Fish stocks fluctuate both in abundance and productivity (net population increase), and there are many examples demonstrating that productivity increased or decreased due to changes in abundance ...caused by fishing and, alternatively, where productivity shifted between low and high regimes, entirely unrelated to abundance. Although shifts in productivity regimes have been described, their frequency and intensity have not previously been assessed. We use a database of trends in harvest and abundance of 230 fish stocks to evaluate the proportion of fish stocks in which productivity is primarily related to abundance vs. those that appear to manifest regimes of high or low productivity. We evaluated the statistical support for four hypotheses: (i) the abundance hypothesis, where production is always related to population abundance; (ii) the regimes hypothesis, where production shifts irregularly between regimes that are unrelated to abundance; (iii) the mixed hypothesis, where even though production is related to population abundance, there are irregular changes in this relationship; and (iv) the random hypothesis, where production is random from year to year. We found that the abundance hypothesis best explains 18.3% of stocks, the regimes hypothesis 38.6%, the mixed hypothesis 30.5%, and the random hypothesis 12.6%. Fisheries management agencies need to recognize that irregular changes in productivity are common and that harvest regulation and management targets may need to be adjusted whenever productivity changes.
Bottom trawling is the most widespread human activity affecting seabed habitats. Here, we collate all available data for experimental and comparative studies of trawling impacts on whole communities ...of seabed macroinvertebrates on sedimentary habitats and develop widely applicable methods to estimate depletion and recovery rates of biota after trawling. Depletion of biota and trawl penetration into the seabed are highly correlated. Otter trawls caused the least depletion, removing 6% of biota per pass and penetrating the seabed on average down to 2.4 cm, whereas hydraulic dredges caused the most depletion, removing 41% of biota and penetrating the seabed on average 16.1 cm. Median recovery times posttrawling (from 50 to 95% of unimpacted biomass) ranged between 1.9 and 6.4 y. By accounting for the effects of penetration depth, environmental variation, and uncertainty, the models explained much of the variability of depletion and recovery estimates from single studies. Coupled with large-scale, high-resolution maps of trawling frequency and habitat, our estimates of depletion and recovery rates enable the assessment of trawling impacts on unprecedented spatial scales.
Hatchery production of juvenile fish for release into the wild has been practiced for well over a century in an effort to increase the number of salmon available to harvest. In this study, we ...evaluate the net impact of the largest such program in North America, the hatchery program for pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska. At the same time the hatchery program was increasing in output, there was a major change in productivity in the North Pacific so that throughout Alaska pink salmon increased dramatically in abundance between the 1970s and the 2000s. Using other regions of Alaska as reference sites, we estimate that the PWS hatchery program has increased the total catch by an average of 17 million fish, of which 8 million have been allocated to pay hatchery operating expenses. We estimate that the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) of wild spawning fish in PWS has increased slightly (28%), while in regions of Alaska without pink salmon hatchery programs the MSY has tripled. Our results support the use of a precautionary approach to future large-scale stock enhancement efforts.
Bottom‐contact fishing gears are globally the most widespread anthropogenic sources of direct disturbance to the seabed and associated biota. Managing these fishing disturbances requires ...quantification of gear impacts on biota and the rate of recovery following disturbance. We undertook a systematic review and meta‐analysis of 122 experiments on the effects‐of‐bottom fishing to quantify the removal of benthos in the path of the fishing gear and to estimate rates of recovery following disturbance. A gear pass reduced benthic invertebrate abundance by 26% and species richness by 19%. The effect was strongly gear‐specific, with gears that penetrate deeper into the sediment having a significantly larger impact than those that penetrate less. Sediment composition (% mud and presence of biogenic habitat) and the history of fishing disturbance prior to an experimental fishing event were also important predictors of depletion, with communities in areas that were not previously fished, predominantly muddy or biogenic habitats being more strongly affected by fishing. Sessile and low mobility biota with longer life‐spans such as sponges, soft corals and bivalves took much longer to recover after fishing (>3 year) than mobile biota with shorter life‐spans such as polychaetes and malacostracans (<1 year). This meta‐analysis provides insights into the dynamics of recovery. Our estimates of depletion along with estimates of recovery rates and large‐scale, high‐resolution maps of fishing frequency and habitat will support more rigorous assessment of the environmental impacts of bottom‐contact gears, thus supporting better informed choices in trade‐offs between environmental impacts and fish production.
Bottom trawling accounts for almost one quarter of global fish landings but may also have significant and unwanted impacts on seabed habitats and biota. Management measures and voluntary industry ...actions can reduce these impacts, helping to meet sustainability objectives for fisheries, conservation and environmental management. These include changes in gear design and operation of trawls, spatial controls, impact quotas and effort controls. We review nine different measures and actions and use published studies and a simple conceptual model to evaluate and compare their performance. The risks and benefits of these management measures depend on the extent to which the fishery is already achieving management objectives for target stocks and the characteristics of the management system that is already in place. We offer guidance on identifying best practices for trawl‐fisheries management and show that best practices and their likelihood of reducing trawling impacts depend on local, national and regional management objectives and priorities, societal values and resources for implementation. There is no universal best practice, and multiple management measures and industry actions are required to meet sustainability objectives and improve trade‐offs between food production and environmental protection.
Marine fish stocks are an important part of the world food system and are particularly important for many of the poorest people of the world. Most existing analyses suggest overfishing is increasing, ...and there is widespread concern that fish stocks are decreasing throughout most of the world. We assembled trends in abundance and harvest rate of stocks that are scientifically assessed, constituting half of the reported global marine fish catch. For these stocks, on average, abundance is increasing and is at proposed target levels. Compared with regions that are intensively managed, regions with less-developed fisheries management have, on average, 3-fold greater harvest rates and half the abundance as assessed stocks. Available evidence suggests that the regions without assessments of abundance have little fisheries management, and stocks are in poor shape. Increased application of area-appropriate fisheries science recommendations and management tools are still needed for sustaining fisheries in places where they are lacking.
San Jose Gulf is a small semienclosed bay connected by a narrow mouth to a much larger basin, the San Matias Gulf. Intriguingly, this comparatively small water body, characterized by high biological ...productivity, has contributed most of the historical shellfish production in the region. A remote sensing approach allowed us to advance a composite conjecture aimed at explaining that phenomenon. A combination of circulation, strong tidal currents, and coastal topography leads to the formation of a frontal system inside San Jose Gulf and to the development of turbulent fluxes that drive the hydrographic regime. The front divides the San Jose Gulf in two domains (west and east). The origin of water flowing into the west domain was tracked to the Valdes Frontal System, on the continental shelf. The west domain is highly turbulent due to the formation of vortexes and dipoles during the tidal cycle. Detachable dipoles formed at the edge of jets outflowing from San Jose Gulf can reach the central part of San Matias Gulf, constituting a possible larval transport mechanism between the two gulfs. Our results led us to postulate that (1) nutrients from the continental shelf are “trapped in” and larvae are retained in the east domain of San Jose Gulf, resulting in persistently high biomass of secondary producers, and (2) asymmetrical exchange, in the form of vorticial flows, “pumps out” waterborne material from the San Jose Gulf into San Matias Gulf, affecting the connectivity between the two basins.
Summary
Impacts of bottom fishing, particularly trawling and dredging, on seabed (benthic) habitats are commonly perceived to pose serious environmental risks. Quantitative ecological risk assessment ...can be used to evaluate actual risks and to help guide the choice of management measures needed to meet sustainability objectives.
We develop and apply a quantitative method for assessing the risks to benthic habitats by towed bottom‐fishing gears. The method is based on a simple equation for relative benthic status (RBS), derived by solving the logistic population growth equation for the equilibrium state. Estimating RBS requires only maps of fishing intensity and habitat type – and parameters for impact and recovery rates, which may be taken from meta‐analyses of multiple experimental studies of towed‐gear impacts. The aggregate status of habitats in an assessed region is indicated by the distribution of RBS values for the region. The application of RBS is illustrated for a tropical shrimp‐trawl fishery.
The status of trawled habitats and their RBS value depend on impact rate (depletion per trawl), recovery rate and exposure to trawling. In the shrimp‐trawl fishery region, gravel habitat was most sensitive, and though less exposed than sand or muddy‐sand, was most affected overall (regional RBS = 91% relative to un‐trawled RBS = 100%). Muddy‐sand was less sensitive, and though relatively most exposed, was less affected overall (RBS = 95%). Sand was most heavily trawled but least sensitive and least affected overall (RBS = 98%). Region‐wide, >94% of habitat area had >80% RBS because most trawling and impacts were confined to small areas. RBS was also applied to the region's benthic invertebrate communities with similar results.
Conclusions. Unlike qualitative or categorical trait‐based risk assessments, the RBS method provides a quantitative estimate of status relative to an unimpacted baseline, with minimal requirements for input data. It could be applied to bottom‐contact fisheries world‐wide, including situations where detailed data on characteristics of seabed habitats, or the abundance of seabed fauna are not available. The approach supports assessment against sustainability criteria and evaluation of alternative management strategies (e.g. closed areas, effort management, gear modifications).
The population dynamics of forage fish are often ‘boom or bust’, and variation in recruitment may be a contributing factor to changes in abundance. Here we applied several methods for identifying ...stock recruit relationships (SRR) to 52 forage fish stocks: a time-invariant Ricker model and two time-varying methods (dynamic linear models and regime-based models). A positive relationship between spawning biomass and recruitment existed for 28 stocks, with 14 of those being best fit by a Ricker curve. Time-varying models were preferred for 26 stocks over a time-invariant Ricker curve. We also showed through simulation that spurious, yet significant stock-recruit relationships can be generated if recruitment was environmentally driven, the lag between recruitment and spawning biomass was small, and autocorrelation in recruitment was high—a combination of characteristics that many forage fish stocks display. Based on our results, observed time-invariant SRRs can result from a reversed causality of ‘boom and bust’ dynamics in situations in which life histories are short (i.e., changes in recruitment are driving changes in spawning biomass). ‘Hidden’ SRRs are also possible because of time-variation in SRR parameters. Understanding when each of these potential failings of fitting SRRs can occur is a key challenge in forage fish management.
As the world population grows, fisheries practitioners will be under increased pressure to address global challenges in data-limited fisheries management. With a focus on addressing localized and ...case-specific management needs, we provide a practical guide to the design and development of multi-indicator frameworks for fishery management. In a data-limited context, indicators are observations or estimates of the state of the fishery resource that are typically proxies for variables of interest, rather than quantities such as stock biomass estimated from data-rich stock assessments. Indicator frameworks structure the integration and interpretation of indicators to guide tactical fishery decision-making, often when the application of more formal analytical assessments is not feasible, yet where indicators in combination provide insight into stock status. With a focus on multi-indicator frameworks, we describe a pragmatic approach for their development
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a set of organizational steps, considering a wide spectrum of types and severity of information limitations. We highlight where multi-indicator frameworks can be insightful and informative in relation to single indicator approaches but also point to potential pitfalls, with emphasis on critical evaluation and detection of performance flaws during the design phase using methods such as management strategy evaluation.
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