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Incorporating Ecosystem Objectives into Fisheries Management
including: ‘best practice’ reference points and
use of Marine Protected Areas
Keith SainsburyCSIRO Australia Ussif Rashid SumaliaUBC CanadaCMI Norway
Incorporating Ecosystem Related Objectives Into Management for Sustainable Fisheries
• What are these “ecosystem related objectives”
• The challenge
• Some ways forward
Some Ecosystem Related Objectives From International Agreements
• Manage resources sustainably for human nutritional, economic and social goals (LOSC and UNCED)
• Protect rare or fragile ecosystems, habitats and species (UNCED)
• Conserve genetic, species and ecosystem biodiversity (CBD)
• Preventative, precautionary and anticipatory planning and implementation (UNCED)
• Protect and maintain the relationships and dependencies between species (UNCED)
UNCED=UN Convention on the Environment and
Development (1992)
LOSC=UN Law of the Sea Convention (1982)
CBD= Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)
The Challenge: Bridging the Gap Between “High Level” Objectives and Operational Management
Operational questions:
• What specific outcomes are intended?
• What are the targets, limits and levels of acceptable change?
• How will a given management action help or hinder the intent?
• How would success or failure be measured and detected?
• How can precaution and balance be achieved across objectives that span use and conservation of complex ecosystems?
Steps Forward - Bridging the Gap
Achieving sustainability is not easy, even for target
species let alone ecosystems
But we know enough to make a very good start:
1. Report performance and assess management strategies for the system as a whole
2. Use reference points that incorporate uncertainty and ecosystem considerations
3. Make better use of inherently precautionary management measures such as protected areas
1. Performance Reporting and Assessment for the Management System as a Whole
• Establish the hierarchy between high level and operational objectives
• High level objectives need operational objectives
• Operational objectives need indicators and reference points
• Indicators and reference points give performance measures
Com ponent
Operationalobjective
Referencepoint
Broad statem ent of in tent
O bjective w ith d irect and practica lin terpretation
Target and lim it 'benchm arks' forindicators
High levelobjective
R elationship betw een indicator andbenchm ark
Perform ancem easure
A m ajor issue of re levance
IndicatorSom ething m easured to track anoperational objective
Performance Reporting for the Management System as a Whole: a practical application
• An approach to reporting Sustainable Development for Australian fisheries
- similar approach elsewhere
• Identify components for high level objectives
• Develop ‘component tree’ linking high level objectives to operational objectives
- via as many sub-components needed
Ecological well-being
Ÿ R etained speciesŸ N on-reta ined speciesŸ O ther environm ental
issues
Hum an well-being
Ÿ Ind igenousŸ Local and regionalŸ N ational socia l and
econom ic
Ability to achieve
Ÿ G overnanceŸ Effects of environm ent &
other users
Example ‘component tree’ linking high level to operational objectives
• Risk assessment to identify and weight important branches
• Report for each terminal
- objectives
- performance
measures
- monitoring
- management
response
• Transparent, simple & flexible reporting framework
NATIO NALSO CIAL
ECO NO M IC
RETAINEDSPECIES
NO N-RETAINEDSPECIES
OTHERENVIRON-
MENTAL ISSUES
CO M M UNITYISSUES
Impacts of the biological community(eg trophic structure) through
Other
Removal of/damage tooragnisms by:
Addition/movement ofbiological material by:
Air qualityFuel useage/exhaustG reenhouse gasem m issions
W ater qualityDebrisO il d ischarge
Substrate qualityForeshoreInter-tidal
Bait collection S tock enhancem ent
Benthic b iota
G host fishing
F ishing
T ranslocation
D iscarding/provis ioning
Assessment of the Management System as a Whole
• The ‘component tree’ identifies the important issues and
- targets, monitoring, and proposed management
response
• Taken as a whole
- are they likely to achieve the objectives within and
across branches?
• What management strategies can be expected to achieve the operational objectives?
- balance of outcomes
- risks and precaution
Scientific Evaluation of Feedback Management Strategies
Methods for evaluation have been developed:
• Adaptive management methods (Walters, Hilborn and others)
• Management procedure methods (IWC, Butterworth and others)
• Management strategy evaluation
Simulation Testing of Operational Management Strategies
A Management
Strategy contains:
• Performance measures
• Monitoring
• Analysis method
• Decision rules
• Feedback for “detection and
correction”
• Implementation
Performancemeasures
Models ofsystem &impacts
Proposedaction
SIMULATEEcologicalDynamics
In itia l SystemStructure
Subsequent SystemStructure
SIMULATEManagement
Decision Process
O bservations
Assessm ent analysis
Apply m anagem entstrategy decision ru les
Im plem ent decis ions
Management Strategy Evaluation - Experience
Many applications:
• Fishery target species management- reference points, monitoring, decision rules
• Maintaining food-chain dependencies (eg CCAMLR)
• Setting by-catch limits (eg Potential Biological Removals)
• Maintaining habitats and fish community composition (eg Australian NW Shelf and GB Reef)
Understanding robustness, risk, precaution, trade-offs
2. Use Reference Points that Incorporate Uncertainty and Ecosystem Considerations
• Appropriate reference points depend on the management system as a whole
• But there is an emerging ‘best practice’
• Incomplete but developing
- mainly at species level and accounting for some
ecological processes
- weak for ecosystem properties (habitats,
biodiversity, food-webs, community structure)
- no guarantee they are necessary or sufficient for
ecological sustainability
• A credible starting point
- practical and useable now
Some Emerging ‘Best Practice’ Reference Points for Ecologically Sustainable Fisheries
Ÿ Fishing m orta lity as c lose tozero as possib le
Lim itTarget
Target and by-catch species
Endangeredand protected
species
Significantprey species
Food-web
Ÿ M orta lity or b iom ass for M SYŸ Equivalent lim its for data lim ited
fisheries
Ÿ Potentia l B io logical R em oval levelof m orta lity
Ÿ Biom ass not less than halfw aybetw een M SY and unfished levels
Ÿ Foodw eb in balance (F IB ) indexnot decreasing
Ÿ Viable and representative food-w eb undisturbed in protectedareas: reference s ites
Some Emerging ‘Best Practice’ Reference Points for Ecologically Sustainable Fisheries
Lim itTarget
Biodiversity
Habitats
Reversibility
Effects of non-fishery uses
Ÿ N o loss o f spaw ning areas orloca l extinctions.
Ÿ Low se lective d iffe rentia lŸ Sm all reduction in e ffective
spaw ning popu la tion .Ÿ V iab le and representa tive
b iod ivers ity und is turbed inpro tected areas: re ference s ites
Ÿ N o extinctions or s tocks be lowgenetica lly v iab le leve ls
Ÿ Effective spaw ning popu la tion notless than ha lf unfished leve l
Ÿ N ot less than ha lf o f hab ita t areapresent w hen unfished
Ÿ R evers ib le in hum an generationtim e (20y)
Ÿ O verfished s tocks recovered in 10yor 1 fish generation tim e if g reatlyd iffe rent
Ÿ C om bined fishery and non-fisheryuses m eet the above
Ÿ C om bined fishery and non-fisheryuses m eet the above
3. Use of Inherently Precautionary Management Measures Such as Marine Protected Areas
What is an MPA?
• An area managed to protect and maintain biological diversity, and natural and associated cultural resources (IUCN 1994)
Categories of MPA range from:
• Reserve or sanctuary - minimal impacts and no extractive use
• Habitat/species protected area - manage to protect specific values
• Resource Protected Area - managed for sustainable resource use
What can MPAs achieve in theory?
• Reference site for comparison
• Preservation and restoration
Immediate Short-term Medium - Long-term
Number and densityincrease
Number and densityincrease
‘Natural’ age/size structuresre-established‘Natural’ age/size structuresre-established
Spillover Larval Export
Reduced lossof genetic informationReduced lossof genetic information
Fishing mortality eliminated Fishing mortality eliminated
Individuals live longer Individuals live longer
Reproductive output increases Reproductive output increases
Recruitment enhanced Recruitment enhanced
Spawning habitat condition improves
Spawning habitat condition improves
Community StructureCommunity Structure
Biomass & spawning biomass increaseBiomass & spawning biomass increase
Mean age and size increaseMean age and size increase
Stability Enhancement
Habitat damage stopped Habitat damage stopped
Biodiversity increasesEcological function enhancedCommunities stabilizeHabitat complexity increaseHigher trophic structure rebuilds
Population Structure
Population Abundance
What Have MPAs Achieved in Practice?
• Often demonstrated• Increased abundance, size and density of species
• Sometimes demonstrated• Increased fecundity and reproductive capacity • Increased species richness and genetic diversity • Increased fishery yield in surrounding area
• Economic benefits to fishery and other uses
• But effects poorly known because• Weak baseline data• Reserves small and/or recent• Little performance evaluation for most MPAs
How Can We Enhance MPA Success?
• Apply design methods that are available- including uncertainty
- area, location, shape of MPAs
- networks of MPAs
• Identify operational objectives and management
strategy
- evaluate and establish monitoring and performance assessment
• Meet critical information needs
- what is where, and what interconnections
- scale and location of major seafloor habitat types
- new technologies can help
Incorporating Ecosystem Related Objectives Into Fisheries Management: Conclusions
There are existing methods and approaches that can be
applied now:
1. Use transparent and ‘whole system’ approach to - link high level and operational objectives
- demonstrate basis of prioritisations
- structure performance reporting
2. Assess and design management strategies for- robustness and precaution
- adequacy of monitoring and planned ‘detection-
correction’ response
Incorporating Ecosystem Related Objectives Into Management for Sustainable Fisheries: Conclusions
3. Use emerging ‘best practice’ reference points
4. Improve design and use of marine protected areas
- precaution and preservation
- monitoring and performance assessment
- use as reference sites
Continuous improvements will be made but we have the basis for a credible and major first step