Explor. Mer, 47 (1990) 267] has advocated definition of critical levels of SSB based on survival rates (R/SSB). We review his method and discuss the utility of the approach. An alternative approach to the problem of estimating minimum SSB is through a fundamental revision of the traditional stock and recruitment relationship. Explicit theoretical SSB thresholds below which reproduction/recruitment is severely impaired based upon density-dependent mating success (or Allee effects) is considered a superior approach to the question of how much is enough because of its ecological grounding. However, the successful application of this approach will require re-definition of the space/time scales of the management unit. Finally, support is growing for the establishment of closed areas or “no-take zones” as an alternative approach to managing the problems of fishing a stock complex by enabling sub-populations to escape fishing. While the expected benefits of areas protected from fishing are numerous, clear demonstrations of benefits of such areas in marine temperate ecosystems are lacking. In fact, unintended negative consequences may result from such actions.     

TAC management in North Sea flatfish fisheries

The Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union adopted in 1983 is primarily focused on a science-based TAC management system with fixed national quota shares. The quality of the assessments of plaice and sole, the consistency of the scientific advice, the congruency of the management decisions, and the enforcement of the regulations are reviewed over a 15-year period. The conclusion is that there have been problems at each level, with the ultimate effect that the policy has not been able to restrict fishing mortality and that the level of overexploitation has only increased. It is argued that the present TAC system has created more problems than it has resolved. Attention is drawn to the autonomic economic developments within the fishery and to the potential for managing the fishery more effectively from the cost side rather than the profit side.     

Overview,roles, and performance of the North East Atlantic fisheries commission (NEAFC)

According to the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA), straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks are to be managed by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), consisting of coastal states and relevant Distant Water Fishing Nations (DWFNs). In the North East Atlantic there are several straddling stocks, including herring, mackerel, blue whiting, redfish and numerous deep sea stocks that are exploited both within coastal states’ 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zones and on the high seas. Management of such stocks poses special management problems. In this area, the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) represents the relevant RFMO. So far the literature has devoted little attention to RFMOs in general and to NEAFC in particular. The purpose of this report is, first, to provide an overview of the organisation, structure, and objectives of NEAFC and, second, to consider its performance with regard to resource management.     

The perceptions of fisheries management options by Spain's Atlantic fishermen

This paper analyses the perceptions of Spanish fishermen working in Atlantic fishing grounds on current fishery regulation measures and the possibility of introducing transferable rights as is established in the EC's latest proposal to reform the Common Fisheries Policy. A survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews and ordered logistic and multiple regression models to identify which characteristics influence fishermen's perceptions and attitudes. The results show that the fleet segments most in favour of implementing ITQs correspond to industrial fishing, while the smaller-scale fisheries (artisanal, gillnets, longline and coastal trawl) are more in favour of a system involving individual effort (fishing days or kW days), transferable or otherwise.     

The evolution of high-seas fisheries management in the North-east Atlantic

The paper describes the development of high-seas fisheries management in the north-east Atlantic, with reference to the north-east Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) created in 1959. Three distinct phases are identified: the first, characterised by narrow coastal state jurisdiction and the establishment of regional commissions for high-seas fisheries; the second, by the extension of coastal state authority to 200 miles and the reduction in the scope for international management; and the third by the revival of international management following the UN Agreement in 1995. The implications for the past, present and future roles of NEAFC are discussed.     

Research and management priorities for Atlantic marine recreational fisheries in Southern Europe

Marine Recreational Fishing (MRF) is an important activity in Europe, with 9 million fishers and generating annually € 6 billion in direct expenditures. However, there is a lack of data and understanding of MRF in Europe, particularly in Southern countries, which prevents a number of fish stocks from being effectively assessed and managed. In November 2016, a participatory workshop on MRF was held in Vigo (Spain) to identify challenges and opportunities for data collection, and to diagnose key research gaps and management issues for MRF in the Southern European Atlantic. Experts from a wide range of disciplines (researchers, policy makers, fisheries managers and commercial and recreational fishers) highlighted that the management of MRF is a challenge due to complex and dispersed legal frameworks, with multiple administrations involved, and overlapping uses of space with commercial fishing, aquaculture, navigation and tourism, among others. The lack of strong and representative fishing associations hampers research and management initiatives. Effective communication between recreational fishers, researchers and fisheries managers is also lacking. Despite the ecological, social and economic relevance of MRF, there is no systematic and comprehensive collection of information on fishing effort, recreational catches, expenses, social profile and access conditions of European recreational fishers. These data would be useful to avoid biases in the assessment of recreational fisheries due to the great diversity of ecosystems, species and typologies of users. Strategic recommendations and research priorities were also identified to address knowledge gaps and are discussed in the context of the management of MRF across Europe.     

Distributional issues in the operation of rights-based fisheries management systems

Rights-based management regimes are considered by economists as an important solution to the problems of excess capacity and biological over-harvesting of fisheries. In practice, adoption of such regimes, and particularly of those relying on individual quota allocations, has often met with resistance from within the fisheries concerned. A key reason for this resistance appears to be the distributional conflicts which arise in the process of implementing the regimes. An economic analysis of the nature of these conflicts in the different contexts in which they have been observed is proposed. The approach centres on the way in which distributional conflicts can influence the operation of management systems and their impacts on fisheries, from the country to the individual firm level. As an illustration, an analysis of the economic processes at firm level is developed based on the simulation of a fishery managed under individual transferable quotas.     

Discards in North Sea fisheries: causes,consequences and solutions

Discards refer to that part of the catch returned to the sea during fishing operations. This study assesses the consequences, causes, and potential solutions to the discard problem using the example of North Sea fisheries. Fishermen's immediate objectives during fishing operations and the low confidence in projected gains from discard reduction measures have promoted use of unselective trawls while the poor enforcement of the quota system has exacerbated discard quantities. It is concluded that a reduction in discard rates is required for a long-term solution to the ecological and economic costs of discarding and the development of fishing opportunity incentives can promote the use of more selective fishing techniques.     

Detecting and incorporating multispecies effects into fisheries management in the north-west and south-East Atlantic

Exploited fish populations interact with other populations in marine systems and most fishing fleets are capable of simultaneously catching more than one species or of making minor modifications to switch target species. Consequently, multispecies aspects continually confront fisheries managers. Is there advantage in taking a multispecies viewpoint when providing fisheries management advice, given the present state of knowledge? This question is addressed in the context of competition and species replacement among planktivores and the impact of harvesting forage species in the North-West and South-East Atlantic.     

北大西洋大青鲨渔业生物学初步研究

大青鲨(Prionace glauca)是金枪鱼延绳钓渔业中最主要的兼捕鱼种之一,作为海洋生物链的顶端物种对海洋生态系统的稳定性和多样性起到了重要作用。作者根据中国金枪鱼渔业科学观察员在北大西洋海域(3°~55°N,15°~40°W)采集的2 112尾大青鲨数据,按不同性别对其渔业生物学特征进行初步研究。结果表明:雌、雄大青鲨的优势叉长组分别为180~220 cm、190~230 cm,雄性叉长均值显著大于雌性,雌、雄性比符合1︰1;大青鲨叉长-全长、尾凹长-全长的线性关系分别为L_F=0.8008L_T+7.3361,L_P=0.7576L_T–1.8479;北大西洋热带海域(3°~13°N)兼捕的大青鲨群体组成以大个体为主(180~240 cm),冰岛附近海域(48°~51°N)兼捕的大青鲨群体组成以小个体为主(100~210 cm);大青鲨叉长和质量关系式为W_R=7×10~(–6)L_F~(2.9994);大青鲨肝脏为性腺的发育提供能量,成熟个体的肝质量指数显著小于未成熟个体;热带海域兼捕的大青鲨以性成熟个体为主(96.9%),冰岛海域兼捕的大青鲨以未成熟个体居多(77.1%);50%雌性性成熟个体对应的叉长为178.7 cm,50%雄性性成熟个体对应叉长为173.6 cm;雌性怀仔大青鲨的叉长与其怀仔数量线性关系为L_S=0.419×L_F–49.7(R~2=0.3905),幼仔雌雄性比符合1︰1;胃含物中以沙丁鱼和鱿鱼出现频率最高。作者的研究有助于更好地了解北大西洋大青鲨的生物学特征,为区域性渔业管理组织评估大青鲨种群资源状态提供数据参考。     

WTO fisheries subsidies negotiations: implications for fisheries access arrangements and sustainable management

The paper considers the WTO negotiations on fisheries subsidies and the implications that envisaged disciplines will have on coastal developing countries. This is considered in relation to fisheries access agreements in the Central and Western Pacific where several least developed but resource rich island states such as Kiribati and Tuvalu are highly exposed to the risks associated with new WTO fisheries subsidies disciplines that do not consider their particular vulnerabilities. The paper considers some of the issues that coastal developing countries should incorporate into their emerging negotiating positions at the WTO. State-to-Sate fisheries access agreements which are often highly subsidised but where fishing vessel owners pay the equivalent of lump sum tax are paradoxically, the least distortionary and damaging to the environment. Strategies for managing the possible new disciplines are considered.     

Introducing run-size driven fisheries management for the coastal fishery of Atlantic salmon: Preseason forecasts for policy makers

The Finnish coastal fishery of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the northern Baltic Sea is regulated using multi-annual, pre-fixed, opening dates of harvests that aim to enhance spawning escapement of early migrating wild salmon. Such an inflexible management regime does not set regulations that track varying run sizes of salmon. We introduce an array of computational intelligence techniques to estimate and forecast coastal run size and escapement of salmon into three spawning rivers in the northern Baltic Sea. Our results indicated that the present management pattern, driven largely by regional fisheries policy, contrasts greatly with a “run-size driven” (i.e. abundance-based) management approach. Introducing run-size driven management, i.e. setting regulations annually by tracking preseason forecasts, would better ensure adequate escapement and at the same time allow the maintenance of coastal catch at sustainable level. Setting regulations annually would allow effective harvesting in years when the run is high, and would effectively restrict harvests when the run is low.