Modern Fisheries Management Research Articles

California’s Red Abalone (Haliotis Rufescens) Middens: Comment on Glassow

Glassow’s (2015) synthesis of “red abalone middens” on California’s Santa Cruz Island does not include the broader geographic, chronologic, and ecological context to this phenomenon. We explore the wider distribution of these site types and emphasize their importance for addressing modern fisheries management issues.

An Evaluation of Rebuilding Policies for U.S. Fisheries.

Rebuilding depleted fish populations is a priority of modern fisheries management. In the U.S., strong statutory mandates extend to both the goals and process by which stocks are to be rebuilt. However, the National Standard Guidelines that govern the implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act may change to increase flexibility in rebuilding requirements. In this study we evaluate performance of the status quo approach to fish stock rebuilding in the United States against 3 alternatives that have been proposed to improve rebuilding outcomes. These alternatives either simplify the analytical requirements of rebuilding analyses or apply ‘best practices’ in fisheries management, thereby avoiding the need for rebuilding analyses altogether. We use a Management Strategy Evaluation framework to evaluate rebuilding options across 6 fish life history types and 5 possible real-world fishery scenarios that include options for stock assessment quality, multiple fleets, and the degree to which the stocks are overfished at the start of the analysis. We show that the status quo rebuilding plan and a harvest control rule that reduces harvest rates at low stock size generally achieve the best rebuilding outcomes across all life-history types and fishery scenarios. Both approaches constrain fishing in the short term, but achieve high catches in the medium and long term as stocks rebuild to productive levels. These results support a growing body of literature that indicates that efforts to end overfishing early pay off in the medium- to long-term with higher cumulative catches than the alternative.

Harvest control rules in modern fisheries management

Abstract Harvest control rules have become an important tool in modern fisheries management, and are increasingly adopted to provide continuity in management practices, to deal with uncertainty and ecosystem considerations, and to relieve management decisions from short-term political pressure. We provide the conceptual and institutional background for harvest control rules, a discussion of the structure of fisheries management, and brief introductions to harvest control rules in a selection of present day cases. The cases demonstrate that harvest control rules take different forms in different settings, yet cover only a subset of the full policy space. We conclude with views on harvest control rules in future fisheries management, both in terms of ideal and realistic developments. One major challenge for future fisheries management is closing the gap between ideas and practice.

Resilience strategies in the face of short- and long-term change: out-migration and fisheries regulation in Alaskan fishing communities

Historically, communities persisted in remote, isolated areas of Alaska in large part because of the abundance of marine and terrestrial resources, as well as the ability of local people to opportunistically access those resources as they became available. Species switching and the ability to shift effort away from fisheries during poor years allowed local residents to diversify their livelihoods in the face of uncertainties and ecological change. The advent of modern fisheries management, which views Alaskan fisheries as the property of all citizens of the United States, has fundamentally altered the relationship of place-based communities to fishery resources. Local access to fisheries has been particularly affected by the development of transferable fishing privileges, making it possible for fishing rights to leave place-based communities through the choices of individual community members to sell or to move away. When fishing communities in Alaska lose active fishing businesses, over time the loss of various types of community capital will follow, including human, social, cultural, technical, and financial capital. In some cases, communities are able to adapt or transform through diversification of their local economies. In other cases, no alternatives to a fishery-based economy are accessible. We have used resilience theory to explore drivers of change affecting Alaskan fishing communities. Emphasis was placed on two primary change drivers, the regulatory environment and rural out-migration, as well as their interconnections and their impacts on individuals, communities, and the larger social-ecological system. We summarized several government programs that have been implemented to support the continued participation of communities in Alaskan fisheries. In addition, we reviewed informal and private-sector efforts to generate resilience strategies that can facilitate new entry into fisheries or retain fishing businesses and fishing rights within communities, as well as respond to increasing uncertainty related to the global market and climate changes.

Targeting Multiple Management Objectives in Sustainable Fisheries

Modern fisheries management must balance between return (economic value) and risk (harvest uncertainty and stock collapse). Management tools should target multiple simultaneous management objectives. These include output, number of seasons, total stock value and its uncertain fluctuations. I provide a stylized fishery model for simulating the outcomes of these competing management objectives under various regulatory and market environments. Results show that these objectives need not be mutually exclusive. They can be traded off gradually, quantitatively and transparently. The trade-offs involve profit and output versus job provision, employment security, stock conservation and less-risky harvesting. The pursuit of higher return must balance against the risk of stock collapse and harvest fluctuations.

Contemporary fisher images: Ideologies, policies and diversity

This paper presents survey results that document heterogeneity among contemporary Norwegian fishers and discusses the implications of such heterogeneity upon fisheries policies in general and recruitment policies in particular. With the help of Multiple Correspondence Analysis and fishers' discourses related to management and technology, a fisher typology is produced. This approach yields four types of fishers. Two types of fishers are closely linked to ideology and form a basis for modern fisheries management. The other two are not ideological figures, but more pragmatic, and deviate from the assumptions usually found in fisheries management. As governing is difficult without images, an ontological understanding of the fisher is necessary. Thus, our image of the fisher has to be revised and fisheries policies have to take into account the presence of a number of adaptations and rationalities; hence, a more diverse recruitment policy is called for.

Correction: High Potential for Using DNA from Ancient Herring Bones to Inform Modern Fisheries Management and Conservation

Correction: High Potential for Using DNA from Ancient Herring Bones to Inform Modern Fisheries Management and Conservation

Correction: High Potential for Using DNA from Ancient Herring Bones to Inform Modern Fisheries Management and Conservation

Correction: High Potential for Using DNA from Ancient Herring Bones to Inform Modern Fisheries Management and Conservation

Territoriality as a Driver of Fishers' Spatial Behavior in the Northumberland Lobster Fishery

Knowledge of informal rules governing fishers' behavior is important to help formulate policies suited to local conditions and supported by resource users. Fishers' behavior may be influenced by informal property rights or territoriality, yet drivers of such behavior in UK fisheries have seldom been explored. This study presents findings from interviews with lobster fishers (n = 44) at six ports in Northumberland, UK. The study aimed to investigate the existence, importance, and drivers of territoriality in this fishery, contributing to the debate over whether informal rules and norms may benefit modern fisheries management. The findings showed evidence of group territorial behavior based more on social norms than on economic calculations, but declining in response to changes in fleet structure, technological developments, legal sanctions, and community cohesiveness. Territoriality was being replaced by a new norm of “first come first served”; if this norm fails, spatial planning regulations may need to be introduced.

A step-by-step framework to assess benefits of established temperate marine protected areas

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been advocated as a solution to the challenges of both conservation and modern fishery management, but their application remains controversial, partly because there are only general guidelines for evaluating their effectiveness. We propose a framework to specifically evaluate established MPAs in six steps. We tested the approach by reviewing published research and unpublished information on the Goukamma MPA in the centre of the South African temperate south coast. Information reviewed included effects on the structure of fish populations, catch and abundance indices of fish species, and ecosystem effects. We investigated factors that determine the usefulness of a MPA in fisheries management, including the movement behaviour of adult fishes, larval dispersal and fisher-displacement patterns. We found that differences in the rates of exploitation across the MPA border resulted in differences in abundance, size and condition of the main target species, roman (Chrysoblephus laticeps). The diversity and abundance of non-target fish species, and the composition of the benthic invertebrate community, were affected by the cessation of fishing. The potential for ‘spillover’ of adult roman might be limited to the vicinity of the MPA by their small home range, but there is potential for self-seeding and dispersal of roman eggs and larvae over wider areas. These theoretical considerations were confirmed by an analysis of catch data from before and after MPA implementation. The framework presented here may help to identify and fill gaps in the knowledge of established MPAs along South Africa’s temperate south coast.

High potential for using DNA from ancient herring bones to inform modern fisheries management and conservation.

Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) are an abundant and important component of the coastal ecosystems for the west coast of North America. Current Canadian federal herring management assumes five regional herring populations in British Columbia with a high degree of exchange between units, and few distinct local populations within them. Indigenous traditional knowledge and historic sources, however, suggest that locally adapted, distinct regional herring populations may have been more prevalent in the past. Within the last century, the combined effects of commercial fishing and other anthropogenic factors have resulted in severe declines of herring populations, with contemporary populations potentially reflecting only the remnants of a previously more abundant and genetically diverse metapopulation. Through the analysis of 85 archaeological herring bones, this study attempted to reconstruct the genetic diversity and population structure of ancient herring populations using three different marker systems (mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), microsatellites and SNPs). A high success rate (91%) of DNA recovery was obtained from the extremely small herring bone samples (often <10 mg). The ancient herring mtDNA revealed high haplotype diversity comparable to modern populations, although population discrimination was not possible due to the limited power of the mtDNA marker. Ancient microsatellite diversity was also similar to modern samples, but the data quality was compromised by large allele drop-out and stuttering. In contrast, SNPs were found to have low error rates with no evidence for deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and simulations indicated high power to detect genetic differentiation if loci under selection are used. This study demonstrates that SNPs may be the most effective and feasible approach to survey genetic population structure in ancient remains, and further efforts should be made to screen for high differentiation markers.This study provides the much needed foundation for wider scale studies on temporal genetic variation in herring, with important implications for herring fisheries management, Aboriginal title rights and herring conservation.

Major Retailing Logistics Management Mechanisms

Due to the emergence of the global economy and increased competition, many of the modern fishing companies have recognized that their fisheries rapid product introduction and service innovation to market the importance of supply chain management. To improve their competitiveness, many modern fishing companies have accepted supply chain management to improve organizational effectiveness and achievement of organizational objectives, increase customer value, better use of resources, and improve profitability. Consider adhere to enterprise operational efficiency to improve collaboration and client response in the modern fisheries management advocated by business partners, an additional thrust towards a successful competitive strategy. Supply chain management in the fisheries industry has become part of the agenda of the senior management of the fishery production and the retail industry. Appropriate mechanism to optimize fisheries logistics supply chain design and effective fisheries management method is a reference to the fisheries in this article the major retail logistics supply chain management. Soft computing technology based on the proposed new program, and effectively solve the problems by a variety of dynamic segment of the logistics supply chain of the fisheries of the major retail companies.

The Tragedy of Our Legacy: How do Global Management Discourses Affect Small Scale Fisheries in the South?

Modern fisheries management discourse is supported by two fundamental narratives that have global impacts. One is the fear of open access regimes, and the other is the condemnation of catching under-sized and immature fish. These narratives have existed for more than half a century and originate from the common property theory and the maximum yield per recruit theory. Our aim is to critically discuss and evaluate these narratives which have been developed within the context of scientific management of single-species industrial fisheries. We will show that the underlying assumptions can be seriously wrong and particularly absurd in fluctuating multi-species, multi-gear artisanal fisheries. Fishing effort in small scale fisheries is often largely regulated by natural production, like other top predators, and many targeted fish stocks and fish communities display a high degree of resilience. Furthermore, in spite of common belief, small scale unregulated, non-selective, adaptive fishing patterns could be healthier and far more ecosystem conserving than the current imposed single species management strategies. Many of these fisheries are serving as a ‘social security system’ – a common good and thereby function as a ‘last resort’ for economic mishap. Limiting open access will undermine the role of small scale fisheries to provide insurance, particularly for the poorest and least advantaged. The immense pressure to adapt to modern fisheries management thinking and economic theory is based on flawed assumptions and will not only have negative social effects, but also negative biological effects.

International workshop on opportunities for ecosystem approaches to fisheries management in the Pacific Ocean tuna fisheries

Modern fisheries management encompasses ecosystem-wide perspectives, and sustainability is measured both in terms of the target stocks but also in terms of the direct and indirect impact that fishing practices may have upon populations of non-target, associated and dependent species and ecosystem structure and function (Garcia and Cochrane 2005). Implementing an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) requires performance measures against criteria that can be used to assess overall ecosystem status, the impacts of human activities, and environmental variation. In single-species management these decision criteria are quantitative measures primarily based on stock assessment model outcomes which can guide management. Analogous decision criteria for non-target and ecosystem-level attributes are in a nascent stage of development (Samhouri et al. 2010). There is increasing effort by a range of organizations to collect detailed data on the structure and dynamics of the Pacific Ocean pelagic ecosystem. This has primarily occurred through observer programmes (e.g. bycatch composition and quantities), trophic ecology (e.g. stomach contents, stable isotopes), and mid-trophic level sampling (e.g. acoustics and net sampling of micronekton and zooplankton). Tuna fisheries from the tropical Pacific Ocean (Fig. 1) provide more than 50% of the global catch, and applying EAFM is explicit in the conventions of the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) responsible for their management. The Global Environment Facility Oceanic Fisheries Management project recently brought together scientists who have been leading ecosystem research in the Pacific Ocean pelagic systems, by convening a workshop to synthesize past progress and identify future priorities within the scientific and monitoring component of EAFM. The workshop was hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community at its headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia in March 2011.

Institutional and substantial uncertainty—Explaining the lack of adaptability in fish stocking policy

Adaptive management implies a system in which policy and practice are constantly revised in a continuous circular process to accommodate new ecological knowledge. In the case of current fish stocking practices, there is an evident gap between science and practice indicating a lack of adaptability. While fish stocking is perceived as a solution to many problems of modern fishery management, scientific researchers warn that current practices, including introducing alien populations, seriously threaten the sustainability of fish stocks. The aim of this study was to address, explain the existence of and, finally, discuss the prospect of narrowing this gap. For this purpose, the characteristics of the policy subsystem were analyzed. The empirical findings highlight the wickedness of the policy problem. The substantial and institutional uncertainties surrounding the issue are proposed as the main reasons for the deficits in adaptability. Fish stocking decisions are made within a complex policy subsystem that involves multiple actors and policy-making institutions, conflicting goals and competing notions of the problem. Cross-coalition learning—learning between coalitions of actors with different problem definitions, forming a joint view—is a necessary and, in the case of fish stocking, lacking variable in the adaptive management process.

Tangled lines in New Zealand's quota management system: The process of including recreational fisheries

Abstract This article uses New Zealand as a case study of processes relating to the inclusion of recreational fisheries in modern fisheries management systems based on Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs). The New Zealand case highlights challenges governments often meet when attempting to integrate the recreational sector into fisheries management, including: (a) resistance to restrictions on what has historically been free-of-charge public access to fish for recreational purposes and (b) the fragmented character of the recreational sector, which makes it difficult to have recreational interests attend to their management role and responsibilities.

A Cautionary Note on Individual Transferable Quotas

Individual transferable quotas (ITQs) are a type of catch share system, which is a tool used by some governments to manage fisheries. Technical reasons for taking a rather cautious approach to the implementation of ITQs have been provided previously. In the current contribution, I first highlight the strengths and weaknesses of ITQs and then provide suggestions on how to design and implement these quotas to mitigate their weaknesses. ITQs need to be designed carefully as part of a broad ecosystem-based management scheme to meet the three generally accepted objectives of modern fisheries management: ecological, economic, and social sustainability.

Sensitivity of marine systems to climate and fishing: Concepts, issues and management responses

Modern fisheries research and management must understand and take account of the interactions between climate and fishing, rather than try to disentangle their effects and address each separately. These interactions are significant drivers of change in exploited marine systems and have ramifications for ecosystems and those who depend on the services they provide. We discuss how fishing and climate forcing interact on individual fish, marine populations, marine communities, and ecosystems to bring these levels into states that are more sensitive to (i.e. more strongly related with) climate forcing. Fishing is unlikely to alter the sensitivities of individual finfish and invertebrates to climate forcing. It will remove individuals with specific characteristics from the gene pool, thereby affecting structure and function at higher levels of organisation. Fishing leads to a loss of older age classes, spatial contraction, loss of sub-units, and alteration of life history traits in populations, making them more sensitive to climate variability at interannual to interdecadal scales. Fishing reduces the mean size of individuals and mean trophic level of communities, decreasing their turnover time leading them to track environmental variability more closely. Marine ecosystems under intense exploitation evolve towards stronger bottom–up control and greater sensitivity to climate forcing. Because climate change occurs slowly, its effects are not likely to have immediate impacts on marine systems but will be manifest as the accumulation of the interactions between fishing and climate variability — unless threshold limits are exceeded. Marine resource managers need to develop approaches which maintain the resilience of individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems to the combined and interacting effects of climate and fishing. Overall, a less-heavily fished marine system, and one which shifts the focus from individual species to functional groups and fish communities, is likely to provide more stable catches with climate variability and change than would a heavily fished system.

The Social Construction of Fishing, 1949

The theoretical construction known as maximum sustained yield (MSY) exists in three realms: as science, as policy, and as a legal concept. Despite substantial criticism by scientists and economists, MSY remains at the heart of fisheries science and fisheries management. This paper suggests that its institutional resilience springs more from its policy and legal roles than from its scientific strength. Maximum sustained yield was adopted as the goal of American fisheries policy in 1949. Between 1949 and 1955, the State Department pushed for its adoption internationally. In this paper, I first look briefly at the relationship between fishing and foreign policy goals during this period. Second, I look at how fishing was understood during 1949, when the American High Seas Fishing Policy was adopted. Third, I look at the actions of the 1955 International Technical Conference on the Conservation of the Living Resources of the Sea and how American actions shaped the development of fisheries science and the modern fishery management process.

Exploring Links between Systematics and Fisheries Management

AbstractWe argue that the sustainable management of fisheries resources depends on an understanding of the taxonomy and systematics of fish. Toward this end, it is necessary for fisheries managers to understand and apply the various species concepts that have been developed by taxonomists and evolutionary biologists and to decide, based on a philosophical position, what is necessary and sufficient for a taxon to be recognized as a distinct species. If species are viewed as ontological individuals and as such exist in nature, then it makes sense for managers to develop strategies to sustain and manipulate given populations to achieve management goals. In this series of papers, the authors explore species concepts with respect to fish and demonstrate the value of understanding species concepts, systematics, and taxonomy in addressing modern fisheries management problems.