Changing U.S. Ocean Policy Can Set a New Direction for Marine Resource Management

Abstract

ABSTRACT. A central concept in a new direction for ocean policy in the United States is ecosystem-basedmanagement, that is, implementation of management integrated across sectors of human activity to achievethe common goal of conserving the structure and function of marine ecosystems to provide a full suite ofecosystem services. Fisheries are a critical sector of ocean activity that impacts these ecosystems, andfishery management is in urgent need of reform to perform better from a conservation perspective. Here,I suggest some specific changes in perspective for fishery management as part of an overall ecosystem-based approach.Key Words: fishery management; marine conservation; ocean policy From the perspectives of fishermen, policy makers,and public interest groups, fisheries in the UnitedStates and around the world are in trouble in manyways. Without a doubt, many fishery resources havebeen overexploited and depleted, critical habitat hasbeen lost, and current practices continue to beunsustainable (Christensen et al. 2003, NRC 2006,FAO 2007). However, not all fisheries are incollapse, and recovery is not impossible (Garcia andGrainger 2005, Rosenberg et al. 2006, Beddingtonet al. 2007). Fishermen have seen an increase incosts, regulation, and competition, and a reductionin business flexibility, along with shrinkingresources, and they have been pressured byincreasing public concern for the source,sustainability, and environmental impact of theseafood they purchase. Policy makers have beenunder pressure to find solutions to conservationproblems while maintaining employment, respondingto backlash against regulatory controls, providingeconomic opportunity, and catching up to theendless and creative innovation in the industry forharvesting fish. Public interest advocates, such asenvironmental groups, struggle for attention onconservation issues, such as fishing, with a publicthat is only vaguely aware of issues and that has atendency to focus on the charismatic rather than thetechnical, as well as with industrial and sometimesgovernmental perspectives in which environmentalinterests are not compatible with fishing interests.Overexploitation and depletion of fisheries havereal consequences, from the loss of food securityand economic opportunity for coastal communitiesto the loss of resources held in the public trust(Turnipseed et al. 2009) and the loss of ecosystemfunction for the marine ecosystems that are a vitallink for the ecosystem services that support humanwell-being (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment2005). It is fair to ask why overexploitation isallowed to occur, and indeed allowed to continue,in many fisheries around the world, even in highlydeveloped regions. Surely we have the knowledgeand governmental capacity to control fishing inexclusive economic zones of coastal states. Theproblem is often political, and not a matter oftechnical knowledge (Rosenberg 2003, 2007).Political resistance to regulation is endemic in mostsocieties, and although technical expertise may beavailable and sufficient to prevent or endoverexploitation, the political will to do so isdifficult to come by. This is, in turn, frequentlybecause fisheries management issues are most oftendealt with as more in the realm of constituentservices than as public policy. That is, electedofficials respond to the constituents who are directlyengaged in fisheries issues, i.e., the fishing industry,for the most part, rather than responding to thebroader policy need. Most of the public isuninformed about fisheries management issues—even if they in fact care where their seafood comes