Optimising fisheries management in relation to tuna catches in the western central Pacific Ocean: A review of research priorities and opportunities

Some of the most important development goals for the countries and territories of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) involve the sustainable management of their fisheries in light of environmental, economic and social uncertainties. The responses of fish populations to variability in the marine environment have implications for decision making processes associated with resource management. There is still considerable uncertainty in estimating the responses of tuna populations to short-to-medium-term variability and longer-term change in the oceanic environment. A workshop was organised to examine how advances in oceanography, fisheries science and fisheries economics could be applied to the tuna fisheries of the WCPO and in doing so identify research priorities to improve understanding relevant to progressing management. Research priorities identified included: (i) improved parameterisation of end to end ecosystem model components, processes and feedbacks through expanded biological observations and incorporation of higher resolution climate models; (ii) development of seasonal and inter-annual forecasting tools enabling management responses to short-term variability in tuna distributions and abundances; (iii) improved understanding of the population dynamics of and the energy transfer efficiencies between food web components; (iv) assessment of the optimal value of access rights and overall fishery value under multiple scenarios of tuna distribution and abundance and influences on decision making by fisheries managers and fleets and (v) development of management strategy evaluation frameworks for utilisation in the implementing and testing of fishery management procedures and to help prioritise research directions and investment. Issues discussed and research priorities identified during the workshop have synergies with other internationally managed fisheries and therefore are applicable to many other fisheries.     

Insights from the users to improve fisheries performance: Fishers’ knowledge and attitudes on fisheries policies in Bahía de Kino,Gulf of California,Mexico

This study investigated the interpretation and level of support of government regulations in Bahía de Kino, Sonora, one of the most important fishing communities in terms of diving extraction of benthic resources in the Northern Gulf of California. Research was conducted from April to August 2007, focusing on the small-scale fisheries sector of commercial divers. Information on fishers’ awareness of current policies, fishers’ attitudes concerning different aspects of fisheries regulation, and fishers' suggestions on how their fisheries should be managed, was gathered through structured interviews (including open and closed-ended questions), informal talks and participant observation. Results provide further evidence supporting the need for formally recognizing the fishers as key stakeholders in local fisheries, and for working cooperatively towards the design of management strategies and regulations that provide better stimulus for resource stewardship and discourage overfishing. Very importantly, this study suggests that there is strong support from resource users for implementing regulatory measures for local fisheries. Results could be used as a preliminary baseline to initiate the discussion among fishery stakeholders towards the development of species-specific management plans for the area, as required by the recently enacted fisheries act in Mexico, the “Ley General de Pesca y Acuacultura Sustentables”.     

Adaptive fisheries management in Vietnam: The use of indicators and the introduction of a multi-disciplinary Marine Fisheries Specialist Team to support implementation

Vietnam is in the process of introducing adaptive management based on indicators and time-series to manage its marine fisheries. The development of indicator-based frameworks for fisheries management has accelerated in recent years. This article describes the suite of indicators being suggested or used in Vietnam including the data-collection system. The Vietnamese approach is supported by an institutional structure consisting of a multi-disciplinary advisory system to facilitate the process of using indicators and to introduce knowledge-based management. The article concludes by identifying current problems and weaknesses and by providing suggestions for future improvement of the system.     

Use of Continuous Plankton Recorder information in support of marine management: applications in fisheries, environmental protection, and in the study of ecosystem response to environmental change

The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey was conceived from the outset as a programme of applied research designed to assist the fishing industry. Its survival and continuing vigour after 70 years is a testament to its utility, which has been achieved in spite of great changes in our understanding of the marine environment and in our concerns over how to manage it. The CPR has been superseded in several respects by other technologies, such as acoustics and remote sensing, but it continues to provide unrivalled seasonal and geographic information about a wide range of zooplankton and phytoplankton taxa. The value of this coverage increases with time and provides the basis for placing recent observations into the context of long-term, large-scale variability and thus suggesting what the causes are likely to be. Information from the CPR is used extensively in judging environmental impacts and producing quality status reports (QSR); it has shown the distributions of fish stocks, which had not previously been exploited; it has pointed to the extent of ungrazed phytoplankton production in the North Atlantic, which was a vital element in establishing the importance of carbon sequestration by phytoplankton.The CPR continues to be the principal source of large-scale, long-term information about the plankton ecosystem of the North Atlantic. It has recently provided extensive information about the biodiversity of the plankton and about the distribution of introduced species. It serves as a valuable example for the design of future monitoring of the marine environment and it has been essential to the design and implementation of most North Atlantic plankton research.