Constraints and solutions for managing Pacific Island sea cucumber fisheries with an ecosystem approach

The ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) is a holistic paradigm that considers stocks of exploitable species, marine ecosystems and stakeholders. Management agencies must strike a balance between their capacity constraints and the requisites of management measures. Most small-scale sea cucumber fisheries of Pacific Islands have been plundered while others are being opened to commercial exploitation. Data from fishery managers and a regional workshop were used to assess the current problems, institutional constraints and solutions to the management of sea cucumber fisheries in 13 Pacific Island countries (PICs). Technical capacity was often strong for some management actions such as developing marine reserves but weak for others, such as enforcement. Using multi-disciplinary indicators, half of the fisheries were diagnosed by their managers as being overfished or depleted, despite evidence of optimistic bias. Fishery governance varied greatly among the PICs, and co-management frameworks were not typical of any cultural region. Management objectives were prioritised differently among managers but most highly ranked was to protect ecological resilience. The fishery managers proposed different sets of regulatory measures and various management actions, such as surveys to collect socio-economic and fishery-dependent data, support for local governance and strong enforcement – all widely under-practised. Pacific sea cucumber fisheries exemplify how the transition to an EAF by management institutions must involve reorganisation of their technical and human-resource capacities among management tasks. Levies on exports need to be internalised to fund improved management. Management agencies should consider a shift in resources from developing marine reserves, conducting underwater surveys and aquaculture-based restocking to strengthening enforcement capacity, stakeholder involvement and communication with fishers. In concert with these actions, short fishing seasons, shortlists of allowable species and tighter enforcement at export points may serve to turn the tide on boom-and-bust exploitation and safeguard biodiversity.     

Conflicting goals in fisheries management—A study of the Norwegian cod fisheries

A multi-objective programming model has been applied to investigate conflicting goals of the Norwegian cod fisheries. The goals included in this article are economic rent and employment. Fisheries managers are confronted with the problem of how best to allocate the total allowable catch (TAC) of cod among eight vessel groups. Compromise solutions taking into account both objectives by giving them equal weights in the multi-objective programming model are calculated and discussed. This article is an extension of an earlier article in which the trade-off analysis was performed using data only for North Norway and one particular year. The present analysis includes the entire Norwegian cod fisheries and is carried out using time series data for 2003–2007, examining the annual variations of key economic and technological parameters of the cod fisheries. Based on the results from compromise programming, the article discusses management and policy implications of reallocation of the TAC by vessel groups.     

基于BP模型的渔业资源可持续利用综合动态评价

在对传统可持续发展评价方法进行评述的基础上 ,利用神经网络具有自组织、自学习、自适应以及非线性等功能 ,提出了以BP模型为基础包括经济、社会和资源环境三个方面的渔业资源可持续利用综合动态评价方法 ,该方法克服了传统上单纯从生物方面进行资源评价的缺陷。并以东海区 1978～ 1990年的渔业资源可持续利用状况为例进行了实证分析 ,建立以BP模型为基础的东海区渔业资源可持续利用的综合动态评价模型。     

浙江近海海洋鱼类增殖放流现状分析

20世纪80年代以来,浙江近海的主要渔业资源呈现衰退趋势,因此从2000年至今相关单位持续开展人工增殖放流以修复渔业资源。文章基于2017—2021年浙江近海鱼类增殖放流统计数据作出分析,对比放流资金、放流数量、放流物种等变化趋势得出：2017—2021年主要在浙江近海12处重要的增殖放流海域投放了大黄鱼（Larimichthys crocea）、黑鲷（Acanthopagrus schlegelii）、黄姑鱼（Nibea albiflora）、条石鲷（Oplegnathus fasciatus）等16种海洋鱼类,累计投入放流资金11 285.9万元,投放海洋鱼类苗种共计46 799.8万尾,其中标志鱼投入共330.1万元,放流苗种48.8万尾。调查和文献报道显示,增殖放流对增加浙江近海海洋鱼类生物资源量、恢复海洋鱼类群落结构、保护海洋生物多样性,促进海洋渔业的发展等方面起到积极的作用。根据调研情况和相关文献梳理了增殖放流存在的问题并提出了相关的改进建议,以期为今后科学规范实施增殖放流提供参考。     

基于PSR模型的渔业用岛生态状况评价——以菜坨子岛为例

菜坨子岛位于大连市长海县,为无居民海岛,功能定位为渔业用岛。依据无居民海岛生态系统的特点和渔业用岛功能定位,文章使用压力-状态-响应模型设置3层指标体系,对菜坨子岛生态状况进行评价。指标评价方法采用专家评价法及单因子环境质量指数法、综合评价指数法等计算各级权重值和指标值。基于2015年现场调查数据,采用层次分析法对压力-状态-响应模型进行计算,得出菜坨子岛年生态状况分值及评价结果。结果表明,菜坨子岛总体状态为“优”（分值为0.811 1）。此外,经过对评价指标进一步优化后,可将该评价方法推广到对其他渔业用无居民海岛的生态状况评价,为其开发和保护提供依据。     

休闲渔业对渔业经济高质量发展的贡献度研究

为测度当前我国休闲渔业的发展规模,选取2013—2018年的休闲渔业产值和渔业经济产值为变量,构建了直接贡献率、间接贡献率和回归分析法建立的边际贡献率模型,测算了休闲渔业对渔业总产值的贡献度。结果表明,2014—2018年的直接贡献率分别为4.38%、4.95%、14.3%、6.58%和12.5%,2014—2018年的间接贡献率分别为0.317%、0.261%、0.752%、0.403%和0.533%,2013—2018年,休闲渔业对于渔业经济总值的边际贡献率为9.9%,由数据得出,当前我国休闲渔业规模还很小,发展水平也很低,整体实力也很薄弱。为此提出：加大休闲渔业的政策扶持力度;设计最为合理的休闲渔业项目;加大休闲渔业的宣传;加强休闲渔业与高校的合作,培养更多的休闲渔业方向的高精尖人才;推动休闲渔业从业者专业素养整体水平的提高;鼓励休闲渔业从业者之间的帮助;健全完善休闲渔业的监督管理体制;加强组织领导,促进休闲渔业发展。     

Discard management: A spatial multi-criteria approach

Discard management needs to draw on scientific research and advice, usually supported by specific statistical modeling analysis. A wide range of statistical analysis methods were applied to fishery data in an attempt to distinguish factors that influence the species discard composition. While such approaches are important, they are still incomplete for disaggregating the economic and spatial-temporal factors for analyzing of this process and obtain a whole view of this issue. Our study aims to fill this gap by identifying, describing, and quantifying factors that influence discards of trawl fisheries using a multivariate approach based on five complementary aspects: “economic”, “vessel characteristics”, “spatial”, “temporal” and “environmental”. In addition, a spatial multi-criteria approach were used to investigate discard hot-spot areas using ecological criteria such as vulnerability and resilience of the discarded species. Using these ecological criteria will concentrate conservation efforts on the most relevant sites minimizing discards of a variety of potentially vulnerable species. This approach was applied to a case study of a multi-species demersal bottom trawl fisheries in north Spain, Cantabrian Sea (ICES area VIIIc). Results showed how spatial and economic factors highly affect species discard composition, identifying specific spatial-temporal discard hot-spots to be preferentially avoided by fishers. Mitigation measures for future fisheries management strategies should be implemented at multiple stages of the discarding process, both in the selection of the fishing grounds and the economic valorization of the discarded species.     

Remote electronic monitoring and the landing obligation – some insights into fishers’ and fishery inspectors’ opinions

The European fisheries management is currently undergoing a fundamental change in the handling of catches of commercial fisheries with the implementation of the 2013 Common Fisheries Policy. One of the main objectives of the policy is to end the practice of discarding in the EU by 2019. However, for such changes to be successful, it is vital to ensure stakeholders acceptance, and it is prudent to consider possible means to verify compliance with the new regulation. Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) with Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) has been tested in a variety of fisheries worldwide for different purposes and is currently considered as one possible tool to ensure compliance with a European ban on discards.This study focuses on Danish fishery inspectors and on fishers with REM experience, whose opinions are less well known. Their views on the landing obligation and on the use of REM were investigated using interviews and questionnaires, and contrasted to some fishers without REM experience. 80% of fishery inspectors and 58% of REM-experienced fishers expressed positive views on REM. 9 out of 10 interviewed fishers without REM experience were against REM. Participation in a REM trial has not led to antipathy towards REM. Fishery inspectors saw on-board observers, at-sea control and REM as the three best solutions to control the landing obligation but shared the general belief that the landing obligation cannot be enforced properly and will be difficult for fishers to comply with. The strengths and weaknesses of REM in this context are discussed.     

Applicability of Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) in Japanese fisheries: A comparison of rights-based fisheries management in Iceland, Japan, and United States

ITQs have not yet been introduced by the Government of Japan. In coastal areas, fishery cooperative associations have traditionally played an important role in managing fisheries through self-imposed rules and peer-monitoring systems. Recently, however, the economic competitiveness of Japanese fisheries in the international market is being questioned. In this paper, a detailed examination of the pros and cons of the current system in Japan is compared to the current fishery management measures of Iceland and the United States, where attaining economically or biologically efficient outcomes may be prioritized in making fisheries management decisions. For many coastal fisheries in Japan, maintaining a management scheme in which stakeholders play an active role in determining fisheries measures seems more relevant if their priority is to maintain the stability of coastal communities and equity of stakeholders. Intensive dialog among stakeholders would be necessary to identify shared objectives of their fishery operations and to make decisions to establish specific steps toward the goal of increasing economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, or stability of communities and equity of stakeholders.     

Australia’s no-take marine protected areas: Appropriate conservation or inappropriate management of fishing?

The absence of properly identified mechanisms to adequately protect the marine environment remains a major shortcoming in Australia’s commitment to biodiversity conservation. The current commitment to a National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas (NRSMPA) falls far short of providing adequate protection against the suite of existing and potential threats even though areas are designated as being ‘protected’. In this paper it is argued that the actions taken under the NRSMPA are disproportionately concentrated on regulating fishing, including the closing of areas in so-called sanctuary zones to all types of fishing. In the absence of clearly identified threats from most forms of fishing and without assessment of how best to manage those few fishing threats that have been identified, such actions are inefficient and mostly inappropriate. Moreover, they do not provide adequate protection against the full suite of threats to marine environments. Adequate measures for the proper conservation of these areas and/or the protection of marine biodiversity more generally are not being provided and in most cases threats are not even adequately described and evaluated.