Developing Harvest Strategies to Achieve Ecological, Economic and Social Sustainability in Multi-Sector Fisheries

Sean Pascoe,Catherine Dichmont,Rachel Pears,Toni Cannard,Sian Breen,Natalie Dowling,George Leigh,Tom Roberts

doi:10.3390/su11030644

Abstract

Ecosystem based fisheries management (EBFM) provides a framework to achieve ecological, economic and social sustainability in fisheries. However, developing harvest strategies to achieve these multiple objectives is complex. This is even more so in multi-sector multi-species fisheries. In our study, we develop such harvest strategies for the multi-species Coral Reef Fin Fish Fishery (CRFFF) operating in the waters of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The fishery includes recreational, charter and commercial sectors, and is a provider of regional employment and supplier of seafood to both local and export markets. We convened a series of stakeholder workshops and conducted surveys to identify stakeholder objectives and priorities, as well as potential harvest strategy frameworks for the fishery. These potential harvest strategies were assessed against the objectives using a further qualitative impact survey. The analysis identified which frameworks were preferred by different stakeholder groups and why, taking into account the different objective priorities and tradeoffs in outcomes. The new feature of the work was to qualitatively determine which harvest strategies are perceived to best address triple bottom line objectives. The approach is therefore potentially applicable in other complex fisheries developing harvest strategies which, by design, strive to achieve ecological, economic and social sustainability.

Highlights

Ecosystem based fisheries management (EBFM) has been adopted in a wide range of jurisdictions to guide management in achieving the sustainable use of the marine resources [1]
These were arranged into a three-level hierarchy, with the top level consisting of ecological sustainability, economic, governance and social objectives
A number of other objectives were considered important by the Working Group, but it was recognized that these could not be influenced by a harvest strategy, and were not subsequently considered in the further analysis as they would not be affected by the scoring system

Summary

Introduction

Ecosystem based fisheries management (EBFM) has been adopted in a wide range of jurisdictions to guide management in achieving the sustainable use of the marine resources [1]. The recent Queensland Sustainable Fisheries Strategy [5] aims to move the state’s fisheries towards a more ecologically, economically and socially sustainable future. As part of this process, a number of Fisheries Working Groups have been established to identify fishery objectives and harvest strategies aimed at moving the fisheries forward. These Working Groups include a wide range of stakeholders, including all fisher sectors (commercial, charter and recreational); processors and buyers; scientists, fishery managers, marine park managers and conservation groups

Methods

Results

Conclusion