Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment’s Post

MPAs shift the management of fisheries from being purely a commercial commodity to include the wider socio-economic benefits they provide to coastal communities. This includes food security, cultural activities and sustainable likelihoods. A recent review of 118 studies found that no-take, well enforced and older MPAs most benefited human wellbeing.

As we mark #BiodiversityDay how can we ensure that the complex ocean environment is protected for the benefit of us all? In this article Dr Darian McBain explains why the effective management of fisheries is important for ocean health and human society https://lnkd.in/erDXzGYu

Important wake up call indeed, not only for the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, but for all fisheries management in our international bodies (RFMOs): start prioritize ecosystem considerations. Better not wait untill new regulation and protection will be decided for you....

Marine biodiversity in the Northeast Atlantic - from plankton to large fish, from seabirds to seabeds - is in a worrying state. All the region's ocean-focussed sectors & regulators - especially fisheries managers - should play close attention to the OSPAR #QSR2023 report. All human pressures act cumulatively to drive declines but fishing pressure often exerts the most stressors to the most different kinds of marine wildlife: 🐟 "OSPAR targets of achieving 80% of stocks/species in good status were not reached for coastal, demersal or pelagic fish" 🎣 In the Greater North Sea and Celtic Seas, long-term declines of the proportion of large fish in demersal fish communities "would suggest that reductions in fishing pressure are required to allow a return to a recovery trajectory" 🐣 Marine birds are almost all in poor state, with poor breeding rates linked to prey availability which is "likely to be driven by ecosystem-specific changes, possibly initiated by commercial fisheries" 🕸 Food webs are "of great concern". In some regions "dominant energy pathways upon which species rely are already altering". The findings and recommendations of the 2023 OSPAR report demand a departure from the status quo. Fisheries managers must acknowledge that, although fishing is their primary focus, they have a responsibility to modify their strategies to adapt and account for fisheries impacts on ecosystems. https://lnkd.in/eb35sUtn 

Let's put marine biodiversity at the heart of Northeast Atlantic high seas fisheries management! By introducing practical, ecosystem-based tools to fisheries in their next annual #NEAFC meeting, the fishing parties of this region - the EU, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the UK - can collectively shake things up, put protection over profit and prioritize BOTH ecological health AND sustainable use. To do this, they should develop an ecosystem approach roadmap which sets specific, measurable ecological objectives to preserve or enhance some aspect of ecosystem health, such as: 🕸 Maintaining healthy food webs 🦈 Recovering the population status of predators 🐟 Increasing the resilience and diversity of fish communities In requesting scientific advice to support these objectives, Northeast Atlantic fisheries managers must be ambitious, ask big picture questions and seek science that supports both fisheries AND biodiversity policy commitments. #MakeEBFMWork #NortheastAtlantic #EcosystemBasedFisheriesManagement https://lnkd.in/eazYuD37

More than one-third of major #British fish stocks are overfished, and one quarter are now in a critical state. A new report from #Oceana details the situation, taking into account a total of 104 individual ‘stocks’. Blame is placed on #UKGovernment catch limits, which have been criticised for exceeding scientific recommendations for fisheries. As a result, populations have been driven into decline, with many now considered to be on the brink of collapse. Among them, #NorthSea cod, often considered an archetypal example of the region’s abundant fish stocks, was specifically identified as a cause for concern. Meanwhile, mackerel is now classed as ‘overfished’. Overall, less than half of fish populations in #UK coastal waters are thought to be a of a healthy size, although the condition of many could not be determined due to a lack of data. This in itself creates a risk of overfishing, and the likelihood that many species could be missing from the critical list. There is a now a real danger that certain stocks could collapse altogether, with serious ramifications for #foodsecurity, coastal community economies, and vital industries. Recommendations include the introduction of zero catch policies for a number of species viewed as being in ‘crisis’. These include Celtic Sea cod, West of #Scotland cod, and Irish Sea whiting, which are often bycatch when fishers are targeting commercially lucrative species. Comparing these to the top five stocks for sustainable fishing and healthy-sized populations, a clear differentiator is adherence to catch sizes advised by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). This is often stricter than the UK’s domestic fisheries policies. ‘Oceana’s Taking Stock report clearly demonstrates the dire state of UK fish stocks,’ said Dr Annette Broderick, Professor of Marine Conservation at the #UniversityofExeter. ‘These exploited fish populations play an integral role in #marineecosystems, the health of the ocean and the future of the UK’s fishing industry. Time is running out to conserve vulnerable marine life. The UK government must follow scientific guidance.’

Interesting review of bottom trawling and additional insight into current methodology and effect based on management of fisheries and innovative efforts.

As Max Mossler, Managing editor at Sustainable Fisheries at UW (Seattle): "The solution is not to ban bottom trawling but to build management capacity to transform poor or unmanaged fisheries into well-managed ones. Well-managed bottom trawl fisheries are perfectly sustainable—the science says so". Read the full article in the following link https://lnkd.in/e7sHsDqa

Bottom trawling has been the hot-button issue in fisheries over the past couple of years. Calls to ban bottom trawling are louder than we can ever remember and public perception is extremely negative, despite much improvement in bottom trawling gear and sustainability over the past few decades. Measuring the impacts of bottom trawling has been a main research focus for us at UW over the past decade and we’ve been frustrated that messaging has not followed the science. We need better communication and explanations so journalists and the public can understand the science of bottom trawling, what makes a bottom trawl fishery sustainable, and the context of bottom trawling in the global food system. We hope the article below can begin to address those needs. We hope that, in whatever line of work you are in, if you ever get questions about bottom trawling you can send this article out as a, “here-read-this.”   https://lnkd.in/e7sHsDqa

Via David Shiffman - Fish or not fish—fisheries participation and harvest diversification under economic and ecological change - @Science Direct: Fish harvesters respond to economic, regulatory, and environmental changes within complex and often highly uncertain decision-making processes. Analyzing and quantifying human decisions can improve our understanding and sustainable management of marine systems. Wild fish harvesters face high income volatility linked to natural variability in fish abundance, changing ocean environments, and world market dynamics. Past research has shown that owning additional permits reduces risk but at considerable cost, leaving such adaptation strategies unattainable for many harvesters. This study conducted a survey with Gulf of Alaska commercial salmon permit holders applying a discrete choice experiment to investigate the propensity of harvesters to switch target species within a given permit and to better understand participation under rapid environmental and economic change, increasingly outside historical ranges. Availability of target species, price, and historical harvest were found to be relatively more important than environmental changes affecting operations and income, even though these factors were of concern to the long-term viability of their fishing businesses. The resulting behavioral model allows fisheries managers to anticipate declines in participation relevant for managing marine resources under rapid change. It also improves understanding of fisheries participation and harvester perception of climate impacts, relevant for policy makers developing climate resilient fisheries and supporting adaptation across fishing communities. The results and approach are generalizable to other resource-dependent sectors adapting to change outside historic ranges. https://lnkd.in/eiPZBiBz