Minimizing the impact of fishing

Minimizing the impact of fishing is an explicit goal in international agreements as well as in regional directives and national laws. To assist in practical implementation, three simple rules for fisheries management are proposed in this study: 1) take less than nature by ensuring that mortality caused by fishing is less than the natural rate of mortality; 2) maintain population sizes above half of natural abundance, at levels where populations are still likely to be able to fulfil their ecosystem functions as prey or predator; and 3) let fish grow and reproduce, by adjusting the size at first capture such that the mean length in the catch equals the length where the biomass of an unexploited cohort would be maximum (L_opt). For rule 3), the basic equations describing growth in age‐structured populations are re‐examined and a new optimum length for first capture (L_{c_opt}) is established. For a given rate of fishing mortality, L_{c_opt} keeps catch and profit near their theoretical optima while maintaining large population sizes. Application of the three rules would not only minimize the impact of fishing on commercial species, it may also achieve several goals of ecosystem‐based fisheries management, such as rebuilding the biomass of prey and predator species in the system and reducing collateral impact of fishing, because with more fish in the water, shorter duration of gear deployment is needed for a given catch. The study also addresses typical criticisms of these common sense rules for fisheries management.     

Selectivity matters: Rules of thumb for management of plate‐sized,sex‐changing fish in the live reef food fish trade

Effective management of fisheries depends on the selectivity of different fishing methods, control of fishing effort and the life history and mating system of the target species. For sex‐changing species, it is unclear how the truncation of age‐structure or selection of specific size or age classes (by fishing for specific markets) affects population dynamics. We specifically address the consequences of plate‐sized selectivity, whereby submature, “plate‐sized” fish are preferred in the live reef food fish trade. We use an age‐structured model to investigate the decline and recovery of populations fished with three different selectivity scenarios (asymptotic, dome‐shaped and plate‐sized) applied to two sexual systems (female‐first hermaphroditism and gonochorism). We parameterized our model with life‐history data from Brown‐marbled grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) and Napoleon fish (Cheilinus undulatus). “Plate‐sized” selectivity had the greatest negative effect on population trajectories, assuming accumulated fishing effort across ages was equal, while the relative effect of fishing on biomass was greatest with low natural mortality. Fishing such sex‐changing species before maturation decreased egg production (and the spawning potential ratio) in two ways: average individual size decreased and, assuming plasticity, females became males at a smaller size. Somatic growth rate affected biomass if selectivity was based on size at age because in slow growers, a smaller proportion of total biomass was vulnerable to fishing. We recommend fisheries avoid taking individuals near their maturation age, regardless of mating system, unless catch is tightly controlled. We also discuss the implications of fishing post‐settlement individuals on population dynamics and offer practical management recommendations.     

Classifying fishers' behaviour. An invitation to fishing styles

The study and classification of fishers' behaviour remains a much debated topic. There is a tension between detailed empirical studies, which highlight the variety and diversity of fisheries, and the parsimony and generalization required to satisfy science and policy demands. This study contributes to this debate. The first section reviews quantitative methods currently used for classifying fishing practices. The review uncovers significant weaknesses in quantitative classification methods, which, we argue, can be improved through the complementary use of qualitative methods. To this purpose, we introduce the concept of ‘fishing style’, which integrates quantitative classification methods with qualitative analysis. We explain the scientific premises of the fishing‐style concept, outline a general methodological framework and present a fishing‐style analysis of Swedish Baltic Sea fisheries. Based on these results, we conclude that it is possible to classify fishing practices in a relatively uniform and limited number of styles that can highlight the rich, empirical diversity of fishers' behaviour. We therefore propose that fishing‐style analysis, based on an integration of quantitative and qualitative methods, can be an important step towards more effective and sustainable fisheries management.     

Artificial reef placement: a red snapper,Lutjanus campechanus,ecosystem and fuzzy rule‐based model

Abstract This study on reef placement involves two aspects: (1) the development of a bioenergetics model for red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus (Poey), in Gulf of Mexico waters off the coast of Alabama, where significant numbers of artificial reefs are thought to exist, and (2) a fuzzy rough set model by which parameters determined from the bioenergetics model can provide a decision tool for optimally spacing artificial reefs during deployment. The bioenergetics and consumption rates of L. campechanus by age class foraging on artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Alabama provided input into the fuzzy rule‐based model. After conducting multiple simulations, highest certainty in optimal reef spacing was achieved for reef distances between 0.50 and 0.95 km such that no more than two fit within a 1‐km² area. Results can inform fisheries managers about placement of artificial reefs to affect the health and survival of reef‐associated species.     

Effects of flood and drought events on multi‐species,multi‐method estuarine and coastal fisheries in eastern Australia

Abstract Multivariate patterns in commercial fisheries landings, effort and revenue from three adjacent estuarine and coastal systems were examined in eastern Australia between 9‐month periods of flood (September 2000–May 2001) and drought (September 2002–May 2003). Patterns in species landings, methods of fishing effort and revenue per species were significantly different between flood and drought. Spearman’s rank correlations between Bray–Curtis similarity matrices for landings, effort and revenue indicated that patterns in fisheries metrics represented a mixed signal of ecological response and fishers’ harvesting behaviour. Flood and drought events were associated with shifts in the species composition of landings that were reciprocated between estuarine and coastal systems. Estuarine migrant species (e.g. school prawn Metapenaeus macleayi Haswell) primarily contributed to landings during flood, whilst marine estuarine‐opportunist species (e.g. yellowfin bream Acanthopagrus australis Owen) primarily contributed to landings during drought. Flood and drought events redistributed fisheries resources between estuarine and coastal systems, modifying the bioeconomic productivity of commercial fisheries. Results indicated that flood and drought events influence commercial fisheries by modifying landings composition, fishers’ harvesting behaviour and revenue generation.     

Assessing the state of Greek marine fisheries resources

Annual fish landings for the Greek seas were analysed for the period 1982–2007 and classified into exploitation categories based on a catch‐based stock classification method. In 2007, about 65% of the Greek stock were characterised as overfished, 32% as fully exploited and only 3% were characterised as developing; collapsed stocks were not recorded. The cumulative percentage of fully exploited and overfished stocks has been increasing over the past 20 years suggesting overexploitation of resources. The results were contrasted against total landings, the fishing‐in‐balance index (FiB) and fishing effort, and some irregularities on the dataset were explained based on current legislation and management measures. A positive correlation between FiB and total fishing effort confirmed the expansion of the Greek fisheries up to 1994, but contraction thereafter. The results suggest that the apparently stable overall catches and decreasing effort may be deceiving, as they hide an underlying pattern of overexploitation in some of the stocks. It was concluded that the Greek fisheries are no longer sustainable and radical management measures are needed.     

Rebuilding Mediterranean fisheries: a new paradigm for ecological sustainability

In Mediterranean European countries, 85% of the assessed stocks are currently overfished compared to a maximum sustainable yield reference value (MSY) while populations of many commercial species are characterized by truncated size‐ and age‐structures. Rebuilding the size‐ and age‐structure of exploited populations is a management objective that combines single species targets such as MSY with specific goals of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAF), preserving community size‐structure and the ecological role of different species. Here, we show that under the current fishing regime, stock productivity and fleet profitability are generally impaired by a combination of high fishing mortality and inadequate selectivity patterns. For most of the stocks analysed, a simple reduction in the current fishing mortality (F_cur) towards an MSY reference value (F_MSY), without any change in the fishing selectivity, will allow neither stock biomass nor fisheries yield and revenue to be maximized. On the contrary, management targets can be achieved only through a radical change in fisheries selectivity. Shifting the size of first capture towards the size at which fish cohorts achieve their maximum biomass, the so‐called optimal length, would produce on average between two and three times higher economic yields and much higher biomass at sea for the exploited stocks. Moreover, it would contribute to restore marine ecosystem structure and resilience to enhance ecosystem services such as reservoirs of biodiversity and functioning food webs.     

渔场渔情分析预报的研究及其进展

早在19世纪末期,人们在有限的海洋水文调查的基础上,就开始了渔场海洋学的研究探索并试图进行渔情分析和渔场预报。但由于当时的技术条件限制和所获数据非常有限,其分析预报结果可想而知。20世纪60年代卫星遥感技术出现之后,人们开始能够快速获取大范围实时或准实时的海水表层温度（SST）、海洋水色、海洋动力环境等渔场环境信息,渔场渔情分析预报逐渐实用化。     

Effects of cryptic mortality and the hidden costs of using length limits in fishery management

Fishery collapses cause substantial economic and ecological harm, but common management actions often fail to prevent overfishing. Minimum length limits are perhaps the most common fishing regulation used in both commercial and recreational fisheries, but their conservation benefits can be influenced by discard mortality of fish caught and released below the legal length. We constructed a computer model to evaluate how discard mortality could influence the conservation utility of minimum length regulations. We evaluated policy performance across two disparate fish life‐history types: short‐lived high‐productivity (SLHP) and long‐lived low‐productivity (LLLP) species. For the life‐history types, fishing mortality rates and minimum length limits that we examined, length limits alone generally failed to achieve sustainability when discard mortality rate exceeded about 0.2 for SLHP species and 0.05 for LLLP species. At these levels of discard mortality, reductions in overall fishing mortality (e.g. lower fishing effort) were required to prevent recruitment overfishing if fishing mortality was high. Similarly, relatively low discard mortality rates (>0.05) rendered maximum yield unobtainable and caused a substantial shift in the shape of the yield response surfaces. An analysis of fishery efficiency showed that length limits caused the simulated fisheries to be much less efficient, potentially exposing the target species and ecosystem to increased negative effects of the fishing process. Our findings suggest that for overexploited fisheries with moderate‐to‐high discard mortality rates, reductions in fishing mortality will be required to meet management goals. Resource managers should carefully consider impacts of cryptic mortality sources (e.g. discard mortality) on fishery sustainability, especially in recreational fisheries where release rates are high and effort is increasing in many areas of the world.     

Adaptive bycatch reduction in penaeid trawls via rapid adjustments to headline height

Penaeid trawling is among the world's least selective fishing methods; a characteristic that has evoked spatial closures being implemented in some fisheries if certain bycatch limits are exceeded. For decades, considerable work has been done to develop modifications to penaeid trawls that reduce unwanted bycatches, with most focussed at the posterior section (i.e. codend). More recently, efforts have examined ways to prevent bycatch entry into trawls entirely—via modifications to anterior components. This study assessed the utility of proactively lowering the headlines of Australian penaeid trawls, using clips at the otter boards, to 68% and 54% of their conventional height, and demonstrated mean total bycatch reductions (by weight) of 69% and 79%, respectively, with no effects on the targeted Metapenaeus macleayi (Haswell). The results provide insights into the location and behaviour of various species in the water column preceding capture, and support a simple and easy method for regional fishers to use in situ to avoid excessive bycatch and associated fishing closures. More broadly, the data support ongoing efforts in other penaeid‐trawl fisheries to reduce bycatches via similar, rapid adjustments to anterior components, depending on species‐specific behaviours during capture.     

Strong fisheries management and governance positively impact ecosystem status

Fisheries have had major negative impacts on marine ecosystems, and effective fisheries management and governance are needed to achieve sustainable fisheries, biodiversity conservation goals and thus good ecosystem status. To date, the IndiSeas programme (Indicators for the Seas) has focussed on assessing the ecological impacts of fishing at the ecosystem scale using ecological indicators. Here, we explore fisheries ‘Management Effectiveness’ and ‘Governance Quality’ and relate this to ecosystem health and status. We developed a dedicated expert survey, focused at the ecosystem level, with a series of questions addressing aspects of management and governance, from an ecosystem‐based perspective, using objective and evidence‐based criteria. The survey was completed by ecosystem experts (managers and scientists) and results analysed using ranking and multivariate methods. Results were further examined for selected ecosystems, using expert knowledge, to explore the overall findings in greater depth. Higher scores for ‘Management Effectiveness’ and ‘Governance Quality’ were significantly and positively related to ecosystems with better ecological status. Key factors that point to success in delivering fisheries and conservation objectives were as follows: the use of reference points for management, frequent review of stock assessments, whether Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) catches were being accounted for and addressed, and the inclusion of stakeholders. Additionally, we found that the implementation of a long‐term management plan, including economic and social dimensions of fisheries in exploited ecosystems, was a key factor in successful, sustainable fisheries management. Our results support the thesis that good ecosystem‐based management and governance, sustainable fisheries and healthy ecosystems go together.     

Quantifying fishing effort: a synthesis of current methods and their applications

The need to accurately quantify fishing effort has increased in recent years as fisheries have expanded around the world and many fish stocks and non‐target species are threatened with collapse. Quantification methods vary greatly among fisheries, and to date there has not been a comprehensive review of these methods. Here we review existing approaches to quantify fishing effort in small‐scale, recreational, industrial, and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fisheries. We present the strengths and limitations of existing methods, identifying the most robust methods and the critical knowledge gaps that must be addressed to improve our ability to quantify and map fishing effort. Although identifying the ‘best’ method ultimately depends on the intended application of the data, in general, quantification methods that are based on information on gear use and spatial distribution offer the best approaches to representing fishing effort on a broad scale. Integrating fisher’s knowledge and involving fishers in data collection and management decisions may be the most effective way to improve data quality and accessibility.     

Realizing the potential of trait‐based approaches to advance fisheries science

Analysing how fish populations and their ecological communities respond to perturbations such as fishing and environmental variation is crucial to fisheries science. Researchers often predict fish population dynamics using species‐level life‐history parameters that are treated as fixed over time, while ignoring the impact of intraspecific variation on ecosystem dynamics. However, there is increasing recognition of the need to include processes operating at ecosystem levels (changes in drivers of productivity) while also accounting for variation over space, time and among individuals. To address similar challenges, community ecologists studying plants, insects and other taxa increasingly measure phenotypic characteristics of individual animals that affect fitness or ecological function (termed “functional traits”). Here, we review the history of trait‐based methods in fish and other taxa, and argue that fisheries science could see benefits by integrating trait‐based approaches within existing fisheries analyses. We argue that measuring and modelling functional traits can improve estimates of population and community dynamics, and rapidly detect responses to fishing and environmental drivers. We support this claim using three concrete examples: how trait‐based approaches could account for time‐varying parameters in population models; improve fisheries management and harvest control rules; and inform size‐based models of marine communities. We then present a step‐by‐step primer for how trait‐based methods could be adapted to complement existing models and analyses in fisheries science. Finally, we call for the creation and expansion of publicly available trait databases to facilitate adapting trait‐based methods in fisheries science, to complement existing public databases of life‐history parameters for marine organisms.     

Fuel consumption of global fishing fleets: current understanding and knowledge gaps

Compared to a century ago, the world's fishing fleets are larger and more powerful, are travelling further and are producing higher quality products. These developments come largely at a cost of high‐fossil fuel energy inputs. Rising energy prices, climate change and consumer demand for ‘green’ products have placed energy use and emissions among the sustainability criteria of food production systems. We have compiled all available published and unpublished fuel use data for fisheries targeting all species, employing all gears and fishing in all regions of the world into a Fisheries and Energy Use Database (FEUD). Here, we present results of our analysis of the relative energy performance of fisheries since 1990 and provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on fuel inputs to diverse fishing fleets. The median fuel use intensity of global fishery records since 1990 is 639 litres per tonne. Fuel inputs to fisheries vary by several orders of magnitude, with small pelagic fisheries ranking among the world's most efficient forms of animal protein production and crustaceans ranking among the least efficient. Trends in Europe and Australia since the beginning of the 21st century suggest fuel use efficiency is improving, although this has been countered by a more rapid increase in oil prices. Management decisions, technological improvements and behavioural changes can further reduce fuel consumption in the short term, although the most effective improvement to fisheries energy performance will come as a result of rebuilding stocks where they are depressed and reducing over‐capacity.     

Understanding fishing‐induced extinctions in the Amazon

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Linking the biology and ecology of key herbivorous unicornfish to fisheries management in the Pacific

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Considering recreational catch and harvest in fisheries management at the bio‐regional scale

Abstract The Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia supports several commercial fisheries and a largely tourist‐based recreational fishery. The results of a survey of 427 recreational fishing parties visiting the main town, Karumba, between March and September 2006 were examined using the bootstrap method to estimate confidence intervals for mean tourist catch and harvest of grunter, Pomadasys kaakan (Cuvier), and other recreational target species. Tourist anglers harvested between 99.8 and 117 t of P. kaakan and 32.6–38.2 t of blue salmon, Eleutheronema tetradactylum (Shaw), during the survey period. Resident recreational anglers harvested an additional 15–35 t of P. kaakan, but very little E. tetradactylum. In comparison, commercial harvest was 19 t of P. kaakan and 64 t of E. tetradactylum in the whole of the Queensland section of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The results underscore the need for appropriately collected recreational fishing data to support integrated fisheries management at the bioregional scale, and in the case of angling‐based tourist destinations, underpin a diversification of the tourist product.     

Integrating recreational fisheries data into stock assessment: implications for model performance and subsequent harvest strategies

Understanding the impacts of recreational fishing on commercially fished stocks is becoming increasingly relevant for fisheries managers. However, data from recreational fisheries are not commonly included in stock assessments of commercially fished stocks. Simulation models of two assessment methods employed in Australia's Commonwealth fisheries were used to explore how recreational fishery data can be included, and the likely consequences for management. In a data‐poor management strategy for blue eye trevalla, Hyperoglyphe antarctica (Carmichael), temporal trends in recreational catch most affected management outcomes. In a data‐rich age‐structured stock assessment for striped marlin, Kajikia audax (Philippi), estimates of stock status were biased when recreational catches were large or when the recreational fishery targeted different size classes than the commercial fishery and these data were not integrated into the assessment. Including data from recreational fishing can change perceptions of stock status and impact recommendations for harvest strategies and management action. An understanding of recreational fishery dynamics should be prioritised for some species.     

The mitigation hierarchy for sharks: A risk‐based framework for reconciling trade‐offs between shark conservation and fisheries objectives

Sharks and their cartilaginous relatives are one of the world's most threatened species groups. The primary cause is overfishing in targeted and bycatch fisheries. Reductions in fishing mortality are needed to halt shark population declines. However, this requires complex fisheries management decisions, which often entail trade‐offs between conservation objectives and fisheries objectives. We propose the mitigation hierarchy (MH)—a step‐wise precautionary approach for minimizing the impacts of human activity on biodiversity—as a novel framework for supporting these management decisions. We outline a holistic conceptual model for risks to sharks in fisheries, which includes biophysical, operational and socioeconomic considerations. We then demonstrate how this model, in conjunction with the MH, can support risk‐based least cost shark conservation. Through providing examples from real‐world fishery management problems, we illustrate how the MH can be applied to a range of species, fisheries and contexts, and explore some of the opportunities and challenges hereto. Finally, we outline next steps for research and implementation. This is important in the context of increasing international regulation of shark fishing and trade, which must lead to reductions in shark mortality, while managing trade‐offs between conservation objectives and the socioeconomic value of fisheries.