A Practice-Based Coupling of the Precautionary Principle to the Large Marine Ecosystem Fisheries Management Concept with a Policy Orientation: The Northeast United States Continental Shelf as a Case Example

This article addresses interdisciplinary sustainable aspects of fisheries as part of ocean management. Human-caused impacts and their role as modifiers of living marine resources is discussed. The research note also theorizes about contemporary global change and its prospective biological consequences, especially when coupled with human-induced factors in coastal marine waters. Also addressed is the management and ecological aspects of fish stock populations as part of a large marine ecosystem (LME) in the Northeast United States continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean with suggestions for an interdisciplinary policy orientation paradigm to foster the sustainability of marine life in the sea.     

U.S. Fishery Management Councils as Ecosystem-Based Management Policy Takers and Policymakers

The United States has a new national ocean policy that adopts ecosystem-based management (EBM) as its first principle for managing U.S. ocean spaces and marine resources. However, U.S. laws that govern the uses of ocean spaces present a challenging tangle of authorities and mandates that do not easily facilitate ecosystem-based policies. For over 30 years, U.S. marine fisheries management has been guided by eight Regional Fishery Management Councils. Working under the many laws that guide setting stewardship priorities for ocean ecosystems, councils provide the Federal Government with advice on fisheries harvest levels, fish habitat protections, and fishing community needs. Implementing EBM for any ocean ecosystem requires a careful examination of the laws and policy processes that affect human interaction with that ecosystem. This article explores the U.S. perspective on federal ecosystem-based fisheries management, its part in U.S. national ocean policy, and how fishery management councils might position themselves as both EBM policymakers and policy takers for ocean resource management.     

A Race for Marine Space: Science,Values, and Aquaculture Planning in New Zealand

New Zealand (NZ) has developed a coastal management framework that includes large watersheds and territorial waters (out to 12 nautical miles). The article describes the developing conflicts associated with the biophysical and epistemological dimensions of expanding coastal marine space for aquaculture. We first review aquaculture policy in NZ, and recent evidence of the biophysical impacts from increasing terrestrial inputs on marine ecosystems. We provide a case study of conflict over a recent proposal to expand salmon aquaculture in the Marlborough Sounds, which covers some 4,000 km² of sounds, islands, and peninsulas. Based on information and data from interviews of stakeholders involved in the aquaculture planning, we describe three diverse epistemologies of science—client-based science, civic science, and Māori traditional ecological knowledge. We conclude the article with a critical review of how to better resolve spatial conflicts that often emerge in coastal management and planning.     

Topological constraints on the dynamics of wasp-waist ecosystems

Small pelagic fish species like anchovy or sardines are of high ecological and economical importance. As marine food webs are fished down, these small pelagics tend to be more exploited and overfished. It is not yet very well known what the possible effects of their collapse can be, therefore there is an urgent need to outline a theoretical framework for understanding their dynamics. These fish occupy very special position in food webs, ensuring energy transfer between species lower and higher levels, while forming narrow “wasp-waists” poor in number of species (but very abundant). Our purpose was to quantify the interaction structure of model food webs of equal complexity but different levels of “wasp-waistedness”. We analysed the topological properties of the webs by characterising every direct and indirect interactions between individual species, as well as by assessing the relative positional importance of each species in each web. We found that (1) the shorter the interaction pathways considered, the weaker the predictive power of node degree for positional importance, (2) the importance of species varies more in wasp-waist food webs, (3) if longer indirect chain effects are considered, indirect effects can well be stronger than direct ones, (4) interactions between coexisting wasp-waist species are stronger than the average, and (5) the “self-regulatory” looping effects are also stronger for wasp-waist species. Based on the topological properties of the networks, our results describe constraints acting on the dynamical behaviour of wasp-waist ecosystems. We give explanations, from this viewpoint, for regime shifts in which one WW species replaces another, and for the unpredictable dynamics of these fish stocks. From a marine conservation viewpoint, we illustrate that as the abundance of wasp-waist species decreases, the architecture of energy flows becomes highly vulnerable and unreliable. We provide an approach for quantifying these structural changes.     

A numerical study of stochastic larval settlement in the California Current system

Key to the predictive understanding of many nearshore marine ecosystems is the transport of larvae by ocean circulation processes. Many species release thousands to billions of larvae to develop in pelagic waters, but only a few lucky ones successfully settle to suitable habitat and recruit to adult life stages. Methodologies for predicting the larval dispersal are still primitive, and simple diffusive analyses are still used for many important applications. In this study, we investigate mechanisms of larval dispersal using idealized simulations of time-evolving coastal circulations in the California Current system with Lagrangian particles as models for planktonic larvae. Connectivity matrices, which describe the source-to-destination relationships for larval dispersal for a given larval development time course, are used to diagnose the time–space dynamics of larval settlement. The resulting connectivity matrices are shown to be a function of several important time scales, such as the planktonic larval duration, the frequency and duration of larval release events and inherent time scales for the coastal circulations. Many important fishery management applications require knowledge of fish stocks on a year-to-year or generation-to-generation basis. For these short time scales (typically less than 1 year), larval dispersal is generally far from a simple diffusive process and the consideration of the stochastic and episodic nature of larval dispersal is required. This work provides new insights into the spatial–temporal dynamics of nearshore fish stocks.     

Economic Valuation of Coastal and Marine Resources: Bohol Marine Triangle,Philippines

This article provides results on the net benefits generated from the natural resources in the Bohol Marine Triangle (BMT) in the Philippines. The BMT spans over 112,000 ha and its coastal ecosystems are rich in biodiversity and provide economic opportunities to the coastal communities. With a 10% discount rate, the accumulated total net benefits for the BMT resources over a 10-year period is US$11.54 million. Tourism and the municipal fisheries are the most important direct use values of the coastal and marine resources of the BMT accounting for 44% and 39% of the total net benefits. Annual revenues attributed to ecosystems were as follows: coral reefs, US$1.26 million; beach/intertidal area, US$1.12 million; marine waters, US$646,501; mangrove, US$239,561; and seagrass, US$105,990. The large market values indicate the dependence of the local community on the BMT coastal and marine resources. In the same way, non-market values show the important life-support functions of coastal and marine ecosystems. The net benefits reflect the magnitude of potential losses due to improper management of coastal and marine resources in the BMT. This valuation highlights the importance of the coastal services to the BMT economy and draws attention to the benefits the local stakeholders derive from BMT coastal resources. Policy measures can now take into account these values to justify a sufficient investment in coastal management efforts to sustain the flow of coastal services in the interest of current and future generations.     

Contributions by Women to Fisheries Economies: Insights from Five Maritime Countries

The contribution by women to fisheries economies globally continues to be overlooked, in part, because “fishing” is often narrowly defined as catching fish at sea, from a vessel, using specialized gears. Both men and women are involved in fisheries, but often in different roles and activities. Fisheries research, management, and policy have traditionally focused on direct, formal, and paid fishing activities—that are often dominated by men, ignoring those that are indirect, informal, and/or unpaid—where women are concentrated. This has led to a situation where men's and women's contributions to fisheries are not equally valued or even recognized and has resulted in women being largely excluded from fisheries decision-making processes. Here, we examine the contributions by women in the fisheries sector of five globally significant marine fishing countries—Mexico, Peru, Senegal, South Africa, and Vietnam. These countries each have strong links between livelihoods and marine capture fisheries, yet represent different geographic, socioeconomic, and governance contexts. Through a synthesis of existing data, case studies, and consultation with local experts, we found that the contribution by women to the fisheries of these five countries is substantial. However, this investigation also revealed major gaps in understanding of gender inequalities in the fisheries sector and the need for better gender-disaggregated data to inform fisheries policy.     

Governance for Sustainability: Insights from Marine Resource Use in a Tropical Setting in the Western Indian Ocean

The last decade has seen a shift in the Natural Resource Management discourse, a shift from management to governance. Governance is held forward as a prime solution to problems associated with the sustainability of natural resources, including fisheries and other marine resources. Several countries in the Western Indian Ocean are framing governance solutions as a response to coastal/marine resource depletion and environmental degradation, but the challenges are huge and success stories remain few. This study provides an analysis of the governance situation in Chwaka Bay, Zanzibar, Tanzania. It presents the governance actors and how governance is expressed in terms of hierarchy (state), heterarchy (self-organized networks of resource users), and anarchy (market). The analysis illustrates the extreme difficulties of using governance approaches to steer human behavior to solve environmental problems and achieve sustainability. The study also provides some insights when considering the use of governance as a tool for the “designing” and/or “steering” social–ecological systems in subsistence contexts with weak formal institutions. These include the consideration of governance as an intrinsic part of complex societal processes, the idealization of governance as a template for redressing management failure and broader issues such as the importance of meta-governance.     

Modeling Coastal and Marine Environmental Risks in Belize: the Marine Integrated Decision Analysis System (MIDAS)

The livelihood of coastal communities is directly linked to the health of intertidal and marine ecosystems. Coastal zones and marine areas are rapidly changing and highly vulnerable to impacts from climate change, accelerating human development, and over-fishing. Quality of life and the benefits of coastal development can be greatly enhanced, and costs minimized, by projecting and comparing alternative policy outcomes before management decisions are made. This article describes the Marine Integrated Decision Analysis System (MIDAS), an interactive decision support tool designed to assist the users and managers of Belize's system of marine management areas (MMAs) in understanding the interactions among various ecological, socioeconomic, and governance conditions in a spatially explicit manner. MIDAS can simulate and visualize the likely effects of alternative management strategies and therefore provides an important tool for evaluating potential scenarios. We developed two MIDAS modules to address specific threats in Belize –spatial risk resulting from mangrove deforestation in coastal areas and the potential effect of an oil spill off the coast of Belize. Workshops conducted in Belize indicate that diverse user groups such as fishers, tourism operators, and public environmental agencies can successfully utilize MIDAS to understand MMA outcomes, and environmental risks.     

Predicting Stakeholder Support for Fishery Policies

Fisheries management has been used to address declining fisheries and threats to livelihood and food security. Past research suggests that public support for fishery policies is a necessary component for sustaining the long-term success of fisheries management. This study predicted public support by examining fishers’ perspectives on co-management and fish catch since the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs), a commonly employed fisheries management tool. Data were obtained from onsite surveys (n = 505) with fishers from three municipalities in Cebu, Philippines: Oslob, Santander, and Samboan. Structural path analyses revealed that beliefs about co-management and fish catch predicted support for fishery policies (R² = 59%). Separate path analyses for each municipality showed that co-management had greater influence in predicting public support for fishery policies in Oslob and Santander. Fish catch was a better predictor for public support for fishery policies in Samboan. Results can help local governments, non-governmental organizations, and fishery managers to prioritize, plan, and improve fisheries management in municipal waters.     

Management of corals and coral ecosystems in the United States

Abstract

Corals and coral communities provide substantial societal benefits by virtue of their recreational and esthetic appeal, the habitat provided for commercially harvested fish and shellfish, the structural foundation provided for productive coastal ecosystems, and the market value of harvested coral specimens. Coral resources are subject to adverse effects from pollution, dredging, specimen collecting, anchor damage, commercial fishing, overharvesting, and activities related to offshore petroleum development. Management programs which protect coral resources in the United States comprise a patchwork of separate federal and state programs. They attempt to adapt broad regulatory authorities for parks, fisheries, offshore mineral resources, and other subjects for the purpose of coral conservation. These programs embody species‐specific, area‐specific, and generic approaches to coral management. This paper traces the evolution of U.S. coral management programs and comments on their respective strengths and weaknesses. Alternative approaches for strengthening management systems could include new coordinating committees, legislation, memoranda of agreement between involved agencies, and others.     

Co-management of Tropical Coastal Zones: The Case of the Soufriere Marine Management Area,St. Lucia,WI

Centralized, top-down fisheries management models based on biological stock-recruitment have, at best, achieved limited success when adapted to Third World fisheries. Comanagement, a resource management approach oriented towards resource users and their communities, has been proposed as an alternative strategy for managing Third World fisheries. We examine the initial success and subsequent problems of one such collaborative coastal zone management project on St. Lucia's leeward coast. Factors that must be considered in the development, implementation, and maintenance of coastal comanagement systems operating in the contexts of tropical marine ecosystems in developing nations are identified and discussed.     

Bayesian statistical data assimilation for ecosystem models using Markov Chain Monte Carlo

This study considers advanced statistical approaches for sequential data assimilation. These are explored in the context of nowcasting and forecasting using nonlinear differential equation based marine ecosystem models assimilating sparse and noisy non-Gaussian multivariate observations. The statistical framework uses a state space model with the goal of estimating the time evolving probability distribution of the ecosystem state. Assimilation of observations relies on stochastic dynamic prediction and Bayesian principles. In this study, a new sequential data assimilation approach is introduced based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). The ecosystem state is represented by an ensemble, or sample, from which distributional properties, or summary statistical measures, can be derived. The Metropolis-Hastings based MCMC approach is compared and contrasted with two other sequential data assimilation approaches: sequential importance resampling, and the (approximate) ensemble Kalman filter (including computational comparisons). A simple illustrative application is provided based on a 0-D nonlinear plankton ecosystem model with multivariate non-Gaussian observations of the ecosystem state from a coastal ocean observatory. The MCMC approach is shown to be straightforward to implement and to effectively characterize the non-Gaussian ecosystem state in both nowcast and forecast experiments. Results are reported which illustrate how non-Gaussian information originates, and how it can be used to characterize ecosystem properties.     

Perceptions of Threats Facing Cabo de Palos - Islas Hormigas MPA and Potential Solutions

Many marine protected areas (MPAs) face a multitude of threats to the ecosystems that they have been established to conserve. This study is based on 111 interviews conducted in 2013–2014 designed to discover the perceptions of stakeholders about the threats, the causes of the threats, and their responses to the threats, to a well-established MPA – Cabo de Palos - Islas Hormigas (CPH-MPA). This MPA was created to safeguard fisheries and the associated artisanal fishers, but over time it has become a tourism “hotspot.” Resilience theory, which incorporates ecological resilience, social resilience, and individual resilience, helps us to analyze stakeholders' responses to threats by categorizing them into passive, adaptive, and transformative responses. We found respondents identified four main threats – over-fishing, excessive scuba diving, pollution, and invasive species; attributed the threats to three main causes – ineffective management, poor environmental stewardship, and climate change; and expressed three kinds of responses – do nothing, adapt, or transform – with a preference for adaptation and (especially) transformation. The lesson of this study is that it shows how, unless drastic action is taken to curb recreational diving activities, the CPH-MPA is in danger of changing from a fishing reserve to a largely unregulated leisure diving venue, which is unlikely to fulfill the requirements of resilience; ecological, social, or individual.     

我国渔业物流船队的发展历程与经验启示

发展海洋渔业可以缓解国家粮食安全压力,拓宽中国海洋渔业发展空间,维护国家海洋权益。专业化渔业物流船队是保障和支撑海洋渔业发展的重要组成部分,文章从不同的服务对象角度对渔业物流船队进行了划分,详细介绍了各类型渔业物流船队的发展历程、主要做法和取得的成效,指出了我国的渔业物流船船龄大,装备陈旧,自动化程度低和信息化水平弱等严重制约我国渔业物流船队发展的问题,提出了全面推进渔业物流船队的专业化建设、推动渔业物流船装备自动化革新、提升渔业物流船的信息化水平等实现渔业现代化的经验启示。     

The importance of oceanographic fronts to marine birds and mammals of the southern oceans

During the last 30 years, at-sea studies of seabirds and marine mammals in the oceans south of the Subtropical Front have described an association with major frontal areas. More recently, the advancement in microtechnology has allowed the tracking of individuals and investigations into how these marine predators actually use the frontal zones. In this review, we examine 1) the relative importance to apex predators of the different frontal zones in terms of spatial distribution and carbon flux; 2) the processes that determine their preferential use; and 3) how the mesoscale dynamics of frontal structures drive at-sea foraging strategies of these predators. We review published results from southern waters and place them in a broader context with respect to what has been learned about the importance of fronts in oceans farther north.Some fronts constitute important boundaries for seabird communities in southern waters. At a mesoscale the maximum values of seabird diversity and abundance correspond to the location of the main fronts. At-sea surveys show a strong curvilinear correlation between seabird abundance and sea surface temperatures. High mean species richness and diversity for whales and seabirds are consistently associated with the southern water mass boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the Subtropical Front and the Subantarctic Front; in the case of the Polar Front mean seabird densities are more variable. At small-scales, variation in seabird occurrence has been directly related to the processes at fronts in a limited number of cases. A significant positive relation was found between some plankton feeding species and frontal temperature gradient–phytoplankton variables.Telemetric studies have revealed that several apex predators (penguins, albatrosses, seals) perform long, directed foraging trips either to the Subtropical front or Polar Front, depending on locality. Seabirds with low flight costs, such as albatrosses, are able to reach fronts at long distances from colonies, showing variable foraging strategies as a function of the distances involved. Diving birds such as King penguins, that travel at a higher cost and lower speed, rely on the predictable spatial distribution of mesopelagic fish found close to the Polar Front. They may use the currents associated with eddies as oceanographic cues in the active search for frontal zones. Once in these areas they dive preferentially in and below the depth of the thermocline where catches per unit effort are high. Elephant seals concentrate foraging activity principally inside or at the boundary of cyclonic eddies. These mesoscale features appear to offer exceptional productivity favourable for foraging by various diving top predators.The connection between biophysical parameters at fronts and predators is likely to be made through biological enhancement. Top predators appear to forage at locations where prey are advected by physical processes and others where prey are produced locally. Long-term research on at-sea distributions and demographic parameters of top predators are essential to assess the consequences of potential shift in front distributions in relation to global warming. Such environmental changes would add to the impact of fish extraction by the industrial fisheries on the southern food webs.     

Weaving marine food webs from end to end under global change

Marine food web dynamics are determined by interactions within and between species and between species and their environment. Global change directly affects abiotic conditions and living organisms, impinging on all trophic levels in food webs. Different groups of marine researchers traditionally study different aspects of these changes. However, over medium to long time scales perturbations affecting food webs need to be considered across the full range from nutrients to top predators. Studies of end-to-end marine food webs not only span organism sizes and trophic levels, but should also help align multidisciplinary research to common goals and perspectives. Topics are described that bridge disciplinary gaps and are needed to develop new understanding of the reciprocal impacts of global change on marine food webs and ocean biogeochemistry. These include (1) the effects of nutrients on biomass and production, (2) the effects of varying element ratios on food web structure and food quality, (3) bulk flows of energy and material in food webs and their efficiencies of transfer, (4) the ecological effects of species richness and the roles of microbial organisms, (5) the role of feeding behaviour in food web dynamics and trophic controls, (6) the spatial dynamics of communities and links between different food webs, (7) the combined effects of body size and behaviour in determining dynamics of food webs, and (8) the extent to which the ability of marine organisms (and communities) to adapt will influence food web dynamics. An overriding issue that influences all topics concerns the time and space scales of ecosystem variability. Threads link different nodes of information among various topics, emphasizing the importance of tackling food web studies with a variety of modelling approaches and through a combination of field and experimental studies with a strong comparative approach.     

An Overview of Spatial Management and Marine Protected Areas in the East China Sea

Marine ecosystems of the East China Sea are rich in biodiversity, with 12,933 species of which approximately 47.7% are endemic. As anthropogenic impacts are intensifying, fishery resources and biodiversity in the East China Sea are under threat from overfishing, habitat loss, pollution, and biological invasions. Marine protected areas (MPAs) and other spatial management measures are believed useful tools to protect and restore biological resources. Seventeen nature reserves, seven special marine reserves, and three fishery resource conservation zones covering a combined area of 102,156 km² have so far been established in the Chinese East China Sea in order to protect fishery resources, biodiversity, and marine landscapes. This article provides a review and inventory of MPAs in the Chinese East China Sea as implemented by the People's Republic of China.