Natural mortality augments population fluctuations of forage fish

Forage fish are a vital part of marine ecosystems, partly by supporting some of the largest fisheries worldwide, but also due to their role in food webs as prey for larger fish and other predators. One of the unresolved questions about forage fish dynamics is the causes of their significant temporal fluctuations. These fluctuations are often attributed to changes in environmental conditions, but direct correlations have proven hard to find. Here, we show how time‐varying predation mortality additionally plays a substantial role in forage fish population fluctuations. By analysing 10 stocks that have estimates of natural mortality changes through time, we find that natural mortality on average increases as population biomass declines towards a trough, and to a lesser degree decreases, when their biomass is growing towards a peak. While depensatory mortality was dominant on average in biomass dynamics leading up to peaks or troughs, some of the stocks exhibited compensatory mortality emphasizing variation between stocks. Furthermore, we show that the magnitude of natural mortality and productivity is generally higher than fishing mortality. The results underscore the importance of top‐down control on the dynamics of forage fish. We conclude that a holistic ecosystem analysis is required for a better ecological understanding of forage fish dynamics.     

Control mechanisms and ecosystem‐based management of fishery production

Fishery ecosystems are complex and influenced by various drivers that operate and interact at different levels and over multiple scales. Here, we propose a holistic methodology to determine the key mechanisms of fisheries, trophodynamics, and environmental drivers of marine ecosystems, using a multilevel model fitted to data on global catch, effort, trophic level, primary production, and temperature for 130 ecosystems from 1950 to 2012. The model describes the spatial‐temporal dynamics of world fisheries very well with a pseudo R² = 0.75 and estimates the effects of key drivers of fishery production. The results demonstrate the integrative operation of bottom‐up and top‐down regulated trophic interactions at the global level and great variations in their relative importance among different types of ecosystem. The estimation of key drivers’ effects on marine ecosystems provides practical mechanisms for informed ecosystem‐based fisheries management to achieve the sustainable objectives that are consistent with the needs of specific fisheries.     

Stable isotopes infer the value of Australia’s coastal vegetated ecosystems from fisheries

Wild capture fisheries provide substantial input to the global economy through employment and revenue. The coastal zone is especially productive, accounting for just 7% of the total area of the ocean, but supporting an estimated 50% of the world's fisheries. Vegetated coastal ecosystems—seagrass meadows, tidal marshes and mangrove forests—are widely cited as providing nutritional input that underpin coastal fisheries production; however, quantitative evidence of this relationship is scarce. Using Australia as a case study, we synthesized fisheries stable isotope data to estimate nutritional input derived from coastal vegetated ecosystems and combined these “proportional contribution” estimates with total annual catch data from commercial fisheries to determine species‐specific dollar values for coastal vegetated ecosystems. Based on the data from 96 commercially important fish species across Australian states (total landings 14 × 10⁶ tonnes pa), we provide a conservative estimate that Australia's coastal vegetated ecosystems contribute at least 78 million AUD per year to the fisheries economy. Two thirds of this contribution came from tidal marshes and seagrasses that were both equally valued at 31.5 million AUD per year (39.4%) followed by mangroves at 14.9 million AUD per year (18.6%). The highest dollar values of coastal ecosystems originated from eastern king prawn (Melicertus plebejus) and giant mud crab (Scylla serrata). This study demonstrates the substantial economic value supported by Australia's coastal vegetated ecosystems through commercial fisheries harvest. These estimates create further impetus to conserve and restore coastal wetlands and maintain their support of coastal fisheries into the future.     

Ecosystem effects of invertebrate fisheries

Since the 1950s, invertebrate fisheries catches have rapidly expanded globally to more than 10 million tonnes annually, with twice as many target species, and are now significant contributors to global seafood provision, export, trade and local livelihoods. Invertebrates play important and diverse functional roles in marine ecosystems, yet the ecosystem effects of their exploitation are poorly understood. Using 12 ecosystem models distributed worldwide, we analysed the trade‐offs of various invertebrate fisheries and their ecosystem effects as well as ecological indicators. Although less recognized for their contributions to marine food webs, our results show that the magnitude of trophic impacts of invertebrates on other species of commercial and conservation interest is comparable with those of forage fish. Generally, cephalopods showed the strongest ecosystem effects and were characterized by a strong top‐down predatory role. Lobster, and to a lesser extent, crabs, shrimp and prawns, also showed strong ecosystem effects, but at lower trophic levels. Benthic invertebrates, including epifauna and infauna, also showed considerable ecosystem effects, but with strong bottom‐up characteristics. In contrast, urchins, bivalves, and gastropods showed generally lower ecosystem effects in our simulations. Invertebrates also strongly contributed to benthic–pelagic coupling, with exploitation of benthic invertebrates impacting pelagic fishes and vice versa. Finally, on average, invertebrates produced maximum sustainable yield at lower levels of depletion (~45%) than forage fish (~65%), highlighting the need for management targets that avoid negative consequences for target species and marine ecosystems as a whole.     

Wasted fishery resources: discarded by-catch in the USA

Fishery by‐catch, especially discarded by‐catch, is a serious problem in the world's oceans. Not only are the stocks of discarded species affected, but entire trophic webs and habitats may be disrupted at the ecosystem level. This paper reviews discarding in the marine fisheries of the USA; however, the type, diversity and regulatory mechanisms of the fisheries are similar to developed fisheries and management programmes throughout the world. We have compiled current estimates of discarded by‐catch for each major marine fishery in the USA using estimates from existing literature, both published and unpublished. We did not re‐estimate discards or discard rates from raw data, nor did we include data on protected species (turtles, mammals and birds) and so this study covers discarded by‐catch of finfish and fishable invertebrates. For some fisheries, additional calculations were required to transform number data into weight data, and typically length and weight composition data were used. Specific data for each fishery are referenced in Harrington et al. (Wasted Resources: Bycatch and discards in US Fisheries, Oceana, Washington, DC, 2005). Overall, our compiled estimates are that 1.06 million tonnes of fish were discarded and 3.7 million tonnes of fish were landed in USA marine fisheries in 2002. This amounts to a nationwide discard to landings ratio of 0.28, amongst the highest in the world. Regionally, the southeast had the largest discard to landings ratio (0.59), followed closely by the highly migratory species fisheries (0.52) and the northeast fisheries (0.49). The Alaskan and west coast fisheries had the lowest ratios (0.12 and 0.15 respectively). Shrimp fisheries in the southeast were the major contributors to the high discard rate in that region, with discard ratios of 4.56 (Gulf of Mexico) and 2.95 (South Atlantic). By‐catch and discarding is a major component of the impact of fisheries on marine ecosystems. There have been substantial efforts to reduce by‐catch in some fisheries, but broadly based programmes covering all fisheries are needed within the USA and around the world. In response to international agreements to improve fishery management, by‐catch and discard reduction must become a regular part of fishery management planning.     

Inland fish stock assessment: Applying data‐poor methods from marine systems

Inland fisheries can be diverse, local and highly seasonal. This complexity creates challenges for monitoring, and consequently, many inland fish stocks have few data and cannot be assessed using methods typically applied to industrial marine fisheries. In such situations, there may be a role for methods recently developed for assessment of data‐poor fish stocks. Herein, three established data‐poor assessment tools from marine systems are demonstrated to highlight their value to inland fisheries management. A case study application uses archived length, catch and catch‐per‐unit‐effort data to characterise the ecological status of an important recreational brown trout stock in an Irish lake. This case study is of specific use to management of freshwater sport fisheries, but the broader purpose of the paper was to provide a crossover between marine and inland fisheries science, and to highlight accessible data‐poor assessment approaches that may be applicable in diverse inland systems.     

Global marine yield halved as fishing intensity redoubles

There is widespread concern and debate about the state of global marine resources and the ecosystems supporting them, notably global fisheries, as catches now generally stagnate or decline. Many fisheries are not assessed by standard stock assessment methods including many in the world's most biodiverse areas. Though simpler methods using widely available catch data are available, these are often discounted largely because data on fishing effort that contributed to the changes in catches are mostly not considered. We analyse spatial and temporal patterns of global fishing effort and its relationship with catch to assess the status of the world's fisheries. The study reveals that fleets now fish all of the world's oceans and have increased in power by an average of 10‐fold (25‐fold for Asia) since the 1950s. Significantly, for the equivalent fishing power expended, landings from global fisheries are now half what they were a half‐century ago, indicating profound changes to supporting marine environments. This study provides another dimension to understand the global status of fisheries.     

Tuna trade‐offs: Balancing profit and social benefits in one of the world’s largest fisheries

The western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) tuna fishery is one of the world's largest in terms of both catch volume and value, providing over half of global tuna catch with a landed value of US $5.84 billion in 2017. Fishing is conducted by both large‐ and small‐scale fleets, with fisheries subsidies disproportionately benefiting the former. The primary objective of this study was to determine the optimal distribution of effort between two large‐scale fisheries (LSF) and two small‐scale fisheries (SSF) in the WCPO under three scenarios: to maximize industry benefits, minimize subsidization or maximize food supply. The objective was approached using a bioeconomic game‐theoretic model. Results indicate opposite distributions of effort to maximize industry benefits (all fishing conducted by LSF) or to minimize subsidization (all fishing by SSF), with more balanced effort distributions to maximize food supply. Total value of capacity‐enhancing subsidies in optimal scenarios ranged from $1.4 billion when industry benefits were maximized to $0.2 billion when subsidization was minimized. Investigation of suboptimal scenarios reveals the flexibility of these results, with wide ranges in outputted state variables for a given goal. Difficulty was encountered in modelling the SSF sector due to data deficiencies, a well‐recognized issue in managing SSF. Investments towards “data equity” to help ensure that management decision‐making can properly account for the SSF sector would be useful. This study has implications for the objectives we set in fisheries management, and the potential trade‐offs, often value‐driven in nature, that we must make explicit in that management.     

Forage fish fisheries management requires a tailored approach to balance trade‐offs

Ecosystem‐based fishery management requires considering the effects of actions on social, natural and economic systems. These considerations are important for forage fish fisheries, because these species provide ecosystem services as a key prey in food webs and support valuable commercial fisheries. Forage fish stocks fluctuate naturally, and fishing may make these fluctuations more pronounced, yet harvest strategies intended to ameliorate these effects might adversely affect fisheries and communities. Here, we evaluate trade‐offs among a diverse suite of management objectives by simulating outcomes from several harvest strategies on forage fish species. We demonstrate that some trade‐offs (like those between catches and minimizing collapse length) were universal among forage species and could not be eliminated by the use of different control rules. We also demonstrate that trade‐offs vary among forage fish species, with strong trade‐offs between stable, high catches and high‐biomass periods (“bonanzas”) for menhaden‐ and anchovy‐like fish, and counterintuitive trade‐offs for sardine‐like fish between shorter collapses and longer bonanzas. We find that harvest strategies designed to maintain stability in catches will result in more severe collapses. Finally, we show that the ability of assessments to detect rapid changes in population status greatly affects control rule performance and the degree and type of trade‐offs, increasing the risk and severity of collapses and reducing catches. Together, these results demonstrate that while default harvest strategies are useful in data‐poor situations, management strategy evaluations that are tailored to specific forage fish may better balance trade‐offs.     

The contribution of cephalopods to global marine fisheries: can we have our squid and eat them too?

Cephalopods are a key component of marine food webs, providing sustenance for myriad marine species. Cephalopods are also of increasing economic importance as evidenced by the rapid rise in their global landings over recent decades. If fisheries continue on this trajectory, conflicts may transpire among cephalopod and finfish fisheries, particularly in ecosystems where cephalopods are highly valuable both directly as a landed commodity and indirectly as prey for other harvested species. We provide the first measure of the ecosystem services that cephalopods contribute to fisheries in 28 marine ecosystems, both as a commodity and an ecological support service. We also evaluate how current demands on cephalopods compare to mid‐20th century conditions. We find that cephalopod contributions to fisheries vary widely, but are substantial in many ecosystems. Commodity and supportive services provided by cephalopods contributed as much as 55% of fishery landings (tonnes) and 70% of landed values ($USD). The contribution of cephalopods as a commodity was generally greatest in the coastal ecosystems, whereas their contribution as a supportive service was highest in open ocean systems. Further, the commodity and supportive services provided by cephalopods to fisheries landings increased in most of the coastal ecosystems between the mid‐20th century (years 1960–70) and contemporary periods (years 1990–2004), indicating the rising demand for cephalopods. Current demands have no historical precedent and ecosystems in which cephalopods are highly exploited as a targeted resource and as an ecological support service should be further evaluated to prevent the unsustainable development of marine fisheries within them.     

Fishing for feed in China: Facts,impacts and implications

China is the world's largest capture fisheries and aquaculture producer. Over recent decades, China's domestic marine catch composition has changed markedly, from large volumes of a few high‐valued food species to multiple, small, low‐valued, species, a significant proportion of which is primarily used as animal, especially fish, feed. Despite the growing volume and economic importance of the feed catches, their species composition, catch volumes and socio‐environmental impacts are all poorly understood. Based on a nationwide survey of >800 fishing vessels, and the identification and measurement of >12,000 fish and invertebrate individuals, the present study provides an overview of the feed component of China's domestic marine catch, by volumes, species and sizes, and found it to be substantial and biologically unsustainable. Half of the trawler catch (3 million metric tons, mmt), or 35% of the total catch (4.6 mmt) in China's exclusive economic zone, are now comprised of low‐valued “feed‐grade fish”. The present study identified 218 fish species, 50 crustaceans and five cephalopods, and of these, 102 fish species were food species with 89% individuals in their juvenile size ranges. Feed‐grade fish were mainly used as aquaculture feed directly, or indirectly, through the feed industry after reduction to fishmeal and fish oil. The unparalleled scale and poor fisheries resource condition of China's domestic marine fisheries, in parallel with severe overfishing of juveniles, creates a demand for fundamental changes to fishery management practices, including a significant reduction of fishing effort to ensure productivity and ecosystem resilience.     

Ending overfishing while catching more fish

The world's seas and oceans are a vital source of animal protein from fishing and a major contributor to global food security. It has been argued that global wild‐catch production has reached its limit, and there is concern that many species are overfished. Concerns are also mounting about the state of marine ecosystems and the ecological impacts of fishing on them, with increasing efforts to protect marine biodiversity. Fisheries appear to be at an impasse – demand for seafood is rising but so is concern about the impacts of fishing. However, through a simple analysis, we show that global exploitation rates are well below long‐term sustainable levels at a whole ecosystem level. The oceans can support considerably higher sustainable catch than currently harvested. Overfishing has happened but only to a small fraction of species as a result of intensive and selective fishing. Shifting fishing effort away from highly targeted stocks towards currently underutilized species would reduce pressure on overfished species, result in fewer adverse ecosystem effects of fishing and increase overall fisheries production. This shift requires significant changes to our views about seafood, particularly in the developed world. We suggest ways in which this paradigm shift could happen and the range of expertise that would be required to achieve higher global yields with less ecological impact.     

A fresh look at inland fisheries and their role in food security and livelihoods

The role of inland fisheries in livelihoods, food security and sustainable development is often overshadowed by the higher profile interest in ocean issues. Whilst inland fisheries' catch and contribution to global nutrition, food security and the economy, are less than that of marine fisheries, global‐level comparisons of fish production obscure considerable livelihood impacts in certain countries and sub‐national areas. To highlight these contributions, this paper synthesizes recent data and innovative approaches for assessing such livelihood contributions and their importance in countries with limited access to ocean resources and aquaculture. Inland fisheries are crucial for many socially, economically and nutritionally vulnerable groups of people around the world, but the challenges in monitoring inland fisheries preclude a complete understanding of the magnitude of their contributions. This situation is rapidly improving with increasing recognition of inland fisheries in development discourses, which has also encouraged research to enhance knowledge on the importance of inland fisheries. We review this work, including collated information published in a recent Food and Agriculture Organization report, to provide an up to date characterization of the state of knowledge on the role of inland fisheries.     

Rebuilding global fisheries: the World Summit Goal,costs and benefits

Many of the world’s fish stocks are depleted as a result of overexploitation, pollution and habitat loss. The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) sets a target for fisheries to maintain or restore stocks to levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2015. We assessed the global stock status and found that 68% were at or above the MSY level in 2008 and that the 2015 target is unlikely to be met. We compiled data for eight indicators to evaluate the sustainability of fisheries and the gap to meet the WSSD target. These indicators show that the overall condition of global fisheries is declining, long‐term benefits are being compromised, and pressures on fisheries are increasing despite fisheries policy and management actions being taken by coastal States. We develop a bio‐economic model to estimate the costs and benefits of restoring overfished stocks. Our results show that the global fishing capacity needs to be cut by 36–43% from the 2008 level, resulting in the loss of employment of 12–15 million fishers and costing US$96–358 billion for buybacks. On the other hand, meeting the WSSD goal will increase annual fishery production by 16.5 million tonnes, annual rent by US$32 billion and improve biodiversity and functioning of marine ecosystems. However, progress towards rebuilding has been hindered by an unwillingness or inability to accept the short‐term socio‐economic consequences associated with rebuilding fisheries. Thus, there is a pressing need for integration of rebuilding plans into national political and economic decision‐making.     

鱼类肠道的碳酸盐结晶物：海水鱼类养殖在碳汇渔业中的地位和作用

鱼类是一个迄今尚未被认知的非常重要的微细碳酸盐沉积物的来源,对海洋固碳有着重要作用,这个发现直接影响到碳汇渔业的内涵.本研究介绍了海洋硬骨鱼类渗透压调节机制及鱼类肠道碳酸盐结晶形成与其肠细胞膜上物质转运之间的关系,着重阐述了鱼类肠道碳酸盐结晶的特征,并论述了通过对特定区域内鱼类生物量和碳酸盐排泄率数据的研究,估计出全球海洋鱼类每年可产生大约1.1亿t的碳酸钙,在海洋总碳酸盐岩泥中占14％以上.研究重点论述了海水鱼类固碳的独特优势潜力,同时,提出为了更好地确定海水鱼类养殖在碳汇渔业中的地位和作用,有必要对主要海水养殖鱼类肠道碳酸结晶物的形成量及其调控机制,碳收支动态模型进行研究,进而合理地估算和测定海水鱼类养殖的碳汇量.     

Stratifying herbivore fisheries by habitat to avoid ecosystem overfishing of coral reefs

The problem of ecosystem overfishing has mostly focused on the function of forage fish as prey for apex predators. Here, I consider another ecosystem function, herbivory, that affects habitat quality. Parrotfish are an important fishery in many parts of the Caribbean and the dominant herbivorous fish on its coral reefs. Herbivory helps to control macroalgae which compete with coral and can impede reef resilience if allowed to bloom. Thus, long‐term maintenance of reef habitat quality, which underpins fisheries, requires sufficient parrotfish stock. Ecosystem models predict that reductions in parrotfish grazing could have deleterious impacts on reef habitat yet the determination of ecologically sustainable levels of parrotfish harvest remains elusive. An initial solution to this dilemma is proposed for areas where an outright ban on herbivore exploitation is considered infeasible. Fisheries management has tended to consider coral reefs as a single habitat such that regulations apply evenly throughout exploitable areas. But reef habitats are not equally susceptible to ecosystem overfishing and some do not appear to have a strong requirement for parrotfish grazing. One habitat, Orbicella reef, has a high dependence on herbivory, whereas the state of another dominant habitat – gorgonian plain – appears to be driven by environmental factors (e.g. wave exposure). Ecosystem‐based fisheries management could be improved by restricting parrotfish harvest on Orbicella reefs yet allowing exploitation on gorgonian plain. Management could then focus on achieving a sustainable yield on gorgonian plains without the added complexity of estimating catch levels that avoid ecosystem overfishing.     

Composition and diversity of fish and fish catches in closures and open-access fisheries of Kenya

Abstract  Catch composition, relative abundance and diversity of fish catches in open access and three old fisheries closures were compared and contrasted with previous ecological studies. There was less variation in catch community composition among the fishing grounds than the closures, suggesting that fishing has homogenised catch composition. The trap survey found that some parrotfish [ Leptoscarus vaigiensis (Quoy &Gaimard), Calotomus carolinus (Valenciennes) and Scarus ghobban Forsskål] were relatively more common and that some important predators of macro-invertebrates [ Balistapus undulatus (Mungo Park) and Cheilinus chlorourus (Bloch)] were less common in the fishing grounds than closures. Unexpectedly, and in contrast to visual census results, cumulative number of species in catch surveys was higher in open access than closures sites. This may result from fishers covering more area and habitat or a reduction in the catch of competitively subordinate and rare species by aggressive, early-caught fish that can dominate bait. Comparisons of ecological visual census surveys and fisheries-dependent methods indicated that small differences in catch composition can reflect larger ecological differences and that baiting methods can underestimate biodiversity. Ecological impacts of fishing and large-scale changes in marine ecosystems must be considerable given the many fisheries-dependent assessments report modest changes.     

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.     

Masked,diluted and drowned out: how global seafood trade weakens signals from marine ecosystems

Nearly 40% of seafood is traded internationally and an even bigger proportion is affected by international trade, yet scholarship on marine fisheries has focused on global trends in stocks and catches, or on dynamics of individual fisheries, with limited attention to the link between individual fisheries, global trade and distant consumers. This paper examines the usefulness of fish price as a feedback signal to consumers about the state of fisheries and marine ecosystems. We suggest that the current nature of fisheries systems and global markets prevent transmission of such price signals from source fisheries to consumers. We propose several mechanisms that combine to weaken price signals, and present one example – the North Sea cod – to show how these mechanisms can be tested. The lack of a reliable price feedback to consumers represents a challenge for sustainable fisheries governance. We therefore propose three complimentary approaches to address the missing feedback: (i) strengthening information flow through improved traceability and visibility of individual fishers to consumers, (ii) capitalizing on the changing seafood trade structures and (iii) bypassing and complementing market mechanisms by directly targeting citizens and political actors regarding marine environmental issues through publicity and information campaigns. These strategies each have limitations and thus need to be pursued together to address the challenge of sustainability in global marine fisheries.     

Global reduction fisheries and their products in the context of sustainable limits

Globally, one‐sixth of landings from marine capture fisheries are destined for the production of fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO), which are currently overwhelming utilized by fed aquaculture. Many different species are used globally for the production of FMFO, but little concern has been given to the divergent environmental and ecological impacts of FMFO products based on species, ecosystem and fishing gear used in their capture. We evaluated the variable environmental performance of FMFO products from a wide range of fisheries whose products are either primarily intended for reduction or whose by‐products are redirected to reduction. Assessed fisheries accounted for 44% of global reduction fishery landings in 2014. Analysis was conducted on the basis of two measures: the carbon footprint (i.e., greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions) and the marine footprint (i.e., primary production required [PPR]). We found large differences between the impacts of FMFO products across the 18 reduction fisheries examined. Cumulatively, we estimate that reduction fisheries emitted 4.6 million tonnes of CO₂‐e GHGs in 2014, and appropriated over 4% of primary production in some ecosystems, demonstrating a non‐trivial impact. As demand for aquafeeds grow, the sustainable sourcing of raw material inputs will be of great importance. Results here suggest that the source of FMFO inputs can have dramatic effects on the environmental performance of fish feeds and fed aquaculture. We recommend further research on the environmental and ecological impacts of food production systems, and specifically to understand these results in relation to global production and sustainable boundaries.