Marine Fisheries Management Research Articles

Advances in Conservation Oceanography: New Tagging and Tracking Technologies and Their Potential for Transforming the Science Underlying Fisheries Management

Overexploitation of living resources and climate change are among the most obvious global-scale impacts of human society on marine ecosystems. In an age of such large-scale anthropogenic impacts, marine scientists, resource managers, and policymakers must rethink their approaches to protecting and managing marine populations and ecosystems. Conservation oceanography is an emerging field of science that incorporates the latest advances in ocean science and technology to provide resource managers and policymakers with the information they need to ensure the sustainability of the marine environment and its living resources. Here, we discuss the historical context of conservation oceanography as it applies to marine fisheries management. We then describe two projects, one focused on Atlantic bluefin tuna and the other on Pacific salmon, that illustrate the potential of new tagging and tracking technologies for transforming the science underlying fisheries management.

Antidepressant Secondary Metabolites from Three Florida Sponges

Depression is very common nervous system disorder and according to WHO it is the third most common illness in the world after infectious diseases and heart diseases [1]. All clinically used antidepressant drugs suffer from very serious side effect (e.g. suicidal thoughts) and require about six weeks before the full therapeutic effect occurs [2]. In our search for possible leads to control depression we have investigated three Florida sponges: Verongula rigida, Smenospongia aurea and S. cerebriformis. Several known compounds were isolated and evaluated in the porsolt forced swim test and chick anxiety-depression model. Among the examined metabolites, 5,6-dibromo-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (1) exhibited significant antidepressant action while 5-bromo-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (2) caused reduction in locomotor activity, which indicates potential sedative action. This study reveals the potential of marine natural products as leads to control depression. Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Mr. J. Diers for testing (1) in the forced swim test. This research was conducted pursuant to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Division of Marine Fisheries Management Special Activity License.

Genetic stock structure of blue-eye trevalla (Hyperoglyphe antarctica) and warehous (Seriolella brama and Seriolella punctata) in south-eastern Australian waters

Blue-eye trevalla (Hyperoglyphe antarctica), blue warehou (Seriolella brama) and silver warehou (Seriolella punctata) from the family Centrolophidae are three commercially important species in the Australian fishery. These species are currently managed as single stocks. We tested the hypothesis that patterns of phenotypic structuring in these species reflect underlying genetic stock structure using an analysis of mitochondrial DNA control region sequences. The analysis revealed high levels of haplotype diversity within populations. The most common haplotypes for the species occurred in all geographical locations sampled. For S. brama, although structuring was not significant after Bonferroni correction, differences between two sites were sufficient to warrant caution in the management of fishery zones for this species. There were also some indications of structuring when sites were grouped into common regions. Demographic analysis suggested that S. brama might have had a history of population bottlenecks followed by sudden population expansion, potentially contributing to genetic structuring in the fishery. No structuring was detected for H. antarctica and S. punctata. The present study highlights the need for, and the utility of, multiple sources of information, that is, genetic, phenotypic, behavioural and ecological, when managing marine fisheries and the need to take a cautionary approach to the interpretation of genetic data for fisheries management.

Population Connectivity and Spatial Management of Marine Fisheries

Population Connectivity and Spatial Management of Marine Fisheries

Current Problems in the Management of Marine Fisheries

The public perception of fisheries is that they are in crisis and have been for some time. Numerous scientific and popular articles have pointed to the failures of fisheries management that have caused this crisis. These are widely accepted to be overcapacity in fishing fleets, a failure to take the ecosystem effects of fishing into account, and a failure to enforce unpalatable but necessary reductions in fishing effort on fishing fleets and communities. However, the claims of some analysts that there is an inevitable decline in the status of fisheries is, we believe, incorrect. There have been successes in fisheries management, and we argue that the tools for appropriate management exist. Unfortunately, they have not been implemented widely. Our analysis suggests that management authorities need to develop legally enforceable and tested harvest strategies, coupled with appropriate rights-based incentives to the fishing community, for the future of fisheries to be better than their past.

Viewpoint: the interface between scientific advice and fisheries managementa

Abstract Hoydal, K. 2007. Viewpoint: the interface between scientific advice and fisheries management. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 846–850. Basic elements in responsible, robust, and sustainable fishery management frameworks are well understood and easily listed. Common sense and international law underline the prominent role of science in management. Most managers request peer-reviewed advice based on an objective assessment of the impact of fisheries on marine ecosystems, to create a basis for sustainable and profitable fisheries. Management systems in the North Atlantic rely extensively on advice on total allowable catches (TACs) to control fishing mortality in stocks under regulation. This leads to an unhelpful focus on inherently uncertain catch forecasts. With the wisdom of hindsight, TACs have rarely led to the predicted reduction in fishing mortality. And because of the focus on TACs, other elements in the management framework, notably overcapacity and other economic and social constraints, do not receive the necessary attention. A comparison of the way fishing advice is acquired with the same process in the hydrocarbon extraction industry draws attention to the multi-user problem in marine fisheries management.

Adaptive classification of marine ecosystems: Identifying biologically meaningful regions in the marine environment

The move to ecosystem-based management of marine fisheries and endangered species would be greatly facilitated by a quantitative method for identifying marine ecosystems that captures temporal dynamics at meso-scale (10s or 100s of kilometers) resolutions. Understanding the dynamics of ecosystem boundaries, which may differ according to the species of interest or the management objectives, is a fundamental challenge of ecosystem-based management. We present an adaptive ecosystem classification that begins to address these challenges. To demonstrate the approach, we quantitatively bounded distinct, biologically meaningful marine regions in the North Pacific Ocean based on physical oceanography. We identified the regions by applying image classification algorithms to a comprehensive description of the ocean's surface, derived from an oceanographic circulation model. Our resulting maps illustrate 15 distinct marine regions. The size and location of these regions related well to previously described water masses in the North Pacific. We investigated seasonal and long-term changes in the pattern of regions and their boundaries by dividing the oceanographic data into four seasons and two 10-year time periods, one on either side of the 1976–1977 North Pacific Ocean climate regime shift. We compared our results for each season across the regime shift and for sequential seasons within regimes using the Kappa Index of Agreement and the index of Average Mutual Information. Seasonal patterns were more similar between regimes than from one season to the next within a regime, while the magnitude of seasonal transitions appeared to differ before and after the regime shift. We assessed the biological relevance of the identified regions using seasonal maps derived from remotely sensed chlorophyll- a concentrations ([chl-a]). We used Kruskal–Wallis and Wilcoxon rank sum tests to evaluate the correspondence between the [chl-a] maps and our post-regime shift regions. There was a significant difference in [chl-a] among the regions in all seasons. We found that the number of regions with distinct chlorophyll signatures, and the associations between different regions, varied by season. The overall pattern of association between the regions was suggestive of observed, broad-scale patterns in the seasonal development and distribution of primary production in the North Pacific. This demonstrated that regions with different biological properties can be delineated using only physical variables. The flexibility of our approach will enable researchers to visualize the geographic extents of regions with similar physical conditions, providing insight into ocean dynamics and changes in marine ecosystems. It will also provide resource managers with a powerful tool for broad application in ecosystem-based management and conservation of marine resources.

Lesser-known consequences of managing marine fisheries using individual transferable quotas

Managing marine fisheries using output controls in the form of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) can be an attractive alternative to more traditional input controls. There are now a number of examples of where ITQ-managed fisheries have been able to reduce the impact of the major management problems in global fisheries, namely, gross over-capitalisation and effort. However, ITQs are not the perfect management tool and one of the lesser known consequences of ITQ-managed fisheries where ITQs consist of a harvest right is the implicit relationship between ITQ property rights and rights of access to the fishing grounds. This implicit spatial right to the grounds can provide obstacles in the way of allocating water-space within fishing grounds for alternative uses such as marine-protected areas, large-scale aquaculture, and wind farms. These lesser-known consequences of ITQ-managed fisheries are discussed here.

Protection of the goose barnacle Pollicipes pollicipes, Gmelin, 1790 population: the Gaztelugatxe Marine Reserve (Basque Country, northern Spain)

Marine protected areas are expected to play a prominent role in the conservation of marine resources and fisheries management. In the Basque Country (northern Spain) the small Marine Reserve of Gaztelugatxe (158 ha) was established in 1998. One of the aspects taken into account in protecting this area was the overexploitation of the goose barnacle Pollicipes pollicipes. Now, after five years of protection, differences in density, biomass, size and weight of the goose barnacle are investigated inside the protected area (Aketze and Gaztelugatxe locations) and outside of it, at the nearest locations (Izaro and Ogono) which have been continuously exploited. This contribution demonstrates that the reserve could be an efficient tool in preserving the goose barnacle populations in the area. Hence, density, biomass and allometric coefficients are higher in the protected areas. These locations are also associated with higher percentages of juveniles, together with a high number of large-sized individuals.

Collaborative fisheries management in the Northeast US: Emerging initiatives and future directions

Abstract The nature of participation by fishing organizations in fisheries management in the Northeast US is changing. Evidence of this is the number of groups that are actively seeking opportunities for group governance of marine resources. This article explores emerging collaborative or co-management arrangements in this region (a process whereby decision-making is shared between federal/council level and fishery stakeholder groups) and the shift towards an ecosystem-based approach to the management of marine fisheries. This research suggests that it is an opportune time for the development of a regional policy in the Northeast that provides an enabling environment in support of decentralized governance of federally managed marine fisheries. It also suggests that these initiatives can play a key role in operationalizing ecosystem-based management.

Matters of Consequence

Leopold's land ethic provides hopeful perspectives of having multiple management tools, interdisciplinary guidance, and community, which can all be utilized in marine fisheries management.

Relationships between wave exposure and biomass of the goose barnacle (Pollicipes pollicipes, Gmelin, 1790) in the Gaztelugatxe Marine Reserve (Basque Country, northern Spain)

AbstractMarine protected areas play an important role in the conservation of marine resources and fisheries management. In the Basque Country (northern Spain), the small (158 ha) Gaztelugatxe Marine Reserve was established in 1998; after 5 years without exploitation, it is considered likely that the goose barnacle Pollicipes pollicipes populations have recovered. This contribution provides information on the standing stock, and of the relationships between biomass, coverage, and density, and environmental factors such as wave height and energy derived from waves received at the coast. Increasing energy levels produce enhanced coverage and abundance, providing a bigger standing stock in the reserve. Numerical models to simulate the energy produced by waves can be used as a tool to predict the potential biomass of the goose barnacle along the coast. Such an approach allows comparison of observed and predicted biomasses, and possibly also determination of the factors involved in the observed differences, e.g. overexploitation and pollution; this will assist in assessing goose barnacle resources along the coast.

Maximum Sustainable Yield and Bycatch Minimization “to the Extent Practicable”

AbstractTwo goals of marine fisheries management in the USA are (1) to achieve maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and (2) to minimize bycatch “to the extent practicable.” However, the determination of MSY is contingent on the selectivity of the various fisheries involved and the mix of these fisheries that managers desire. I compare several methods of computing MSY and associated parameters that involve alternative assumptions about the balance between target and bycatch fisheries. These methods were evaluated using a deterministic population simulation model. Additionally, biological risk was evaluated by computing relative spawning levels in the presence and absence of bycatch. While the choice of the method will largely be driven by socioeconomic factors, some implications for management are discussed. Before analysts can calculate MSY and associated parameters, managers must determine their desired mix of fishing and the definition of “to the extent practicable.”

Are marine protected areas a red herring or fisheries panacea?

Chronic failures in marine fisheries management have led some to suggest that marine protected areas (MPAs) are the solution to achieve sustainable fisheries. While such systems work for certain habitat-specific and nonmobile species, their utility for highly mobile stocks is questionable. Often the debate among proponents and critics of MPAs is confused by a lack of appreciation of the goals and objectives of such systems. The current consideration of MPAs as the basis of future fisheries management is a symptom of, and not the singular solution to, the problem of inappropriate implementation of fishing effort controls. The latter will provide greater overall conservation benefits if properly applied. Any future use of MPAs as an effective tool to achieve sustainable fisheries management in temperate systems should be treated as a large-scale, rigorously designed experiment to ensure that the outcome of using MPAs is interpreted correctly and not discredited for false reasons.

This is more difficult than we thought! The responsibility of scientists, managers and stakeholders to mitigate the unsustainability of marine fisheries

The management of marine fisheries needs to undergo dramatic change in the new millennium, in response to the well-documented evidence of global overfishing and the general depletion of commercial fish stocks. The axioms of sustainable development and equilibrium productivity of wild ecosystems are identified as misleading concepts, which nonetheless underlie current approaches to the management of living marine resources. Current trends in marine fisheries landings worldwide provide little evidence of sustainability of marine resources under current management paradigms, where biological, economic and social aspects of fisheries are usually treated as different disciplines. While open-access conditions are less widespread than formerly, except for many straddling and highly migratory resources, fishers usually have access to the resource year-round throughout its range. Despite quotas, the nominal control of capacity and technical measures protecting juveniles, top-down management has generally been unable to prevent stock depletion, particularly of the older spawners that for demersal stocks often support recruitment. An integrated solution to the complexity of managing wild resources seems not to have been achieved. Any new paradigm should assert the basic unpredictability of fisheries at the system level and require a broader range of performance indicators to be incorporated into the decisional framework. This must reflect the non-equilibrium nature of marine systems, and give greater importance to resource (as opposed to harvest) continuity in the face of regime shifts, and promote habitat restoration and conservation of genetic resources. The new management framework requires co-management and collective decision-making to be incorporated within a precautionary and pre-negotiated management framework. This must explicitly recognize that decision-making occurs in conditions of model-based uncertainty and precautionary approaches should be incorporated at all levels, not least of which is to avoid the assumption that all resources can be harvested in a sustainable fashion through time. Redundancy in data inputs to management are needed to avoid the surprises that model-based sampling occasionally leads to, for example, when regime changes reduce productivity in response to climatic fluctuations. Emergency frameworks imposing non-discretionary rules must be invoked when overfishing and/or regime change trigger reference points indicating stock depletion. Non-discretionary recovery plans should then override rights-based systems and persist until fish populations recover to pre-established healthy levels, which may in turn need to await the return of a favourable regime. In fact, some stocks may require periodic rebuilding after regime-induced collapses or because of a combination of ecological or economic impacts, hence a constant harvest policy may not always be possible. It will probably also be necessary to discard the axiom that a stock should be available to harvesting throughout its range and seasonal cycle. Technological advances mean that time- and area-specific access rights are now practical options, through satellite monitoring of vessel operations, even offshore. More fundamentally, the basic axiom of "enlightened self interest" underlying current methods of management will need to be tempered by an increased ethical concern for the fragility of natural ecosystems.

Ecosystem Considerations in Fisheries Management: Theory and Practice

AbstractThis article examines recent developments with respect to the development and application of an ecosystem approach in marine fisheries management. A number of international fisheries legal instruments now include explicit references to ecosystem considerations. While there has been general agreement on the need to take ecosystem considerations into account, there is no clarity or consensus on how this can best be done. Various definitions of an ecosystem approach emphasise that the focus must be on managing the human activities, which are part of, and impact on, marine ecosystems. An ecosystem approach is neither inconsistent with, nor a replacement for, existing fisheries management approaches—it is not a panacea for the problems confronting world fisheries. Realistically, we can only move to an ecosystem approach incrementally, starting with more rigorous/cautious application and extension of single species methods. A key element of any ecosystem approach will likely be to set harvest rates for target species at even lower conservative levels than might be suggested by single species analysis. Fisheries management measures should also ensure the protection not only of target species, but also of non-target, associated or dependent species. Reducing the killing power of the world's fishing fleets is an essential component of ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Social and political barriers to the use of Marine Protected Areas for conservation and fishery management in Melanesia

Abstract: In this paper we examine the strengths and weaknesses of state‐supported Customary Marine Tenure (CMT) systems in two independent Melanesian states (Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea) in the context of the management of rapidly intensifying commercial and subsistence fisheries. We focus particularly on the proposed use of permanent no‐take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which are at present strongly favoured by scientists and environmentalists around the world, as the most versatile marine fishery management tool, especially in poor developing countries. We argue that, with some exceptions, typical Melanesian CMT regimes make MPAs difficult to establish, primarily due to issues of scale. We look closely at the ecological rationale for no‐take MPAs, for different coral‐reef based species, and assess the likelihood that populations of these species are self‐replacing on the same scale as CMT territories for most of coastal PNG and Solomon Islands. We argue that with some exceptions (mainly species with short‐lived larvae), the dynamics and scale of population replacement processes for most fished species make no‐take permanent closures largely incompatible with traditional CMT systems, and therefore unlikely to prove a successful management tool in this socio‐political context.

Conserving California fish … Extension approaches applied to contentious marine-fisheries management issues

We describe three creative collaborations between the California Sea Grant Extension Program (SGEP), the California Department of Fish and Game, the fishing industry and university researchers to improve marine fisheries management in California. These collaborations involved difficult and long-standing issues at a time when many fisheries are declining. The cases studied highlight SGEP's involvement in (1) implementing California's comprehensive marine-life management legislation, (2) helping the sea urchin industry identify goals and techniques to achieve them, and (3) using extension methodologies to enhance socioeconomic research related to management of the Dungeness crab fishery. Critical components of SGEP methods were trust, independence and nonadvo-cacy, a science-based approach, and effective communication. These characteristics are seldom found together among diverse participants involved in contentious fisheries-management situations. We demonstrate how extension programs can partner with constituents and agencies to improve the management and research process; this approach can be applied to the broad range of natural-resource issues facing the state.

Decentralization of fisheries management in Indonesia

Abstract Decentralization is highly considered as an alternative to make better fisheries management. This is due to that decentralization appears as a means for increasing the efficiency and equity of development activities and services delivery, and also for promoting local participation and democracy. The evolution of decentralization of fisheries management policy in Indonesia showed that the decentralization was gradually developed from deconcentration and delegation to devolution form. After Reform Era, devolution form of decentralization has been implemented due to the enactment of UU 22/1999 (the Local Autonomy Law), where local government has gained the amount of new authorities concerning marine-fisheries management. By such devolution, however, the community based management system, which is rooted from traditional fishing communities, is recognized. The effectiveness of the community based management system for the marine resources sustainability is caused by the bottom up planning and participative approach that led to the increasing of the local fishers’ sense of stewardship over the resources. Even though this kind of decentralization practice has been dealing with several problems, this is still a better way rather than centralization. This paper identifies some agendas are being encountered both in the central and the local level. This is related to the need of improvement of the legal framework, the capacity building of the local government, and the revitalization of the local institution.

Marine Fisheries Management and Utilization of Fishing Ground in Malaysia

Under the marine capture fisheries management in Malaysia, the marine fishing ground is zoned into four areas simply according to the distance from the seashore: zone A from the seashore (0) to 5 nautical miles (nm), zone B from 5 to 12 nm, zone C from 12 to 30 nm, and zone C2 of more than 30 nm. In addition, all fishing gear is classified as either commercial fishing gear of high catch capability or traditional fishing gear of comparatively low catch capability. Fishing gear classified as commercial gear is permitted to be operated only at sea. Further restrictions are imposed on the operation of trawl net and fish purse seine gear which are classified as commercial fishing gear. Namely, their operation is allowed exclusively at sea more than 5 nautical miles (nm) offshore, i.e. in zone B, zone C and zone C2. Moreover, their operation onboard fishing boats of 40 to 70 GRT (Gross Registered Tonnage) is allowed exclusively from 12 nm offshore, i.e. in zone C and zone C2, while operation from boats of more than 70 GRT is allowed in fishing ground more than 30 nm offshore, i.e. only in zone C2. On the other hand, all kinds of fishing gear classified as traditional fishing gear can be operated in any fishing ground. Traditional gear is operated in lakes, rivers, estuaries and from coastal waters to further offshore, i.e. zone A, zone B, zone C and zone C2. It has been proved that in the 1990’s almost one fourth of the total marine catch from Peninsular Malaysia was derived from zone A, namely from the shallowest, narrowest and nearest fishing ground to the mainland. Consequently, this management system is perceived to be very appropriate for preventing overfishing of aquatic animal resources in coastal waters including zone A by fishing gear such as trawl net and fish purse seine gear of high catch capability, because coastal waters including zone A are considered to be fishing ground of extremely high productivity.