Current Approaches to Multispecies Analyses of Marine Fisheries

Abstract

There is an increasing tendency to recognize that the dynamics of a fishery are not solely determined by intrinsic population factors, but that the external environment, which can include the effects of other species in the biotic community, plays an important role in determining the yield performances of marine fish stocks. Recognition of the role of external factors represents an important departure from the single-stock concepts of fishing theory, which have traditionally been used to manage marine stocks. We review a variety of examples of recent initiatives in the application of community concepts in marine fisheries, setting these in the context of four arbitrary categories which range from statistical description through multispecies extensions of single-stock fishing theory, to integral applications of community theory. Taken together, there is substantial evidence that the application of multispecies concepts to marine fisheries is now a major focus of international effort. The multispecies approach offers identifiable promise in resolving some outstanding problems, but it is not clear yet what the major consequences will be, in terms of changes in the ways that fisheries will be managed in the future.