Planning the use of fish for food security in the Pacific

Bell, Johann D.; Kronen, M.; Vunisea, A.; Nash, Warwick J.; Keeble, Gregory; Demmke, Andreas; Pontifex, Scott; Andréfouët, Serge

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2008.04.002

Cited by 408 publications

(276 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In those relatively rare circumstances in which existing fisheries select only a proportion of the available resource, bet-hedging through modest development of alternative fisheries less likely to decline should be adopted. For instance, promoting a gradual shift from reef-associated to pelagic species by establishing near-reef fish aggregation devices may help many Pacific Island states sustain local protein demands and livelihoods when the productivity of their reef fisheries decline (Bell et al 2009). Options must be weighed carefully, however, as short-term adaptations targeting new species must account for their ecological impacts and effects on existing resource-users.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitional states in marine fisheries: adapting to predicted global change

MacNeil

Graham

Cinner

et al. 2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Global climate change has the potential to substantially alter the production and community structure of marine fisheries and modify the ongoing impacts of fishing. Fish community composition is already changing in some tropical, temperate and polar ecosystems, where local combinations of warming trends and higher environmental variation anticipate the changes likely to occur more widely over coming decades. Using case studies from the Western Indian Ocean, the North Sea and the Bering Sea, we contextualize the direct and indirect effects of climate change on production and biodiversity and, in turn, on the social and economic aspects of marine fisheries. Climate warming is expected to lead to (i) yield and species losses in tropical reef fisheries, driven primarily by habitat loss; (ii) community turnover in temperate fisheries, owing to the arrival and increasing dominance of warm-water species as well as the reduced dominance and departure of cold-water species; and (iii) increased diversity and yield in Arctic fisheries, arising from invasions of southern species and increased primary production resulting from ice-free summer conditions. How societies deal with such changes will depend largely on their capacity to adapt—to plan and implement effective responses to change—a process heavily influenced by social, economic, political and cultural conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitional states in marine fisheries: adapting to predicted global change

MacNeil

Graham

Cinner

et al. 2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…Such measures are aimed at increasing not only the number of fish landed, but also profitability for local fishers (McClanahan 2010). Coralreef fisheries support tourism industries, subsistence livelihoods, the fishing industry, and coral-reef ecosystem integrity (Costanza et al 1997;Brander et al 2007;Bell et al 2010). Clearly, their improved management is tied to Micronesia's prosperity and livelihood.…”

Section: Improving Catch-based Controlsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commercial coral-reef fisheries across Micronesia: A need for improving management

et al. 2011

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A dearth of scientific data surrounding Micronesia's coral-reef fisheries has limited their formal assessment and continues to hinder local and regional management efforts. We approach this problem by comparing catch-based datasets from market landings across Micronesia to evaluate fishery status in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Yap, and Pohnpei. Initial examinations found that calm weather and low lunar illumination predicted between 6% (Yap) and 30% (CNMI) of the variances in daily commercial landings. Both environmentally driven catch success and daily catch variability increased in accordance with reef-fish demand indices. Subsequent insight from species composition and size-at-capture data supported these findings, highlighting reduced trophic levels and capture sizes where higher human-population-per-reef-area existed. Among the 12-15 target species and/or species complexes that accounted for 70% of the harvest biomass, capture sizes were consistently smallest for CNMI and Guam, often below the reported mean reproductive sizes. Comparatively, Pohnpei has the greatest potential for reef fisheries, with a large reef area (303 km 2 ) and a moderate human population (34,000 people). However, the estimated harvest volume of 476 mt year -1 was 8-9 times higher than other jurisdictions. Even on Yap where the reef-fish demand index was lowest (67.7 people km -2 reef habitat), many target fish were harvested below their mean reproductive sizes, including the iconic green bumphead parrotfish and humphead wrasse, as well as several other herbivores. We discuss our results with respect to the contemporary doctrine surrounding size-spectra, catch composition, and catch frequencies that afford insight into fishery pressure and status. We posit that regional catch-based policies (initially) instituted at the market level, combined with area and gear-based restrictions, represent plausible vectors for improving Micronesian fisheries.

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“…This fishery also is characteristic of Pacific fisheries because throughout the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, the village is the geographic unit on which fish production, fisheries management referred to as community-based fisheries management (SPC 2010) and a good part of the distribution and consumption of fishery products is organized. Coastal communities have a land territory, which provides villagers with a large portion of their carbohydrates and fats, and a maritime territory, which provides the majority of their protein intake (Bell et al 2009).…”

Section: Rationale and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to a rising demand for fishery products generated in part by population growth (Bell et al 2009;Bell et al 2011;UNFPA 2014), the fishing pressure on nearshore and coastal marine resources will intensify. Climate change is leading to increasing degradation of habitats due to more violent cyclones, ocean acidification Guinotte and Fabry 2008) and temperature peaks inducing increasingly severe coral bleaching (Hoegh-Guldberg 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%