Review of indicators in fisheries management – a development perspective

A review of indicators for an ecosystem approach to fisheries management is presented, focusing on multispecies fisheries and limited resources for assessments and implementation, as often is the case in developing countries. Emphasizing the need to link indicators to management objectives, indicators from the literature are grouped into four categories, relating to the immediate fisheries resource base (single-species and multispecies indicators) and the wider ecosystem (habitat structure and ecosystem functioning). The usefulness of these indicators is assessed along three dimensions of acceptability among stakeholders, observability, and relation to fisheries management using a traffic light approach. The top ranking indicators are highlighted as a generally good start for any particular fishery management case. It is, however, argued that, even with similar management objectives, indicators need to be specific to both ecosystems and the institutional set-up if they are to be effective for management, and that indicators may consequently differ considerably between individual management applications.     

Ecosystem-based fisheries management in small-scale tropical marine fisheries: Emerging models of governance arrangements in the Philippines

There has been a gradual evolution in fisheries management over the past decades from a focus on sustainability of a single species or stock and resources to a focus on marine ecosystems. Among the issues to be addressed for effective implementation of ecosystem based fisheries management (EBFM) are the appropriate governance arrangements and scale for management. The purpose of this paper is to examine these issues of governance and scale as related to EBFM in tropical developing countries through an analysis of approaches being taken in the Philippines to manage fisheries on a multi-jurisdictional level. The management of fisheries and coastal resources in a number of bays and gulfs, which represent marine ecosystems, is presented. The opportunities and constraints to ecosystem based fisheries management in the Philippines are discussed and lessons for broader application of these governance structures in tropical developing country marine ecosystems are presented.     

Toward shared understandings of ecosystem-based fisheries management among fishery management councils and stakeholders in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and New England regions

Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) is often discussed by fisheries managers and stakeholders as a potential goal. EBFM is based on a multi-species approach, which varies significantly from the single species fisheries management (SSFM) approach currently practiced under the U.S. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA). EBFM is “holistic” and considers “all factors,” but it is impossible for management to incorporate all factors into EBFM. This study sought to improve understanding of factors contributing to or preventing progress toward EBFM implementation in the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) and New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), focusing on Council member and stakeholder beliefs, attitudes, and mutual understanding. Objectives included determining mutual understanding between MAFMC and NEFMC members and stakeholders about EBFM and identifying MAFMC and NEFMC member and stakeholder preferences for EBFM definitions, practices, and outcomes, and prioritizing which aspects of EBFM managers and stakeholders find most important. Stakeholders included commercial fishermen, recreational anglers, nongovernmental organization (NGO) leaders, and Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) members. Over 1000 survey responses about EBFM from council members and stakeholders in the Mid-Atlantic (MA) and New England (NE) regions were analyzed. The Coorientation Model was used to characterize understanding between the Council and fisheries-related stakeholder groups. For the MA and NE regions, most stakeholders agreed on definitions, practices, and possible outcomes for EBFM. Results suggest that most Council members and stakeholders in the MA and NE regions support a change from SSFM to EBFM at an incremental, intermediate, or complete, gradual (5–10 years) pace. The application of the Coorientation Model to EBFM and the fishery management councils provided insights into how an improved understanding of the attitudes, beliefs, and mutual comprehension of Council members and stakeholder groups could potentially facilitate the implementation of EBFM. Council members and stakeholders responded similarly to, and Council members correctly predicted stakeholder responses about, EBFM definitions, practices, and outcomes. These findings suggest that Council member and stakeholder agreement and understanding are not barriers to MAFMC and NEFMC adoption of EBFM.     

Sustainable use of flatfish resources: Addressing the credibility crisis in mixed fisheries management

Many flatfish species are caught in mixed demersal trawl fisheries and managed by Total Allowable Catch (TAC). Despite decades of fisheries management, several major stocks are severely depleted. Using the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) as an example, the failure of mixed-fisheries management is analysed by focussing on: the management system; the role of science; the role of managers and politicians; the response of fisheries to management. Failure of the CFP management could be ascribed to: incorrect management advice owing to bias in stock assessments; the tendency of politicians to set the TAC well above the recommended level; and non-compliance of the fisheries with the management regulations. We conclude that TAC management, although apparently successful in some single-species fisheries, inevitably leads to unsustainable exploitation of stocks caught in mixed demersal fisheries as it promotes discarding of over-quota catch and misreporting of catches, thereby corrupting the basis of the scientific advice and increasing the risk of stock collapse. This failure in mixed demersal fisheries has resulted in the loss of credibility of both scientists and managers, and has undermined the support of fishermen for management regulations. An approach is developed to convert the TAC system into a system that controls the total allowable effort (TAE). The approach takes account of the differences in catch efficiency between fleets as well as seasonal changes in the distribution of the target species and can also be applied in the recovery plans for rebuilding specific components of the demersal fish community, such as plaice, cod and hake.     

Towards the implementation of an integrated ecosystem fleet-based management of European fisheries

Using the Celtic Sea and the North Sea as case studies, the fleet-based approach is shown to be the pathway to implement an effective ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) in European seas. First, a diagnostic on the health of each ecosystem is proposed based on the reconstruction of long time-series of catch, the analysis of mean indicators or stocks trajectories derived from ICES stock assessment results, and the analysis of ecosystem indicators. Then, a fleet-based synthesis is presented using indicators of both the ecological impact and the economic performances of the major fleets operating within each ecosystem. In particular, assessment diagrams show whether each fleet segment, on average, sustainably exploits the stocks. Although results are preliminary due to the poor quality of available data, the analysis shows that simple indicators can be estimated and clearly highlight contrasts between fleet segments. Such an approach contributes to the evolution from a stock-based to a fleet-based management, which reflects the ecological, economical and social pillars of the sustainable development of fisheries.     

数据稀缺生态系统中多种类质量谱模型的构建

多种类生态模型已经被广泛应用于渔业活动影响应预测和管理措施效果评估。质量谱模型是一种基于生理过程构建的生态模型,该模型为描述鱼类群落在个体摄食变异和随个体发生的生态位迁移提供了一个可行的方法。尽管生态模型在增进生态系统认识上具有重要意义,其应用在数据稀缺的渔业中受到很大限制。作为实践基于生态系统渔业管理(EBFM)的第一步,本研究构建了海州湾鱼类群落的质量谱模型。本研究详述了数据收集和模型参数化的过程,以促进该模型在数据稀缺的生态系统中未来的应用。作为一个范例,研究展示了不同捕捞努力量对生态系统的影响,并采用一套生态指标监测其动态。群落生物量、多样性指数、W指数,大鱼指数(LFI),平均体重和群落质量谱斜率对捕捞压力的响应呈非线性,最大的捕捞强度并非总是对鱼类群落产生最强的影响。本文强调了构建谱模型在生态研究中的的价值和可行性,并讨论了模型的局限性和改进的可能。本研究旨在促进质量谱模型的广泛应用以更好地支持基于生态系统的渔业管理。     

Are input controls required in individual transferable quota fisheries to address ecosystem based fisheries management objectives?

This study examined the use of Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) to effectively manage fishing impacts on all ecosystem components, as required under Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) principles. A consequence of changing from input controls to output-based (catch) management is that the control of the regulating authority tends to be reduced, which may affect the outcomes for ecosystem management. This study reviewed the use of input controls across six fishing methods in 18 ITQ fisheries, which have been independently accredited as ecologically sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (12 fisheries) or under Australian environmental legislation for Wildlife Trade Operation (six fisheries). Input controls were retained across a range of ITQ fisheries, with non-selective fisheries such as trawl, gillnet and line employing more input controls than selective fisheries such as purse-seine, pot/trap and dredge. Further case-studies confirmed the widespread and recent use of input controls (spatial and temporal closures) with the aim of managing ecosystem impacts of fishing. The retention of input controls, particularly closures affects the security (quality of title) characteristic of the fishing use right and the theoretical ability of fishers to manage their right for their future benefit. The security characteristic is weakened by closures through loss of access, which undermines industry trust and incentive for long-term decision making. By reducing the security of ITQs, individual fisher incentives and behaviour may separate from societal objectives for sustainability, which was one of the foremost reasons for introducing ITQ management.     

生态模型在渔业管理中的应用

随着人们对于海洋生态的认识逐渐深入,渔业等人类活动的影响受到了更多的关注,"基于生态系统的渔业管理"（EBFM）这一概念被越来越多的研究者和国际组织所接受。生态模型为EBFM的实践提供了科学的评估方法和技术工具。与单鱼种评估模型相比,生态模型更多地考虑了系统内的各种生态过程和作用机制,栖息地等环境条件的变化,以及生态系统整体的结构和功能等,依此来反映生态系统的动态变化。由于生态模型是多样化的,关注和涉及不同的目标对象、机制过程、模型结构和参数,本文按照生态模型所关注的生态层次和组分将其分为多物种模型、群落结构模型和生态系统模型3个类型,分析了各类模型的优劣点。本文进一步阐述了生态模型在渔业管理中的应用领域,以管理策略评估为中心的应用方式,以及实践中模型选择和构建所需要注意的问题,还探讨了生态模型中降低不确定性和提高预测能力的方法。     

Unsuitability of TAC management within an ecosystem approach to fisheries: An ecological perspective

Fisheries management in European waters is gradually moving from a single-species perspective towards a more holistic ecosystem approach to management (EAM), acknowledging the need to take all ecosystem components into account. Prerequisite within an EAM is the need for management processes that directly influence the ecological effects of fishing, such as the mortality of target and non-target species. Up until recently, placing limits on the quantities of fish that can be landed, through the imposition of annual total allowable catches (TACs) for the target species, has been the principal management mechanism employed. However, pressure on non-target components of marine ecosystems is more closely linked to prevailing levels of fishing activity, so only if TACs are closely related to subsequent fishing effort will TAC management serve to control the broader ecosystem impacts of fishing. We show that in the mixed fisheries that characterise the North Sea, the linkage between variation in TAC and the resulting fishing effort is in fact generally weak. Reliance solely on TACs to regulate fishing activity is therefore unlikely to mitigate the impacts of fishing on non-target species. Consequently, we conclude that the relationship between TACs and effort is insufficient for TACs to be used as the principal management tool within an EAM. The implications, and some alternatives, for fisheries management are discussed.     

From low- to high-value fisheries: Is it possible to quantify the trade-off between management cost,risk and catch?

Fishery managers are faced with the challenge of maintaining sustainable fisheries at the lowest possible cost while conforming to international and national obligations. Given that fisheries range from low to high value, there is a real need to understand how to trade ecological and economic risks, and the various costs associated with their management, against the benefits from catch. Key to this is an understanding of (a) the costs corresponding to a given level of acceptable risk, or conversely, (b) the change in risk given a change in cost investment. This paper first defines biological, economic and ecosystem risk at a whole-of-fishery level, and then develops a simple model to quantify the trade-offs between risk, cost and catch. Using as case studies Australia's federally managed fisheries that range from data-rich to data-poor, risk was quantified for target species in terms of both their limit and target reference points (defined as “biological risk” and “economic risk”, respectively), and for ecosystems in terms of overall ecological impact (defined as “ecosystem risk”). A statistical linear model was used to quantify the risk–cost–catch frontier for each of the three forms of risk. The most parsimonious models were statistically significant for each. However, the management and research costs were mostly positively correlated with risk, indicating that these tended to be reactive to risk, as opposed to risk decreasing in response to increased costs. The only model where this was not the case was for the ecosystem risk, which is probably because these risks have only recently been assessed and the management response to these risks across all the fisheries has so far been limited. For target species risks, it was not possible to develop a model for proactive use. However, the method itself has merit and, if the costs were defined to a greater level of resolution, and/or a time-dynamic modelling approach considered, these issues could potentially be addressed.     

Evaluating impacts of pulse fishing on the effectiveness of seasonal closure

Seasonal fishing closures are often used in fisheries management to conserve overfished stocks.As one of the unintended consequences,fishermen often contend for maximizing catches immediately after reopening fisheries.The resultant large catch landings in a short time period(i.e.,pulse fishing)may undermine the benefit of closure.We implemented an end-to-end model OSMOSE-JZB(Object-oriented Simulator of Marine ec OSystem Exploitation OSMOSE)modelling ecosystem in the Jiaozhou Bay located in China to evaluate the impact of pulse fishing on the effectiveness of seasonal closure at levels of fish community,population,and individual.Our study demonstrated that the three-month closure was successful in conserving fish stocks.There were small variations on ecological indicators(i.e.,total biomass of the community,mean trophic level of the community,mean trophic level of the catch,and Shannon-Wiener biodiversity index)when pulse fishing occurred.Pulse fishing seemed not to result in a great shift in community structure.Compared to other species,the biomass of two large predatory fishes were more susceptible to pulse fishing.Pulse fishing could change the pressure of predators to fish stocks via food webs,especially for young individuals.Our simulations indicate that we can improve the effectiveness of seasonal closure by managing pulse fishing.Although the results derived in this study may be specific to the target ecosystem,the general approach is applicable to other ecosystems when evaluating fishing impacts.     

Assessing the feasibility of ecosystem-based fisheries management in tropical contexts

This analysis documents the reasons for emerging interest in ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) and relates this management model to others. It highlights the central challenges to EBFM in the tropical context and examines an ongoing project, Fisheries Improved for Sustainable Harvest (FISH), in the Philippines—likely the first EBFM project in the tropics. The Philippine legal and institutional context provides major governance challenges to EBFM, especially as management is scaled up. A monitoring framework with process and output criteria is applied to FISH to establish progress to date. Major institutional and governance challenges for EBFM will require monitoring, evaluation, and adaptation.     

Ecological performance indicators in the North Sea: development and application

Different signals of distress from the North Sea ecosystems started a discussion on the protection of the ecosystem at the third North Sea Ministers Conference in 1990. This was followed by a number of workshops on ecological indicators under the auspices of the North Sea Task Force and the Oslo and Paris Commissions (OSPAR). In 1997 the member countries around the North Sea agreed to develop and apply an ecosystem's approach in the management programs for both the North Sea fisheries and the marine environment. Following this agreement the identification of the ecological qualities objectives for the North Sea ecosystem started. Further work in this direction has lead to the setting up of various national projects geared towards creating a better understanding of the North Sea ecosystem.In the Netherlands, two departments (Water management and Nature and fisheries management) from the Ministry of Transport, Public works and Water Management (V&W) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries Management (LNV) agreed to integrate their policies for the management of the Netherlands section of the North Sea. The results from these projects (started in 1996) should enable the policy makers and managers to formulate policies that could lead to the creation of a balance between the effects of human activities and the preservation of the natural qualities of the North Sea ecosystem.One of the projects is strictly designed to develop ecological indicators for the Dutch part of the North Sea. These indicators are based on various monitoring data and related in one way or another with human activities. In this way it is possible to evaluate the effects of human impacts on the ecosystem. Long-term changes in the ecological performance of the ecosystem can be elucidated by the use of the ecological indicators. Thereby making it possible for the policy makers and the managers of the NCP to evaluate the effects of their policies and management recommendations on the quality of the ecosystem.This paper describes the process and the steps taken by the authorities in the countries around the North Sea to develop a set of ecological indicators for the management of the North Sea ecosystem. Focus will be made on the efforts made in the Netherlands to develop indicators that did provide the basis for the development of Water and Nature conservation policies and new management strategies for maintaining the sustainable use of the Dutch section of the North Sea.     

International workshop on advancing methods to overcome challenges associated with life history and stock assessments of data-poor deep-water snappers and groupers

Most fisheries for deep-water snappers, groupers and other demersal fishes in many countries and territories throughout the Indo-Pacific are data-poor and/or resource-poor. Current and emerging methods for obtaining important information on life history, ecological assessments, and stock assessments for these deep-water species were discussed at an international workshop in Perth, Western Australia in July 2016. The key issues raised included: (i) the ongoing need to adopt nascent methods for otolith sectioning and interpretation; (ii) the need for standardised international ageing protocols to be documented; (iii) the benefits of investigating otolith chronologies both for age validation and the influence of climate variability on fish populations; (iv) a need to investigate the ecological niches and requirements for deep-water fishes; (v) improved understanding of genetic stock structure/connectivity, diet and gene flow across a range of spatial scales; (vi) the need for an improved understanding of the performance and uncertainty associated with length- and age-based catch curves and spawning potential ratio stock assessments; and (vii) the issues and challenges in developing harvest strategies for deep-water data, and/or resource poor resources. Many new or refined strategic directions for further investigation were identified to resolve uncertainty in monitoring and assessment approaches to contribute toward more rigorous fisheries management arrangements.     

Lower trophic levels and detrital biomass control the Bay of Biscay continental shelf food web: Implications for ecosystem management

The Bay of Biscay (North-East Atlantic) has long been subjected to intense direct and indirect human activities that lead to the excessive degradation and sometimes overexploitation of natural resources. Fisheries management is gradually moving away from single-species assessments to more holistic, multi-species approaches that better respond to the reality of ecosystem processes. Quantitative modelling methods such as Ecopath with Ecosim can be useful tools for planning, implementing and evaluating ecosystem-based fisheries management strategies. The aim of this study was therefore to model the energy fluxes within the food web of this highly pressured ecosystem and to extract practical information required in the diagnosis of ecosystem state/health. A well-described model comprising 30 living and two non-living compartments was successfully constructed with data of local origin, for the Bay of Biscay continental shelf. The same level of aggregation was applied to primary producers, mid-trophic-levels and top-predators boxes. The model was even more general as it encompassed the entire continuum of marine habitats, from benthic to pelagic domains. Output values for most ecosystem attributes indicated a relatively mature and stable ecosystem, with a large proportion of its energy flow originating from detritus. Ecological network analysis also provided evidence that bottom-up processes play a significant role in the population dynamics of upper-trophic-levels and in the global structuring of this marine ecosystem. Finally, a novel metric based on ecosystem production depicted an ecosystem not far from being overexploited. This finding being not entirely consistent over indicators, further analyses based on dynamic simulations are required.     

Spatial and temporal assessment of potential risk to cetaceans from static fishing gears

Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) requires the consideration of potential impacts of a commercial fishery on all components of the ecosystem. Assessment of the impact of commercial fishing on marine mammals generally focuses on species at known risk from bycatch. For cetaceans in particular, inclusion under the Threatened, Endangered and Protected (TEP) species component of Ecological Risk Assessment for the Effects of Fishing (ERAEF) can seem redundant if a species is already known to be at risk or is not thought to interact with the fishery with consequences for its conservation. A spatially and temporally explicit Productivity Susceptibility Analysis (PSA) procedure was developed for inclusion under ERAEF to allow cetacean species to be screened for risk. The technique is demonstrated by assessing the potential risk to harbour porpoise and minke whales from a number of static gear fisheries. The results demonstrate that although a fishery might pose high risk to a species, low or moderate risk areas can exist within the range of the fishery, enabling management measures to focus on areas of greatest risk. Designed to complement and support existing methods of bycatch assessment, this approach is a repeatable and standardised assessment, the outputs of which can be used to systematically document the level of risk posed to different species in a transparent way to aid the inclusion of cetaceans in ERAEF and EBFM both now and in the future.     

Managing catch of marine megafauna: Guidelines for setting limit reference points

Limit reference points (LRPs) for catch, which correspond to thresholds to undesirable population or ecosystem states, offer a consistent, objective approach to management evaluation and prioritization across fisheries, species, and jurisdictions. LRPs have been applied successfully to manage catch of some marine megafauna (elasmobranchs, marine reptiles, seabirds, and marine mammals) in some jurisdictions, such as the use of Potential Biological Removal (PBR) to manage incidental mortality of marine mammals under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. However, implementation of ecosystem-based management is still in its infancy globally, and LRPs have not yet been widely adopted for marine megafauna, particularly for incidental catch. Here, guidelines are proposed for estimating catch LRPs for marine megafauna, with particular attention to resolving common technical and political challenges, including (1) identifying management units, population thresholds, and risk tolerances that align with common conservation goals and best practices, (2) choosing catch LRP estimators, (3) estimating input parameters such as abundance and productivity, (4) handling uncertainty, and (5) dealing with mismatches between management jurisdictions and population boundaries. The problem of cumulative impacts across sectors is briefly addressed. These guidelines, grounded in marine policy, science, precedent, and lessons learned, should facilitate wider application of catch LRPs in evaluation and management of fisheries impacts on marine megafauna, in support of global commitments to conserve biodiversity and manage fisheries responsibly.     

Own-price elasticity of open access supply as a long-run measure of fish stock abundance

Extensive criticisms of the management of marine fisheries periodically arise for a variety of reasons. While the complexity of the US fisheries management process is partially to blame, these reasons manifest themselves in statements that include a perceived decline in living marine resource abundance levels, a proposed change in the regulatory infrastructure, or improvements in stock abundance that some feel should allow for new entrants. Following these criticisms are calls to end the federal management process or at the very least the replacement of the fishery management agency leadership. These demands driven by rent seeking behavior use short-term declines in abundance as justification when the long-run abundance measures would have indicated improvements in stock abundance and achievement of management objectives. Empirical, long-run, stock abundance indices are estimated using synthetic demand methodology, based on bioeconomic fishery theory, applied in a general and partial equilibrium theory framework to determine if maximum sustainable yield (MSY) management targets have been achieved and maintained for four fisheries considered to be successfully managed and one characterized as a socio-economic disaster. The abundance of a fish stock is more influence by extra-market and extra-fishery forces than by fisheries managers who base allocation decisions solely on single species stock assessments.     

Can additional abundance indices improve harvest control rules for New Zealand rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) fisheries?

Although New Zealand rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) fisheries can be assessed with a sophisticated Bayesian length‐based model, these assessments are expensive and time consuming; they cannot be conducted for each area every year. Harvest control rules are increasingly important management tools in New Zealand rock lobster fisheries. Recent work has developed and evaluated procedures for rebuilding or maintaining lobster stocks based on criteria agreed by stakeholders. Most management procedures depend on a single abundance index, often catch per unit of effort (CPUE). When management procedures react slowly to changes in vulnerable biomass, allowable catches get out of phase with the stock, causing large oscillations in both catches and CPUE. Lags between data and management actions and “latent years” are features of rules that reduce responsiveness. This study explores ways to improve the responsiveness of harvest control rules by using additional data to predict changes in vulnerable biomass. Four data sets are examined: CPUE trends, pre‐recruit indices, puerulus settlement indices, and size frequencies. Only pre‐recruit indices, which were explored with a simple delay‐difference model based on parameter estimates from recent assessments, appeared to have immediate potential for use in improving management procedures.     

Managing the offshore and coastal fisheries in Taiwan to achieve sustainable development using policy indicators

This study establishes an offshore and coastal fisheries policy indicator system to evaluate the performance of policies to achieve sustainable development in offshore and coastal fisheries. A modified Delphi method is used to establish this system, and the weights of indicators are calculated using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to aggregate indicators. Results show that ecological policies have not achieved their goals because production and catch per unit effort are decreasing. Indicators with respect to management efficiency have increased after the implementation of the buyback and off-fishing programs. However, net returns indicator, which is affected by increasing cost and production value, is stable. Due to inefficient management resulting from insufficient resources, indicators for the number of illegal fishing cases per year and the number of smuggled aquatic production incidents have increased. This shows that requirement for enhanced compliance is necessary. The objective for cultivating talents in fisheries has not been achieved because average wage for fishers is lower than the average civil wage, resulting in an increase in the hiring of foreign fishers.