Fishery Management Reinforced through an Eco-Centric Perspective
In an effort to ensure sustainable fisheries and protect marine ecosystems, U.S. fishery management councils are embracing a new approach: ecosystem-based fisheries management. This strategy takes into account the complex interactions between fish and their environments within a greater ecosystem.
At the heart of this transformation are ecosystem risk assessments. These assessments help councils make informed decisions by evaluating potential risks to fish stocks, habitats, bycatch species, and broader ecosystem components. By incorporating ecological, economic, and social factors, these assessments aid in identifying and mitigating threats that could compromise ecosystem health and fishery productivity.
Councils integrate ecosystem risk assessments through various means. Scientific stock assessments and habitat evaluations guide management measures like catch limits and area closures, using fish population data combined with habitat risk information. Bycatch and protected species risk modeling predict the risk to non-target and protected species from fishing activities, helping to make spatial and temporal management adjustments. Economic and social analyses balance ecological sustainability and economic viability by considering factors like fishery value, market impacts, and community dependence.
Notable examples of the application of ecosystem risk assessments include the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council's development of Coral Amendment 10, which addresses habitat protection by evaluating fishing impacts in coral areas. Another example is the management of rock shrimp fishing areas within sensitive habitats, where assessments helped evaluate economic impacts versus ecological risks, leading to fishery amendments restricting or permitting fishing in specific zones.
Advanced species distribution and risk models, discussed in NOAA Fisheries workshops, improve the prediction of bycatch and ecosystem impacts to inform Fishery Management Plans and protected species assessments. Economic social science integration examples help councils estimate the costs of reducing fishing overcapacity, assess fishing entry-exit dynamics, and evaluate the economic contribution of fisheries to adaptively shape management measures.
In summary, ecosystem risk assessments serve as a foundation for adaptive, multi-disciplinary decision-making in U.S. fishery councils. They balance ecosystem health protection with sustainable fishery utilization, as illustrated by spatial management amendments and the integration of advanced predictive modeling and socioeconomic analyses in recent council actions.
The report from NOAA's Office of Habitat Conservation provides a systematic approach for U.S. regional fishery management councils to advance ecosystem-based fisheries management. It demonstrates the effectiveness of ecosystem risk assessments through five regional case studies spanning from Alaska to the East Coast. The report also offers recommendations for optimizing the use of ecosystem risk assessments and emphasizes their role in building trust among stakeholders and promoting common understanding about dealing with uncertainty during the decision-making process.
Ultimately, making sound management decisions in U.S. federal fisheries depends on access to reliable, accurate, and actionable tools and information. Ecosystem risk assessments can help prioritize issues in science or management, and they can be used as a screening tool during early scoping, a prioritization tool for understanding where to focus management efforts, and as a means to incorporate information into decision-making.
As NOAA Fisheries moves toward ecosystem-based fisheries management to sustainably manage marine fisheries, these assessments will continue to play a crucial role. They build off of traditional single-species fishery management and consider social, economic, and ecological trade-offs across multiple fisheries and habitats. The report is part of an effort to sustainably manage U.S. marine fisheries using ecosystem-based fisheries management, focusing on U.S. regional fishery management councils.
- The integration of ecosystem risk assessments into fisheries management decisions has the potential to contribute to both the health-and-wellness of marine ecosystems and the sustainability of fisheries, as they aid in evaluating potential risks and making informed decisions that balance ecological, economic, and social factors.
- As U.S. fishery management councils transition towards ecosystem-based fisheries management, the use of science, including advanced species distribution and risk models, becomes essential in addressing climate change impacts on marine ecosystems and ensuring the long-term productivity and resilience of fisheries.
