Sustaining Fisheries into the Future

Abstract

This chapter focuses on those two words around the fishery – ‘sustainable’ and ‘systems’. The processes of change and adjustment, moving fisheries into the future, need to be based on policy directions that support sustainability and resilience, taking into account the interacting complexities among the various parts of the fishery. A fishery systems approach builds on an ecosystem approach. The fishery system includes the governance/management sub-system, which provides the overall direction of fishery. Resilience reflects the ability of a fishery system to maintain its fundamentally important features despite any shocks or threats that might arise. Effective governance and management in fisheries are crucial to overcome problems of open access, to avoid the fishery collapses seen in many locations, and to move to sustainability in the fishery system. Sustainable Fishery Systems has explored paths for pursuing sustainability and resilience in the fish resources, fishery ecosystems, and fishing communities, through an interdisciplinary ‘systems’ perspective.