F MSY is good 0.9 F MSY is better 0.9 MSY is best

FMSY is good

0.9 FMSY is better

0.9 MSY is best

Towards Healthy Fish Stocksand Profitable Fisheries

in Europe

Rainer Froese

IFM-GEOMAR, Kiel, [email protected]

EC, 22 June 2010, Brussels

mailto:[email protected]

What is a Stock?

• A stock is the exploited part of a population of fishes

• The total weight of the stock is called biomass (B)

• SSB is the Spawning Stock Biomass, i.e., the total weight of the adults

SardineBiscay and off Portugal

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

Sp

awn

ing

Sto

ck B

iom

ass

(10

00 t

)

ICES 2010

What is MSY?

• MSY is the Maximum Sustainable Yield

• MSY is the maximum catch that the stock can deliver on a regular basis

• Catches above MSY shrink the stock

Cod, Eastern Baltic

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

SS

B a

nd

Lan

din

gs

(100

0 t)

MSY

Froese & Proelß Fish & Fisheries 2010

What is BMSY?

• BMSY is the stock size that can produce the maximum sustainable yield

• BMSY is the central reference point of the Law of the Sea and UNFSA (1995) with regard to fisheries

Stock biomass B Depleted Unfished

BMSYCan produce MSYCan not produce MSY

Cod, Eastern Baltic

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

SS

B a

nd

Lan

din

gs

(100

0 t)

BMSY

MSY


What the hell is F?

• F is the rate by which fish are removed from the stock by fishing (fishing mortality)

• F can be translated into the percentage of the stock that is taken by the fishery

F 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

% 10 18 26 33 39 45 50 55 59 63

What is FMSY?

• FMSY is the fishing mortality that will lead to BMSY

• F < FMSY leads to stock sizes above BMSY

• F > FMSY shrinks the stock below BMSY

FMSY 0.11 0.24 0.43

% 10 21 35

Greenlandhalibut

Cod, herring Sandeel


Cod, Eastern Baltic

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

SS

B (

1000

t)

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

Fis

hin

g m

ort

alit

y F

FMSY

BMSY


What is the biomass of European stocks relative to BMSY?

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

B/B

msy

B = B msy

B < B msy

B << B msy

75 percentile

25 percentile

Median

Biomass of European Stocks


What is the fishing mortality of European stocks relative to FMSY

Fishing Pressure on European Stocks

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

F/F

msy

Median

25 percentile

75 percentile

F = F msy

F >> F msy

F > F msy


What are the landings relative to MSY?

Landings and Biomass of European Stocks in 2007

Froese et al., submitted

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Biomass / B MSY

Lan

din

gs

/ M

SY

B MSY

MSY

Will Europe be able to rebuild its stocks by 2015?

Rebuilding European Fish Stocks

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Year

Mea

n s

tock

siz

e

TargetPrecautionary

Overfished

Unsafe

Trend

Average size of 54 European fish stocks (bold blue line). The upper arrow indicates the path, if 75% of the stocks were to reach the internationally agreed target in 2015. The lower arrow shows the current trend.


Will Europe be able to rebuild its stocks by 2015?

NO

Will Europe be able to at least reduce fishing mortality

to FMSY by 2015?

Fishing Pressure on European Fish Stocks

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Year

Fis

hin

g p

ress

ure

(F/F

msy

)

TargetPrecautionary

Overfishing

TrendThreatening the stock

Average fishing pressure on 54 European fish stocks. The lower arrow indicates the path if 75% of the stocks were to be fished at the maximum sustainable rate in 2015. However, with the current trend that target will be

missed by more than 30 years.

Damanaki proposal


Will Europe be able to at least reduce fishing mortality

to FMSY by 2015?

YESIf the Damanaki proposal succeeds

FMSY is good

0.9 FMSY is better

0.9 MSY is best

because it leads to the biomass that can produce the maximum sustainable yield(Damanaki proposal)

Why is 0.9 FMSY better than FMSY?

• Because it increases stock size to 30% above BMSY

• Because larger stock size means lower cost of fishing -> Maximum Economic Yield

• Because international agreements (UNFSA 1995) asks for Ftarget < FMSY

• Because the precautionary principle demands a safety distance to FMSY and BMSY

FMSY is good

0.9 FMSY is better

0.9 MSY is best

because it leads to larger stocks, larger profits, more safety, and compliance withinternational agreements


Why is 0.9 MSY better than 0.9 FMSY?

• Because 0.9 MSY has all the advantages of 0.9 FMSY

In addition • 0.9 MSY avoids exceeding MSY (FMSY will do that,

thereby creating an incentive for overcapacity)

• 0.9 MSY provides stability for the industry (same landings as long as B > BMSY)

• 0.9 MSY is a simple, transparent rule that is easily communicated to stakeholders

0.9 MSY Harvest Control Rule

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Biomass / B MSY

Lan

din

gs

/ M

SY

B MSY 1.3 B MSY

MSY

0.9 MSY

Move stocks here.Landings may then be 60% higher

Froese et al., submitted

FMSY is good

0.9 FMSY is better

0.9 MSY is best

because it leads to larger stocks, larger profits, more safety, and compliance withinternational agreements

Because, in addition to the previous,it avoids overcapacity, provides stability for the industry, and is easy to understand

Thank You Rainer Froese, IFM-GEOMAR


Documents

F MSY is good 0.9 F MSY is better 0.9 MSY is best