Home

Figure 3. Ecosystem Considerations in Fisheries Management: Linking Ecosystem Research to Ecosystem Science Policy and Management Goals. (Adapted and modified from the North Pacific Fisheries Management Councils’ “Ecosystem Considerations” Reports and the NOAA/NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle).

There is a need to discuss and define the ecosystem-oriented management goals of the regulatory organization
and the tools available to managers to attain those goals. Ecosystem research including GLOBEC (see;
www.usglobec.org) and GLOBEC-like research efforts, habitat research, ongoing trophic interactions work, and
long-term monitoring of commercial and non-commercial species already can serve as indicators of ecosystem
status and trends. These marine science-based indicators can provide and early warning system for managers,
signalling human or climate induced changes that may necessitate management action. Ecosystem considerations
that can accompany the traditional stock assessment approach include ecosystem status and trend information
and link management actions with ecosystem observations. The New England Fishery Management Council
(and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council) as regulatory agencies within the Northeast United States
Continental Shelf LME ought to commence preparation of a program for science policy ecosystem considerations
to facilitate movement towards ecosystem-oriented fisheries management while utilizing a precautionary
approach.


ECOSYSTEM-ORIENTED MANAGEMENT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

  • Maintain living marine resource(s) biodiversity for both targeted and non-targeted species
  • Maintain and restore essential fish habitats
  • Maintain system sustainability (human consumption sustainable yields and non-extractive uses while utilizing a “precautionary approach”)
  • Maintain the concept that humans are component parts of the marine ecosystem by changes denoted in fishing power and fleet composition and number and efficacy of limited entry, license or Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) systems, if any.
  • In order to derive standards to measure and track the success of ecosystem-oriented management efforts, management goals (and objectives) with regard to the jurisdictional ecosystem must be explicitly stated.

ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT INDICATORS

In order to measure performance towards meeting the stated goals and objectives, program monitoring should take into accord:

  • Bycatch/discard amounts (e.g. specified and non-specified species)
  • Area closed to bottom trawling (e.g. marine protected areas and amount time/area closures)
  • Trophic level and total amount of catch (e.g. landings)
  • Effort levels and controls (e.g. days-at-sea; net mesh size restrictions; gear types; vessel design and crew size, and fishery observers; and,exploitation rates by specific time/area units for fisheries with time/area quotas)

Thus, these indicators may provide evidence of direct human efforts on ecosystem components in combination with in-place fishery management actions and the efficacy of such policies.

MARINE ECOSYSTEM STATUS INDICATORS

In order to measure and evaluate marine ecosystem status and trends and make management adjustments if warranted, program monitoring should take into account:

  • Status and trend indicators of:
    - Physical abiotic environment (NAO, “regime shift(s),” etc.)
    - Habitat (pollutant/contaminant amounts in the benthic sediments and groundfish, for example, benthos composition)
    - Living marine resources (abundance trends of phytoplankton - harmful algal blooms, zooplankton, forage fish - herring and mackerel , invertebrates, non-target fish species, marine mammals - right whales, seabirds e.g. bycatch / discard amounts)
    - Community or ecosystem level (diversity of fishery guilds sampled by bottom trawl surveys, trophic level, size diversity and model results)

Thus, these indicators can be utilized to potentially assess the possible role that both climate and humans may have on ecosystem variability and provide linkages between ecosystem research and “best practices” sustainable fishery management programs.

www.nefsc.noaa.gov
Search
Link Disclaimer
webMASTER
Privacy Policy
 (Modified Jun. 13 2008)