Fisheries management in practice: review of 13 commercially important fish stocks

Abstract

This paper comparatively reviews several commercially important fish stocks, their state and their management in various regions of the world including Japanese anchovy, Bay of Biscay anchovy, North Sea sandeel, North Sea herring, Icelandic cod, Barents Sea cod, South African cape hakes, sockeye salmon, chinook salmon, southern bluefin tuna, Pacific halibut, Greenland halibut and Patagonian toothfish. The reviewed fish stocks are systemized in three categories: (1) stock properties and status; (2) management structure and objectives; and (3) management advice. We gather evidence to outline qualities of management regimes that are recommended and highlight those that most often fail. Robust management, biological limits (reference points), implementation and consensus are critical points that separate successful and unsuccessful management regimes. We evaluate each fish stock's management performance relative to its management objectives and current conservation issues. Furthermore, we point out the importance of stakeholder involvement in fisheries management as well as the problems that international fisheries commissions face through examples from the case studies. Management successes tended to be single-nation and single-stock fisheries with capacity control and clear stakeholder involvement. Fisheries with fleet overcapacity, unclear objectives and illegal activity characterized the case studies with management problems.

Short- and long-term effects of an offshore wind farm on three species of sandeel and their sand habitat

“…Sandeels are important prey for a number of predators including fish, seabirds and marine mammals, and constitute the basis for a large-scale fishery producing raw material for the fish meal and oil industry (e.g. Robards 2000, Furness 2002, Frederiksen et al 2005, MacLeod et al 2007, Dankel et al 2008, Sharples et al 2009, Jensen et al 2011. During the growth season (spring and early summer), sandeels feed in the water column during the day and bury themselves into the sand during the night in habitats consisting of well-oxygenated sand, preferably with a weight fraction of silt+clay < 2% (Winslade 1974, Jensen 2001, Wright et al 2000, van Deurs et al 2011.…”

Synergies between climate and management for Atlantic cod fisheries at high latitudes

“…The criteria used for deciding the TAC is often denoted as a harvest control rule (HCR). Although structurally simple, applications of HCRs are considered advanced management tools (19), especially when containing ecosystem-based elements (20). HCRs aim to regulate fishing effort so that the full stock reproductive potential (SRP) is maintained and the population is kept at the size allowing the highest possible harvest under continued exploitation in the long term (i.e., maximum sustainable yield).…”

“…Social issues, for example, fishers' involvement, are also important for the success of management plans (21). The first application of HCRs appeared in the 1990s (19).…”

A chain of fools: or, why it is so hard to stop overfishing

“…Although cod fisheries had been conducted for hundreds of years, it only developed as a major commercial activity with the development of trawl fisheries in the early 1900s (Eide et al 2013). The cod stock was at a historical high after the Second World War (Dankel et al 2008), but generally decreased until the mid-1970s (Bjørndal and Lindroos 2012). Norwegian herring stocks instead became the main target species during the 1950s and 60s, but they collapsed in the 1960s following the start of purse seine fisheries (which used synthetic nets, combined with acoustic instruments and net handling machinery).…”