SoFISHticated policy – social perspectives on the fish conflict in the Northeast Atlantic

Ecosystem changes currently question the traditional allocation of fishing rights and quotas in the fishery of Northeast Atlantic mackerel and Norwegian spring-spawning herring in the Northeast Atlantic. Variability in the distribution of these highly migratory species escalated in a political conflict between member states of the European Union, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Norway, which is a driving force for unsustainable fishery. The aim of this paper is to investigate this conflict by outlining the social understandings of diverse stakeholders by using the Q methodology. The method reduced the complexity of numerous opinions, detected four distinct perspectives and simultaneously categorised the participating stakeholders. Although the perspectives differ in various elements, the protection of economic interests seems to dominate over the quest for sustainability. The call of all stakeholders in this study to clarify the fishing rights in the Northeast Atlantic reveals a clear deficiency of the current international fishery management in handling abrupt ecological changes and the necessity to acknowledge this as a complex adaptive system.     

Migration dynamics of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) and response to spring environmental variability in the southeastern Bering Sea

In the southeastern Bering Sea, Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) migrate from the Pribilof Islands region where they overwinter, to the Alaska coast where they spawn in spring. The migration sustains a nearshore commercial fishery that targets roe-bearing females just prior to spawning. Herring also are taken as bycatch in groundfish trawl fisheries, where time and area closures in these fisheries are triggered by herring bycatch caps. Using herring bycatch data collected since the 1970s by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observers aboard groundfish fishing vessels, a retrospective analysis was conducted to describe the seasonal migration pattern of Pacific herring in the southeastern Bering Sea and to study its spatial and temporal variability. Observed changes in herring catch per unit of effort were compared with variability in climate and oceanographic conditions. The seasonal migration is complex, but annual shifts in migration routes and a possible northward shift of the overwintering grounds was identified. Pre-spawning herring aggregated in different areas depending on whether spawning occurred early or late in spring. The thermal structure of the ocean around the ice edge appears to influence herring migration timing and route as well as spawning date. Thus, on the basis of recent changes in sea-ice extent and duration, we suggest that the herring bycatch savings area that was developed from data collected in the 1980s should be revised to reflect prevailing conditions.     

Fuel use and greenhouse gas emission implications of fisheries management: the case of the new england atlantic herring fishery

Commercial fisheries are heavily dependent upon the combustion of fossil fuels and as such contribute to increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and the concomitant impact on the world's climate. The fuel use and greenhouse gas intensity of a fishery is a function of several variables. One that has not been previously investigated is the role of fisheries management. Using historical gear-specific fuel use and landings data, we employ scenarios to examine the potential impact that recent changes in the management of the New England fishery for Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) may have on fishery-related fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, we consider the direct effect of the seasonal ban of midwater trawling in favor of purse seine and fixed gears within Atlantic herring fishing Area 1A. We also evaluate the indirect effect of reductions to the Area 1A total allowable catch of Atlantic herring on the regional supply of bait and the resulting potential need to import bait herring from Canada. Our results indicate that because of the five-fold lower fuel intensity of purse seining, relative to midwater trawling (21 L/ton versus 108-118 L/ton), the seasonal ban on midwater trawling has the potential to markedly reduce overall fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the herring fishery. These results indicate that management decisions can strongly influence energy demands and resulting greenhouse gas emissions of fisheries. We urge those involved with fisheries management to take this into account when developing policy and management measures.     

The elasmobranch fisheries of the Azores

In the Northeast Atlantic, elasmobranchs are a common bycatch in many fisheries, including demersal trawls, longlines, or gillnets and many countries do not have regulations or any control over the amount taken. In the Mid Atlantic, the Azores EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), small-scale fishing operations, artisanal and hook-and-line fishing methods are responsible for part of local total landed elasmobranch biomass, although some species are specifically focused and severely harvested by international large-scale fleets. This work provides a review and analysis of the commercial elasmobranch fisheries in the Azores EEZ, and its evolution over the last two decades, highlighting management priorities, taking into account the Northeast Atlantic elasmobranch fisheries status. In the Mid-Atlantic, elasmobranch fisheries mainly target 4 species, that are usually landed as bycatch: the tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus) and the thornback ray (Raja clavata), captured mainly by local demersal artisanal fisheries, the blue shark (Prionace glauca) and the shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) captured by a more industrialised fleet, including those from foreign nations. Considering elasmobranchs life history traits and fishery history, caution is advised in the development of a management strategy focusing on these species, considering the Northeast Atlantic context and regional, local and national interests.     

Analysis of bycatch in the South African midwater trawl fishery for horse mackerel Trachurus capensis based on observer data

The South African midwater trawl fishery targets adult horse mackerel Trachurus capensis. The bulk of the catch is taken by a single freezer-trawler, the biggest fishing vessel operating in South African waters. As fishing takes place off the south coast in ecologically sensitive areas, there are concerns about the potential impacts of this fishing operation on non-target species. Fishing behaviour and bycatch of this fishery from 2004 to 2014 were investigated by analysing observer records with regard to catch composition, volume and temporal and spatial patterns. The midwater trawl fishery was estimated to have caught 25 415 tonnes annually, with a bycatch of 6.9% of the total catch, by weight. There are species overlaps with various fisheries, namely the demersal trawl, small-pelagic, line, shark longline and squid fisheries, yet the total bycatch estimates from this fishery are generally small relative to catches taken in the target fisheries. Bycatch species with the highest average annual catches were chub mackerel Scomber japonicus, redeye roundherring Etrumeus whiteheadi, ribbonfish Lepidopus caudatus and hake Merluccius spp. Large-fauna bycatch species included sunfish Mola mola as well as a number of CITES II- and IUCN-listed species, such as Cape fur seal Arctocephalus pusillus, dusky shark Carcharhinus obscurus, smooth hammerhead shark Sphyrna zygaena and thresher sharks Alopias spp. The 97.9% observer coverage is high and the 6.9% bycatch rate low compared to other South African fisheries; however, due to the large size of the individual hauls (average of 46.3 t), the average sampling rate of 1.56% is low. Our analyses suggest that bycatch in the South African midwater trawl fishery has been lower than in other South African fisheries and similar fisheries elsewhere, but due to the combination of high catch volumes and low sampling rates, estimation errors for rare species are high and there is a substantial risk of incidental unmonitored bycatch of rare large fauna and aggregations of small fauna. This could be mitigated by spatio-temporal management of this fishery, to avoid fishing in high-risk areas, and the introduction of an electronic monitoring programme.     

Emerging fisheries,emerging fishery interactions with sea turtles: A case study of the large-mesh gillnet fishery for flounder in Pamlico Sound,North Carolina,USA

Emerging fisheries and changes in fishery practices are not always readily apparent, nor are their impacts on non-target species such as seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals. Data from several different sources led managers to discover high rates of sea turtle bycatch in an inshore large-mesh gillnet fishery in North Carolina, USA, particularly the emerging deep-water gillnet fishery. This paper reviews the history of how increased numbers of observed stranded sea turtles in 1999 led to the discovery that turtles were becoming entangled in the large-mesh gillnet fishery in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. It also demonstrates how a variety of data sets from fisheries observers, aerial surveys, and fisheries statistics programs contributed to shaping management of the large-mesh gillnet fishery in Pamlico Sound to decrease turtle bycatch and now point towards the need of additional assessment of gillnet bycatch in other parts of North Carolina. Finally, potential approaches are discussed for a more timely detection of future fishery conflicts and development of a plan to reduce otherwise inevitable bycatch and disruptions to fishing effort.     

Fleet communication to abate fisheries bycatch

Fleet communication systems report near real-time observations of bycatch hotspots to enable a fishery to operate as a coordinated “One Fleet” to substantially reduce fleet-wide capture of protected bycatch species. This benefits the bycatch species per se, reduces waste, and can provide economic benefits to industry by reducing risk of exceeding bycatch thresholds and causing future declines in target species catch levels. We describe case studies of fleet communication programs of the US North Atlantic longline swordfish fishery, US North Pacific and Alaska trawl fisheries, and US Alaska demersal longline fisheries, and identify alternative fleet communication program designs to reduce fisheries bycatch. Evidence supports the inference that these three fleet communication programs substantially reduced fisheries bycatch and provided economic benefits that greatly outweighed operational costs. Fleet communication may be appropriate in fisheries where there are strong economic incentives to reduce bycatch, interactions with bycatch species are rare events, adequate onboard observer coverage exists, and for large fleets, vessels are represented by a fishery association.     

Neoliberal and neo-communal herring fisheries in Southeast Alaska: Reframing sustainability in marine ecosystems

The transformation of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) fisheries from communal to commons to neoliberal regulation has had significant impacts on the health and sustainability of marine ecosystems on the Northwest Coast of North America. Due to their abundance, seasonality, and sensitivity in disturbance, herring were carefully cultivated and protected by coastal Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian communities. The early industrial fishing era undermined this communalist approach in favor of an unregulated commons for bait and reduction fisheries, attracting non-local fleets and leading to conflicts with local Natives and tragedy of the commons style overexploitation of herring stocks by the mid-twentieth century. Since the 1970s, a re-regulated neoliberal sac roe fishery for Japanese markets has provided new opportunities for limited commercial permit holders, but with further depredations on local spawning populations. This paper uses frame theory and historical and political ecology to show how this transformation was justified by three critical but dubious (re)framings of Southeast herring populations under modern scientific management: (1) a reductionist framing of single species productivity models, expressed as herring “biomass,” within space and time (baseline scale framing); (2) the selective framing and privileging of human industrial predation under maximum sustainable yield (MSY) within a dynamic ecosystem of multiple predator populations (actor relations framing); and (3) the strategic framing of spawning failure events and policy responses to those events by professional fisheries managers (event–response framing). Finally, the paper argues for a new social–ecological systems approach, based on aboriginal models of herring cultivation, to sustain a commercial, subsistence, and restoration economy for the fishery.     

Biodiversity and environmental characteristics of the bycatch assemblages from the tropical tuna purse seine fisheries in the eastern Atlantic Ocean

The impact of human activities such as fishing has been identified as a main factor in diversity loss in the open ocean. This paper studies the diversity patterns and environmental characteristics of the bycatch assemblages in Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) and Free School sets (sets made on schools of tuna) from the tropical tuna purse seine fishery in the eastern Atlantic Ocean (35°W–15°E and 20°N–15°S). Data were collected from scientific observer programmes carried out between 2003 and 2011 on board Spanish and French fleets. The results showed different structure and diversity patterns of the bycatch assemblages depending on the fishing mode, with higher number of species and diversity found in FAD sets than in Free School sets. Bycatch assemblages showed preferences for specific oceanographic characteristics of the Atlantic Ocean, such as the equatorial and seasonal coastal upwelling systems, the Cape Lopez front system and the Guinea dome. The type of set and sea surface temperature play an important role to describe the diversity patterns of these species. These results confirm the importance of integrating different methods to study the marine ecosystem towards the correct implementation of the Ecosystem Approach to Fishery Management (EAFM).     

RNA:DNA ratios of Baltic Sea herring larvae and copepods in embayment and open sea habitats

Elucidation of important nursery habitats for young fish can aid in the management and assessment of fish stocks. Herring (Clupea harengus) in the Baltic Sea primarily spawn in coastal areas, but larvae are also present in off-shore, open sea areas. To investigate if sheltered coastal habitats provide a better growth environment for larval herring, we compared short-term growth (as indexed by whole body RNA:DNA ratios) of larval herring from three habitat types of the northwest Baltic proper (sheltered inner bay, exposed outer bay, and open sea). In addition, we compared individual RNA content of adult female Eurytemora affinis (a common Baltic copepod) among these different habitats. High RNA levels in these copepods indicate high production of nauplii, which are important food for larval herring. Both RNA:DNA ratios of larval herring and RNA content of E. affinis were significantly greater in embayment habitats, suggesting that the sheltered coastal areas are high quality nursery habitats for young Baltic herring.     

Characterization of the southeastern US black sea bass (Centropristis striata) pot commercial fishery and implications for western North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) management and policy

A vital component of marine policy is the conservation and management of diverse marine resources. In the southeastern US, commercial fishermen target black sea bass (Centropristis striata) with pots from North Carolina to Cape Canaveral, Florida. During the fall through spring fishing season, western North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) distribution overlaps the black sea bass commercial pot fishery. Fishermen interviews revealed that the number of pots set ranged from 3 to 240 and the number of pots set per trawl ranged from 1 to 18. Generally, the amount of gear increased from south to north.     

Oil spill fishery impact assessment model: Sensitivity to spill location and timing

An oil spill fishery impact assessment model system has been applied to the Georges Bank-Gulf of Maine region to assess the sensitivity of probable impact on several key fisheries to spill location and timing. Simulations of the impact on the fishery of tanker spills (20 million gallons released over 5 days), at two separate locations for each season of the year, and blowout spills (68 million gallons released over 30 days) at one location, with monthly releases and at six other locations with seasonal spills have been studied. Atlantic cod has been employed as the principal fish species throughout the simulations. Impacts on Atlantic herring and haddock have also been investigated for selected cases. All spill sites are located on Georges Bank with the majority in the general region of OCS leasing activity.The results of these simulations suggest a complex interaction among spill location and timing, the spatial and temporal distribution of spawning, the population dynamics of the species under study, and the hydrodynamics of the area. For the species studied, spills occurring during the winter and spring have the largest impact with cod being the most heavily impacted followed by haddock and herring. In all cases, the maximum cumulative loss to the fishery of a one time spill event never exceeded 25% of the annual catch with the exact value depending on the number of ichthyoplankton impacted by the spill and the compensatory dynamics of the population.     

Decomposing productivity and efficiency changes in the Alaska head and gut factory trawl fleet

Fishing fleets are subject to numerous factors that affect economic performance, making identification and attribution of such impacts difficult. This paper separately identifies the effects of changing input and output prices, fishery management, and quota allocations on total factor productivity using a Lowe Index. Indices account for technical change and decompose productivity estimates into its technical, environmental, and scale-mix components. This results in measures that reflect shifts in the production frontier, and movements by vessels toward and around the frontier, to capture economies of scale and mix after a policy shift to a catch share program that includes fishing cooperatives and a limited access fishery. The difference between cooperative and limited access vessels is exploited to compare the changes in economic performance between the groups after the introduction of the shift to catch shares and cooperative management, which allowed the vessels to improve the timing and coordination across multi-species fisheries and to decrease incidental catch of quota-limited bycatch species that had closed the target fisheries prematurely in the past. Results indicate that total factor productivity increased significantly after the move to a catch share program, largely due to increases in technical change that shifted out the production frontier of the fishery.     

Standards for the effective management of fisheries bycatch

Mitigating the environmental impact of commercial fishing, by avoiding, minimizing and compensating for adverse effects, is core business for fisheries management authorities globally. The complex interplay of ecological, economic, and social considerations has often resulted in bycatch management being reactive, confrontational and costly. In many cases it has been difficult to demonstrate success and to establish whether bycatch management has been efficient or effective. This article proposes standards for bycatch management following reviews of literature, international agreements and Australian domestic fishery management policies, and consideration by many technical experts and several stakeholder representatives. The standards have been developed using Australian Commonwealth fisheries – and the international fisheries agreements to which Australia is party – as a baseline, but should be applicable to both domestic and regional/international governance systems. The proposed standards involve quantifying fisheries bycatch, agreeing on operational objectives, assessing the effects of fishing on bycatch populations, establishing the cost-effectiveness of mitigation measures, and evaluating performance. The standards encourage domestic management measures that are consistent with the guidance and requirements of international agreements and regional fisheries management organisations. The importance of engaging stakeholders throughout the process is recognised. The standards provide a framework for measuring performance and a checklist of actions for managing bycatch at a fishery level. They have the potential to facilitate the development of more strategic and effective approaches to bycatch management, with defined goals, monitoring systems, and adaptive decision-making. This review of past bycatch management, including the application of the proposed standards to the mitigation of shark bycatch in an Australian longline fishery, demonstrates that the proposed standards are operationally feasible but that they have not always been applied. Specifically, monitoring the performance of bycatch management measures has not always followed their implementation.     

Ecological Risk Assessment for seabird interactions in Western and Central Pacific longline fisheries

The risk of seabird–fishery interactions in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) was examined by analysing the overlap of seabird distributions with tuna and swordfish pelagic longline fisheries managed by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and its constituent members. The study used spatially-explicit Productivity–Susceptibility Analysis (PSA). Key data inputs were species productivity, fishing effort, likelihood of capture and species density by region. The outputs tailored results to the needs of fisheries- and wildlife-managers, indicating areas of greatest risk of species interactions, species of greatest concern for population impacts, and the flags or fisheries most likely to contribute to the risk. Large albatross species were found to be most likely to suffer population effects when exposed to longline fishing activity, followed by the larger petrels from the genuses Procellaria, Macronectes and Pterodroma. A mixture of coastal states with nesting seabird populations in their Exclusive Economic Zones (New Zealand, Australia and United States of America), distant water fishing nations (Japan, Taiwan) and flags of convenience (Vanuatu) contributed 90% of the risk to seabird populations. Recommendations include enhancing the level of fisheries observer monitoring in areas indicated as high to medium risk for seabird interactions, and consideration of spatial management tools, such as more intensive or more stringent seabird bycatch mitigation requirements in high- to medium-risk areas. The methods used, and similar studies conducted in the Atlantic Ocean could lead to improved targeting of monitoring resources, and greater specificity in the needs for seabird-mitigation measures. This will assist in reducing seabird mortality in longline fishing operations and with more effective use of resources for fishery managers in both domestic fisheries and RFMOs.     

Assessment of the exploitable biomass of thread herring(Opisthonema spp.) in northwestern Mexico

In recent years, the small pelagic fishery on the Pacific northwest coast of Mexico has significantly increased fishing pressure on thread herring Opisthonema spp. This fishery is regulated using a precautionary approach(acceptable biological catch(ABC) and minimum catch size). However, due to fishing dynamics, fish aggregation habits and increased fishing mortality, periodic biomass assessments are necessary to estimate ABC and assess the resource status. The Catch-MSY approach was used to analyze historical series of thread herring catches off the western Baja California Sur(BCS, 1981–2018) and the Gulf of California(GC, 1972–2018) to estimate exploitable biomass and target reference points in order to obtain catch quotas. According to the results, in GC,the maximum biomass reached in 1972(at the beginning of fishery) and minimum biomass reached in 2015; the estimated exploitable biomass for 2019 was 42.2×10~4 t; and the maximum sustainable yield(MSY) was 15.4×10~4 t.In the western BCS coast, the maximum biomass was reached in 1981(at the beginning of fishery) and minimum biomass was reached in 2017; the estimated exploitable biomass for 2019 was 3.2×10~4 t; and the MSY was 1.2×10~4 t.Both stocks showed a decrease in biomass over the past years and were currently near to point of full exploitation.The results suggest that the use of the Catch-MSY method is suitable to obtain annual biomass estimates, in order to establish an ABC, to know the current state of the resource, and to avoid overcoming the potential recovery of the stocks.     

MPA regulations should incorporate adaptive management—The case of Gilbert Bay Labrador Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)

Although an important conservation tool, Marine Protected Areas sometimes fall short of intended goals; however, adaptive management can potentially improve their effectiveness. Efforts to develop an MPA in Gilbert Bay, Labrador, Canada, began in 1998 to protect the genetically distinct population of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and its habitat. Population monitoring and research conducted in Gilbert Bay during 26 research trips over 14 years have documented significant population declines. The biomass declined by as much as 83% and research catch rates by 54% since Gilbert Bay became a MPA in 2005. Commercial fishing in adjacent waters was strongly correlated (Pearson correlation r=−0.87, p=0.002), with the declining trend in research catch rates. Tag recaptures from the commercial fishery (n=105) confirmed that fishing removed large adult Gilbert Bay cod that seasonally move outside the MPA. Evidence of the production of strong year classes even at low adult population levels indicate that the Gilbert Bay cod population has the potential to increase rapidly under appropriate adaptive management; thus improving MPA effectiveness. A relatively small change in the timing of commercial fishing in waters adjacent to the MPA would likely produce this result; however, inflexible MPA regulations, and poor co-ordination and agreement among differing fishery management processes and stakeholders has delayed the implementation of such a change.     

Energy profiling of demersal fish: A case-study in wind farm artificial reefs

The construction of wind farms introduces artificial hard substrates in sandy sediments. As Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and pouting (Trisopterus luscus) tend to aggregate in order to feed around these reefs, energy profiling and trophic markers were applied to study their feeding ecology in a wind farm in the Belgian part of the North Sea. The proximate composition (carbohydrates, proteins and lipids) differed significantly between liver and muscle tissue but not between fish species or between their potential prey species. Atlantic cod showed to consume more energy than pouting. The latter had a higher overall energy reserve and can theoretically survive twice as long on the available energy than cod. In autumn, both fish species could survive longer on their energy than in spring. Polyunsaturated fatty acids were found in high concentrations in fish liver. The prey species Jassa and Pisidia were both rich in EPA while Jassa had a higher DHA content than Pisidia.Energy profiling supported the statement that wind farm artificial reefs are suitable feeding ground for both fish species. Sufficient energy levels were recorded and there is no indication of competition.     

Pelagic longline fisheries in southeastern/south Brazil. Who cares about the law?

The fishing industry has been facing problems related to catch yields, predatory competition and economic collapse. Management should be based on substantial scientific studies and the state's ability to implement these. In Brazil, the surface longline fishery has been in existence since the 1950s, and remains of great economic importance. This study analyzes 179 legal instruments (1934–2014), divided into restrictive, administrative and promotional, comparing with catches landed (1996–2011). The results show that there was a complete disrespect for the regulations, wherein fleets continued landing prohibited or size limited species, such as Kajikia albida, Makaira nigricans, Alopias superciliosus, A. vulpinus, Carcharhinus longimanus, Galeorhinus galeus and Xiphias gladius. Furthermore, divergent regulatory provisions have hindered understanding/implementation of regulations by all those involved. Being a country of continental proportions and with different longline fisheries along the coast, conducting scientific studies and the development of normative approaches becomes a huge challenge. In a dynamic activity such as fishing, the constant review of these regulations will allow fisheries management to become more accurate and in accordance with the aspirations of the different interests involved. Despite the surface longline fishery having operated for 60 years in Brazil, the existence of incongruous laws makes the management and control of this activity incompatible with the conservation of species. The lack of regulations governing this fishery creates a "gap", increasing the risk of extinction of species (target and bycatch) and the future collapse of this activity.     

Uncovering governance mechanisms surrounding harbour porpoise conservation in the Danish Skagerrak Sea

The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is the focus of a range of conservation efforts and policies, including the Habitats Directive, aimed at reducing the bycatch of non-target species in gillnet fisheries. This paper describes the governance process and analyses the governance mechanisms and conflicts surrounding ongoing fisheries management planning with a focus on two Natura 2000 sites in the Danish part of the Skagerrak Sea designated to protect harbour porpoises. Responsibility for developing fisheries management for Natura 2000 sites is solely the remit of the fisheries agency, including mechanisms related to stakeholder involvement. This approach fuels the efficiency of the decision making process, while full transparency and/or co-decision becomes less of a given within a ministry for an economic sector compared with the environment ministry. In relation to porpoises, conflicts are driven mainly by the economy and the varying perceptions of the bycatch issue, with great differences between government, NGO's and fishers. Interviews with fishers and fishing effort data reveal intra-sectoral conflicts pertaining to the incompatibility of active trawling and passive gillnetting in the areas. The paper questions the overall approach to managing the harbour porpoise bycatch issue in light of Natura 2000 and discusses the role of science and its high level of influence in this planning process.