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Table 8. Selected proactive precautionary ecosystem management criteria. (Adapted and modified from Garcia, 1994; Garcia, 2000)

From an ecosystem point of view, minimize by-catch or using extremely selective gears might not be necessarily the best solution (with the proviso that discards be limited to a strict minimum). In multispecies management, a reasonable strategy would be to exploit all species proportionally to their abundance in order to maintain the overall structure. New criteria are required for species sustainability, for example, minimum reproductive biomass, safe biological limits, optimum recruitment levels, maximum statistical probability of ecological or economical collapse, especially for particularly low resilience species. New criteria are also needed for precautionary ecosystem management. Some principles and objectives can be operationalized to:

• minimize anthropogenic conversion of critical ecosystems to ‘lower’ trophic conditions;
• balance habitat conversion with restoration (a no net loss approach);
• maintain food web ecological relationships;
• maintain populations at optimal net annual recruitment increment;
• provide restoration ecology programs for depleted populations;
• minimize risk of irreversible change in the large marine ecosystem, etc.

Widely applied precautionary approach related indicators (after Garcia, 2000) include, inter alia:

• adopting target and limit reference points;
• study and take into account uncertainties and risk by arranging for pre-agreed (temporary) emergency management measures in case of threat or unintended, unforeseen consequences;
• consideration for social and economic impacts of regulatory decisions;
• conducting, for new gear or fisheries development, prior impact assessments (the Orange Roughy lessons learned approach).