{"id":64883,"date":"2009-07-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/new-hope-for-fisheries\/"},"modified":"2009-07-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-07-30T00:00:00","slug":"new-hope-for-fisheries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2009\/07\/new-hope-for-fisheries\/","title":{"rendered":"New Hope for Fisheries"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tScientists document prospects for recovery, call for more global action<\/p>\n


\n\tNARRAGANSETT, R.I. \u2013 July 30, 2009 — Scientists have joined forces in a groundbreaking assessment of the status of marine fisheries and ecosystems. The two-year study by 21 scientists from around the world, including 溏心vlog免费B站 Oceanography Professor Jeremy Collie, shows that steps taken to curb overfishing are beginning to succeed in five of the ten large marine ecosystems that they examined. The paper, which appears in the July 31 issue of the journal Science, provides new hope for rebuilding troubled fisheries. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThis study highlights the importance of long-term trawl survey data for correctly interpreting the status and trends of marine fish populations,\u201d Collie said. \u201cThe 溏心vlog免费B站 fish trawl, one of the oldest survey data sets in existence, provided a starting point for several of the analyses in the paper.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe study had two goals: to examine current trends in fish abundance and exploitation rates (the proportion of fish taken out of the sea) and to identify which tools managers have applied in their efforts to rebuild depleted fish stocks. The work is a significant leap forward because it reveals that the rate of fishing has been reduced in several regions around the world, resulting in some stock recovery. Moreover, it bolsters the case that sound management can contribute to the rebuilding of fisheries elsewhere. <\/p>\n


\n\tIt\u2019s good news for several regions in the U.S., Iceland and New Zealand. \u201cThese highly managed ecosystems are improving,\u201d said co-lead author Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington. \u201cYet there is still a long way to go: of all fish stocks that we examined sixty-three percent remained below target and still needed to be rebuilt.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cAcross all regions we are still seeing a troubling trend of increasing stock collapse,\u201d added co-lead author Boris Worm of Dalhousie University. \u201cBut this paper shows that our oceans are not a lost cause. The encouraging result is that exploitation rate \u2013 the ultimate driver of depletion and collapse \u2013 is decreasing in half of the ten systems we examined in detail. This means that management in those areas is setting the stage for ecological and economic recovery. It\u2019s only a start \u2013 but it gives me hope that we have the ability to bring overfishing under control.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe authors caution that their analysis was mostly confined to intensively managed fisheries in developed countries, where scientific data on fish abundance is collected. They also point out that some excess fishing effort is simply displaced to countries with weaker laws and enforcement capacity.<\/p>\n


\n\tWhile most of the fisheries that showed improvement are managed by a few wealthy nations, there are some notable exceptions. In Kenya, for example, scientists, managers, and local communities have teamed up to close some key areas to fishing and restrict certain types of fishing gear. This led to an increase in the size and amount of fish available, and a consequent increase in fishers\u2019 incomes. \u201cThese successes are local – but they are inspiring others to follow suit,\u201d said Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Kenya.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe know that more fish can be harvested with less fishing effort and less impact on the environment, if we first slow down and allow overfished populations to rebuild,\u201d added 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Collie. \u201cScientists and managers in places as different as Iceland and Kenya have been able to reduce overfishing and rebuild fish populations despite serious challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe authors emphasize that a range of management solutions are available to help rebuild fish stocks. They found that a combination of approaches, such as catch quotas and community management coupled with strategically placed fishing closures, ocean zoning, selective fishing gear and economic incentives, offer promise for restoring fisheries and ecosystems. However \u201clessons from one spot need to be applied very carefully to a new area,\u201d said co-author Beth Fulton of the CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship in Australia, since \u201cthere are no single silver bullet solutions. Management efforts must be customized to the place and the people.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n\tAccording to the authors\u2019 analysis, Alaska and New Zealand have led the world in terms of management success by not waiting until drastic measures are needed to conserve, restore and rebuild marine resources. Some other regions are currently recovering from overfishing: fish abundance has recently been increasing above the long-term average in Iceland, the Northeast U.S. Shelf and the California Current.<\/p>\n


\n\tThis new study is a follow-up to a 2006 paper in Science by Worm and others that highlighted a widespread global trend toward fisheries collapse. The results of that paper led to a public disagreement between Worm and Hilborn. Through their subsequent discussions, however, the two scientists recognized a shared sense of purpose. They decided to collaborate on a more detailed assessment of the world\u2019s fisheries, and brought together many of the world\u2019s most talented fisheries scientists and ecologists for a two-year series of working groups at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) in Santa Barbara, California. The current paper is the result of those meetings. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cPrior to this study, evaluations of the status of world fish stocks and communities were based on catch records for lack of a better alternative. Results were controversial because catch trends may not give an accurate picture of the trends in fish abundance,\u201d explained Ana Parma of Centro Nacional Patag\u00f3nico in Argentina. \u201cThis is the first exhaustive attempt to assemble the best-available data on the status of marine fisheries and trends in exploitation rates, a major breakthrough that has allowed scientists from different backgrounds to reach a consensus about the status of fisheries and actions needed.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n\tThe analysis includes catch data, stock assessments, scientific trawl surveys, small-scale fishery data and modeling results. The authors liken their strategy to constructing a \u201cRussian doll,\u201d with each nested layer of data adding to the strength and value of the whole. <\/p>\n


\n\tIn looking at the tools that have been used to reduce exploitation rate, the authors note that \u201csome of the most spectacular rebuilding efforts have involved bold experimentation with closed areas, gear and effort restrictions and new approaches to catch allocations and enforcement.\u201d Laws that explicitly forbid overexploitation and specify clear rules and targets for rebuilding were seen as an important prerequisite, for example in the U.S. <\/p>\n


\n\tWhile the study suggests that these tools have long-term benefits, they also come with short-term costs to fishers. \u201cSome places have chosen to end overfishing,\u201d said Trevor Branch, a co-author from the University of Washington. \u201cThat choice can be painful for fishermen in the short term, but in the long term it benefits fish, fishermen, and our ocean ecosystems as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tKey among the group\u2019s recommendations is to fish at rates lower than those producing maximum sustainable yield (MSY), a long-standing and internationally accepted benchmark for total catch. They call for MSY to be reinterpreted as an absolute upper limit rather than a target, in line with U.N. recommendations. <\/p>\n


\n\tThe authors used ecosystem models to calculate a multi-species MSY (or MMSY) that adds up yield across all species, taking account of their interrelations. That analysis suggests that fishing below MMSY yields just as much fish as exceeding that benchmark, but has many ecological benefits including fewer species collapses, an increase in fish size and fish abundance. \u201cBelow MMSY there is a fishing-conservation sweet spot,\u201d said co-author Steven Palumbi of Stanford University, \u201cwhere economic and ecosystem benefits converge.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe team also notes that in addition to reducing exploitation rates below MMSY, there are several other measures that can reduce fishing impacts on ecosystems. \u201cFishing at maximum yield comes at a significant cost of species collapses,\u201d explained Heike Lotze, a co-author from Dalhousie University. \u201cBut even low levels of fishing do change marine ecosystems and may collapse vulnerable species. That\u2019s why we require a combination of measures, including gear restrictions and closed areas, in order to meet both fisheries and conservation objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe authors caution that much work remains to be done to end global overfishing, as a large fraction of global fisheries are not properly managed, reported or regulated. Particularly outside wealthy industrialized nations, prospects for reducing fishing mortality are often more limited unless fishers get access to alternative sources of food and income. Therefore the authors highlight the need for a more global perspective on rebuilding marine resources.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cFisheries managers currently presiding over depleted fish stocks need to become fast followers of the successes revealed in this paper,\u201d said Pamela Mace, a co-author from the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries. \u201cWe need to move much more rapidly towards rebuilding individual fish populations and restoring the ecosystems of which they are a part, if there is to be any hope for the long-term viability of fisheries and fishing communities.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n###<\/p>\n


\nThe study was based at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), funded by the National Science Foundation and the University of California, Santa Barbara.<\/p>\n

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Scientists document prospects for recovery, call for more global action NARRAGANSETT, R.I. \u2013 July 30, 2009 — Scientists have joined forces in a groundbreaking assessment of the status of marine fisheries and ecosystems. The two-year study by 21 scientists from around the world, including 溏心vlog免费B站 Oceanography Professor Jeremy Collie, shows that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64883\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}