Review of trends in the development of European inland aquaculture linkages with fisheries

Aquaculture is a multifaceted, dynamic food production sector in Europe. The average annual growth rate of aquaculture production in Western Europe was 5.5% between 1988 and 1998, while in Eastern Europe production declined by 56% during the same period. The main growth in aquaculture production has taken place in the marine environment, particularly in the expanding salmon, Salmo salar L., industry of Northern Europe. Inland aquaculture only contributed 19% of the total aquaculture production in 1998. Trout in Western Europe, and common carp, Cyprinus carpio L., in Eastern Europe are the dominant species in inland aquaculture. Inland fisheries production has been stagnant in Western Europe and has declined considerably in Eastern Europe. The importance of recreational fisheries is increasing all over Europe, although no reliable data are available on angler catches. The major interactions between aquaculture and fisheries are pollution by untreated effluents from farms and impacts on indigenous fish stocks. The conflict is decreasing as more advanced systems are used in inland aquaculture, including water recirculation and effluent treatment. The positive benefit of aquaculture is that the sector supports extensive stocking programmes in commercial and recreational fisheries all over Europe.     

Comparative analysis of artisanal and recreational fisheries for Dentex dentex in a Marine Protected Area

The common dentex, Dentex dentex (L.), is an iconic marine coastal fish in the Mediterranean Sea. This study was performed in the Bonifacio Strait Natural Reserve (BSNR), (NW Mediterranean Sea). The aims were to: (1) evaluate temporal variation of the artisanal fishing of common dentex (2000–2012); (2) compare and quantify catch rates, fishing techniques and catch composition for artisanal and recreational fisheries, and determine the influence of management measures by both activities; and (3) estimate the production of both artisanal and recreational fisheries. Fishery data were collected from different artisanal fishing surveys (onboard fishing vessels and landings) and recreational fishing surveys (roving). The gears with the highest rates of exploitation were longline (3554 g per 100 hooks) and Trolling (351 g boat^?1 h^?1 ±SE), respectively, for artisanal and recreational fishing. This study showed that catches by both activities were quantitatively higher in partially protected areas than outside them. Production estimations suggest that the recreational fishery contributes significantly to fishing mortality and that it can magnify the negative effects of artisanal fisheries. Specific measures are needed for the sustainable fishery management of common dentex.     

Catching industrial fishing incursions into inshore waters of Africa from space

Small‐scale fisheries contribute substantially to the sustainability of coastal communities by providing livelihood and economic opportunities and ensuring food security. However, their geographic range of operation overlaps with that of industrial fisheries, increasing the resource competition, risk of vessel collision and inter‐sector conflicts, while jeopardizing the sustainability of fish stocks. When industrial vessels venture into waters that are reserved to artisanal fisheries, their operations become illegal. In Africa, the extent of such operations, beyond their legal implications, has resulted in severe economic, food security and maritime safety issues. In this paper, we use automatic identification system data derived from satellite technology to predict fishing operations and find that industrial fleets spend 3%–6% of their time fishing within inshore areas reserved for small‐scale fisheries between 2012 and 2016, of the total 4.2 million industrial fishing hours within the Exclusive Economic Zones of African countries. We assessed the total fishing effort by this form of illegal fishing operations at 166 million kWhours at least out of 4.9 billion kWhours in total. We discuss this dangerous form of illegal fishing, which often results in deadly collisions with small‐scale sector operators, increases competition and conflicts over fisheries access, threatens the sustainability of fish stocks, and calls for better governance, and protection.     

Toward sustainable harvest strategies for marine fisheries that include recreational fishing

Recreational fishing (RF) is a large yet undervalued component of fisheries globally. While progress has been made in monitoring, assessing, and managing the sector in isolation, integration of RF into the management of multi-sector fisheries has been limited, particularly relative to the commercial sector. This marginalises recreational fishers and reduces the likelihood of achieving the sector's objectives and, more broadly, achieving fisheries sustainability. We examined the nature and extent of RF inclusion in harvest strategies (HSs) for marine fisheries across 15 regions in 11 nations to define the gap in inclusion that has developed between sectors. We focused on high-income nations with a high level of RF governance and used a questionnaire to elicit expert knowledge on HSs due to the paucity of published documents. In total, 339 HSs were considered. We found that RF inclusion in HSs was more similar to the small-scale sector (i.e., artisanal, cultural, or subsistence) than the commercial sector, with explicit operational objectives, data collection, performance indicators, reference points, and management controls lacking in many regions. Where specified, RF objectives focused on sustainability, economic value and catch allocation rather than directly relating to the recreational fishing experience. Conflicts with other sectors included competition with the commercial sector for limited resources, highlighting the importance of equitable resource allocation policies alongside HSs. We propose that RF be explicitly incorporated into HSs to ensure fisheries are ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable, and we recommend that fisheries organisations urgently review HSs for marine fisheries with a recreational component to close the harvest strategy gap among sectors.     

Shifting trophic architecture of marine fisheries in New Zealand: Implications for guiding effective ecosystem‐based management

New Zealand has led the world in restoration of marine fisheries since the introduction of the Quota Management System in 1986, but challenges remain in minimizing the ecosystem‐level effects of industrialized fishing. We analysed existing long‐term fisheries data sets from 1931 to 2015 in New Zealand to resolve trends in important ecological properties of major exploited fish communities. Increases in community dissimilarities of catch composition in 1931 and 1972, followed by increasing total landings, highlight major expansions of fishing grounds and exploited species during these periods. Mirroring global patterns, the remarkable rise in fishing power, demand and generation of new markets in New Zealand have all contributed to this expansion. Marine Trophic Indices (MTIs) of landings have decreased together with total catch after the year 2000, reflecting smaller catches with a higher composition of lower trophic‐level species in recent years. Differences in relative abundance of species estimated between fisheries‐dependent and fisheries‐independent data were observed, where high‐value species displayed better agreement in relative abundance between data sets. Despite being under a Quota Management System, temporal development of MTI values relative to the timing of industrial expansion of fisheries was remarkably similar to those observed in the North Sea and Brazil, with a single expansion and decline. MTI values presented better long‐term stability in the US fisheries analysed. Analysis of long‐term data and the development of well‐resolved ecological baselines will be the first step towards applying EBM to New Zealand fisheries, in keeping with global trends in fisheries management.     

A comparative analysis between recreational and artisanal fisheries in a Mediterranean coastal area

The biological impact and the social characteristics of different artisanal (professional) and recreational fishing techniques on the marine resources of a coastal Mediterranean area were compared. Data were from artisanal and recreational surveys carried out between 2006 and 2010. Competition between recreational (particularly spear fishing) and artisanal fishers for the natural resources is important as 52% of the 98 species surveyed were caught by both types of fishers. A total of 87 species were caught by all artisanal fishing gears together (of which 84% were retained and 16% discarded). Recreational fishing caught 58 species of which none was systematically discarded. The two fishing techniques that raise major environmental concerns are spear fishing (very selective in terms of species and/or sizes and high intrinsic vulnerability of catches) and trammel netting (highest number of species discarded and highest number of species endangered). Important challenges from the social standpoint were found that need to be taken into account in the management of coastal fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea including: progressive disappearance of the artisanal fisheries, ageing of the artisanal fisher populations and decline in the number of fishing gears used by artisanal fishers.     

Pre‐Columbian fisheries catch reconstruction for a subtropical estuary in South America

Small‐scale fisheries provide food and livelihoods for thousands of people along the Brazilian coastline. However, considerable uncertainties still surround the extent to which artisanal and subsistence fisheries contribute to the total of national landings and their historical ecological significance. Fisheries monitoring is deficient in Brazil, and historical records are limited to irregular accounts spanning the last few decades, while this coastline has supported human populations for at least 6,000 years. Here, we estimate pre‐Columbian subsistence catches for a large subtropical estuary in southern Brazil. Our results suggest that prehistoric populations may have extracted volumes of fish biomass higher than or comparable with historical subsistence fisheries in the region, and that the latter is likely underestimated. If a long‐term perspective is required to evaluate the current economic value and status of fisheries in subtropical and tropical South America, this should go beyond the historical time interval and integrate the contribution of pre‐Columbian archaeology.     

Putting the fish into inland fisheries – A global allocation of historic inland fish catch

Inland waters support the livelihoods of up to 820 million people and provide fisheries that make an essential contribution towards food security, particularly in the developing world where 90% of inland fisheries catch is consumed. Despite their importance, inland fisheries are overlooked in favour of other water use sectors deemed more economically important. Inland fisheries are also driven by external factors such as climate change and habitat loss, which impedes our ability to manage them sustainably. Using a river basin approach to allocate fish catch, we have provided an integrated picture of how different inland water bodies contribute to global inland fisheries catches. There is a substantial amount of information available on inland fisheries, but it has never been synthesised to build this global picture. Fishery statistics from river basins, lakes, floodplains, hydrobasins, and countries covering a time span from 1960–2018 were analysed. Collation of basin-scale fisheries statistics suggests a global inland catch of ≈17.4 million tonnes (PSE = ±3.93 million tonnes) in 2010, considerably more than the 10.8 million tonnes published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), but in line with estimates based on household consumption. The figure is considered a likely maximum due to recent reductions in catches because of closures, threats, and fisheries declines in the most productive fisheries. It is recommended that sentinel fisheries, which are important for food provision, employment, or where threats facing a fishery could cause a deterioration in catch, are identified to provide the baseline for a global monitoring programme.     

日本渔业概况

日本是全球重要的渔业国家。本文介绍了日本的渔业生产、渔业资源、渔业在国民经济中的地位、渔业管理以及渔业劳动力和经营状况。日本渔业以海洋捕捞为主,由于全球渔业资源衰退,国际竞争加剧以及日本国内经济的持续低迷,日本渔业在经历了上世纪80年代的鼎盛期之后呈现大幅下降趋势,面临着产业结构调整的巨大压力。     

Seasonal and annual cycles in marine small‐scale fisheries (Ilhéus – Brazil)

Fish stock assessment is a crucial tool for resource management. Small‐scale fisheries are often multispecies and multigear. This study focuses on the search for patterns in the Ilhéus small‐scale fishery using landing data from 2000 to 2006 and climatic data. Ocyurus chrysurus and Ephinephelus spp. were the most commonly landed fish. The number of fishing trips was higher in the winter, when winds were weaker and temperatures lower. When the temperature increased, catches of Seriola dumerili were higher. Coryphaena hippurus and some rays were more abundant in the summer in the presence of stronger winds, intense rainfall and higher air temperature. Large catches of Lutjanus spp. and Scomberomorus spp. were obtained in the autumn. There is an annual seasonality in the fishery, with a cyclical landing pattern regardless of the years considered. These results are important in view of climate change, and specific strategies for better fisheries management are recommended.     

Filling a blank on the map: 60 years of fisheries in Equatorial Guinea

Despite a scarcity of pertinent information, it has been possible to reconstruct time series of marine fisheries catches for Equatorial Guinea from 1950 to 2010 using per capita fish consumption and population numbers for small‐scale fisheries, catch rates and number of vessels for industrial fisheries and discard rates to estimate the discarded bycatch. Small‐scale fisheries, industrial large‐scale fisheries, domestic and legal and illegal foreign fisheries and their discards are all included. Total catches were estimated at 2.7 million tonnes over the time period considered, of which 653 000 t were caught domestically compared to 187 000 t reported by FAO. This shows that fisheries have more importance for Equatorial Guinea's food security than the official data suggest. In contrast to what is suggested by official figures, fisheries were shown to be strongly impacted by civil and political unrest; notably, they declined overall because of civil and political conflicts, socio‐demographic dynamics, and a growing role of the newly discovered oil resources, which directly and indirectly threaten the food security of the people of Equatorial Guinea.     

Investing in African fisheries: building links to the Millennium Development Goals

Despite the large economic and social benefits fisheries can offer to address Africa’s development needs, investment in African fisheries and aquaculture has been remarkably low. However, if fisheries and aquaculture are to meet the challenges of technological change, institutional reforms and resource mobilization needed in support of the sector’s development potential, fisheries stakeholders must make the case for investment much more clearly within the context of wider socioeconomic development. In this paper, we argue that the global consensus around the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) offers an important opportunity to pursue this agenda in Africa. In particular the MDGs’ human development focus provides a compelling framework for articulating the comprehensive value of fisheries for poverty reduction and long‐term socioeconomic development. The paper has two objectives. The first is to examine the direct and indirect links between fisheries and the individual MDGs, drawing together findings and lessons learnt from recent African case studies with relevant examples from elsewhere. The second is to translate these findings into recommendations for action in support of improved investments in fisheries aimed at increasing the overall development value of the sector.     

Global marine fisheries discards: A synthesis of reconstructed data

As part of the global marine fisheries catch reconstruction project conducted by the Sea Around Us over the last decade, estimates were derived for discards in all major fisheries in the world. The reconstruction process derives conservative but non‐zero time‐series estimates for every fisheries component known to exist, and relies on a wide variety of data and information sources and on conservative assumptions to ensure comprehensive and complete time‐series coverage. Globally, estimated discards increased from under 5 million t/year (t = 1,000 kg) in the early 1950s to a peak of 18.8 million t in 1989, and gradually declined thereafter to levels of the late 1950s of less than 10 million t/year. Thus, estimated discards represented between 10% and 20% of total reconstructed catches (reported landings + unreported landings + unreported discards) per year up to the year 2000, after which estimated discards accounted for slightly less than 10% of total annual catches. Most discards were generated by industrial (i.e. large‐scale) fisheries. Discarding occurred predominantly in northern Atlantic waters in the earlier decades (1950s–1980s), after which discarding off the West Coast of Africa dominated. More recently, fleets operating in Northwest Pacific and Western Central Pacific waters generated the most discards. In most areas, discards consist essentially of marketable taxa, suggesting a combination of poor fishing practices and poor management procedures is largely responsible for the waste discarding represents. This is important in an era of increasing food security and human nutritional health concerns, especially in developing countries.     

Sri Lankan reservoir fishery: a case for introduction of a co-management strategy

The inland fisheries of Sri Lanka are essentially artisanal on most of the reservoirs in the country. The annual inland fish production declined dramatically after 1990, when state patronage for the development of the inland fisheries was discontinued for 4 years. This decline was shown to be a result of growth overfishing of the two dominant cichlid species which accounted for over 90% of landings. This was a result of using small mesh ( < 6.9 cm) gillnets in the absence of the State-sponsored monitoring procedure in the fishery after 1990. This indicates that it is necessary to monitor inland fisheries management in Sri Lanka through a centralized authority in the current situation. However, in some Sri Lankan reservoirs, fishing communities can be categorized as 'organized' because they collectively make decisions to define procedures for the rational exploitation of the fishery resources. In reservoirs with 'organized' fishing, the communities themselves have developed mechanisms to regulate the landing sizes of dominant cichlid fish species through community-based fisheries management strategies. In such reservoirs, over-exploitation of fish stocks was not evident, even after 1990, when state-sponsored monitoring procedures were suspended. Based on these observations, an alternative approach is recommended for the management of Sri Lankan reservoir capture fisheries in which the Government and resource-users have equal responsibilities in the management of the resources.     

Elasmobranch fisheries in the Arabian Seas Region: Characteristics,trade and management

The Arabian Seas Region plays an important role in the global landings and trade of sharks and rays. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen, two countries with stark socio‐economic differences, serve as major regional trade hubs for shark and ray products and four countries (Oman, Pakistan, UAE and Yemen) supply nearly 11% of dried fin exports to Hong Kong. Yet, little information is available on the characteristics of this trade and the fisheries contributing to it. Here, we review the fisheries characteristics, trade, utilization and distribution chain of sharks and rays in 15 countries of the Arabian Seas Region based on published and grey literature, landing surveys, field observations and interviews with fishermen and traders. Although regional shark fisheries remain mostly artisanal, reported shark and ray landings represent 28% of the regional total fish production, reaching 56,074 mt in 2012 (7.3% of total world catches), with Iran, Oman, Pakistan and Yemen ranking as the primary catchers. Utilization and distribution patterns are complex, vary between landing sites and countries, and remain unmonitored. Based on widespread over‐exploitation of most teleost fisheries, current exploitation levels for most sharks and rays are potentially unsustainable. The situation is exacerbated by limited research and political will to support policy development, the incomplete nature of fisheries data, as well as insufficient regulations and enforcement. A better understanding of shark and ray fisheries will be key for regulating trade, promoting conservation and developing management initiatives to secure food security, livelihoods and biodiversity conservation in the region.     

Early effects of COVID‐19 on US fisheries and seafood consumption

The US seafood sector is susceptible to shocks, both because of the seasonal nature of many of its domestic fisheries and its global position as a top importer and exporter of seafood. However, many data sets that could inform science and policy during an emerging event do not exist or are only released months or years later. Here, we synthesize multiple data sources from across the seafood supply chain, including unconventional real‐time data sets, to show the relative initial responses and indicators of recovery during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We synthesized news articles from January to September 2020 that reported effects of COVID‐19 on the US seafood sector, including processor closures, shortened fishing seasons and loss of revenue. Concerning production and distribution, we assessed past and present landings and trade data and found substantial declines in fresh seafood catches (?40%), imports (?37%) and exports (?43%) relative to the previous year, while frozen seafood products were generally less affected. Google search trends and seafood market foot traffic data suggest consumer demand for seafood from restaurants dropped by upwards of 70% during lockdowns, with recovery varying by state. However, these declines were partially offset by an increase (270%) in delivery and takeout service searches. Our synthesis of open‐access data sets and media reports shows widespread, but heterogeneous, ramifications of COVID‐19 across the seafood sector, implying that policymakers should focus support on states and sub‐sectors most affected by the pandemic: fishery‐dependent communities, processors, and fisheries and aquaculture that focus on fresh products.     

Does unreported catch lead to overfishing?

Catches are commonly misreported in many fisheries worldwide, resulting in inaccurate data that hinder our ability to assess population status and manage fisheries sustainably. Under‐reported catch is generally perceived to lead to overfishing, and hence, catch reconstructions are increasingly used to account for sectors that may be unreliably reported, including illegal harvest, recreational and subsistence fisheries, and discards. However, improved monitoring and/or catch reconstructions only aid in the first step of a fisheries management plan: collecting data to make inferences on stock status. Misreported catch impacts estimates of population parameters, which in turn influences management decisions, but the pattern and degree of these impacts are not necessarily intuitive. We conducted a simulation study to test the effect of different patterns of catch misreporting on estimated fishery status and recommended catches. If, for example, 50% of all fishery catches are consistently unreported, estimates of population size and sustainable yield will be 50% lower, but estimates of current exploitation rate and fishery status will be unbiased. As a result, constant under‐ or over‐reporting of catches results in recommended catches that are sustainable. However, when there are trends in catch reporting over time, the estimates of important parameters are inaccurate, generally leading to underutilization when reporting rates improve, and overfishing when reporting rates degrade. Thus, while quantifying total catch is necessary for understanding the impact of fisheries on businesses, communities and ecosystems, detecting trends in reporting rates is more important for estimating fishery status and setting sustainable catches into the future.     

Effects of biological,economic and management factors on tuna and billfish stock status

Commercial tunas and billfishes (swordfish, marlins and sailfish) provide considerable catches and income in both developed and developing countries. These stocks vary in status from lightly exploited to rebuilding to severely depleted. Previous studies suggested that this variability could result from differences in life‐history characteristics and economic incentives, but differences in exploitation histories and management measures also have a strong effect on current stock status. Although the status (biomass and fishing mortality rate) of major tuna and billfish stocks is well documented, the effect of these diverse factors on current stock status and the effect of management measures in rebuilding stocks have not been analysed at the global level. Here, we show that, particularly for tunas, stocks were more depleted if they had high commercial value, were long‐lived species, had small pre‐fishing biomass and were subject to intense fishing pressure for a long time. In addition, implementing and enforcing total allowable catches (TACs) had the strongest positive influence on rebuilding overfished tuna and billfish stocks. Other control rules such as minimum size regulations or seasonal closures were also important in reducing fishing pressure, but stocks under TAC implementations showed the fastest increase of biomass. Lessons learned from this study can be applied in managing large industrial fisheries around the world. In particular, tuna regional fisheries management organizations should consider the relative effectiveness of management measures observed in this study for rebuilding depleted large pelagic stocks.     

Policy needs to improve marine capture fisheries management and to define a role for marine protected areas in Indonesia

Abstract  Management of Indonesia's marine capture fisheries faces a huge dilemma: evidence suggests that most, if not all, of Indonesia's capture fisheries are fully or overexploited, but the fishery sector is still expected to contribute to the increase of Indonesia's gross national product (GNP) through an increase in total catches. Furthermore, the current practice of using catch-effort data and Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) models to inform Indonesia's fisheries policies is flawed, putting sustainability and long-term profitability of Indonesia's fisheries at risk. It is argued that the following shift in capture fisheries management policy must be achieved to ensure the survival of Indonesia's fish stocks and fisheries:
1  a shift in fisheries policy from development-oriented management towards management for sustainability;
2  acceptance by fisheries managers that 'untapped resources' may not exist or cannot be exploited profitably;
3  acceptance by fisheries managers that any transfer of fishing effort between fishing grounds may contribute to collapse of local fisheries;
4  a shift in fisheries management from MSY models to eco-system based management, wherein Marine Protected Areas should play an important role.     

Serial exploitation of global sea cucumber fisheries

In recent decades, invertebrate fisheries have expanded in catch and value worldwide. One increasingly harvested group is sea cucumbers (class Holothuroidea), which are highly valued in Asia and sold as trepang or bêche‐de‐mer. We compiled global landings, economic data, and country‐specific assessment and management reports to synthesize global trends in sea cucumber fisheries, evaluate potential drivers, and test for local and global serial exploitation patterns. Although some sea cucumber fisheries have existed for centuries, catch trends of most individual fisheries followed boom‐and‐bust patterns since the 1950s, declining nearly as quickly as they expanded. New fisheries expanded five to six times faster in 1990 compared to 1960 and at an increasing distance from Asia, encompassing a global fishery by the 1990s. Global sea cucumber production was correlated to the Japanese yen at a leading lag. Regional assessments revealed that population declines from overfishing occurred in 81% of sea cucumber fisheries, average harvested body size declined in 35%, harvesters moved from near‐ to off‐shore regions in 51% and from high‐ to low‐value species in 76%. Thirty‐eight per cent of sea cucumber fisheries remained unregulated, and illegal catches were of concern in half. Our results suggest that development patterns of sea cucumber fisheries are largely predictable, often unsustainable and frequently too rapid for effective management responses. We discuss potential ecosystem and human community consequences and urge for better monitoring and reporting of catch and abundance, proper scientific stock assessment and consideration of international trade regulations to ensure long‐term and sustainable harvesting of sea cucumbers worldwide.