PDF 4154.pdf | Document not available for request/download Full text restricted

Abstract

Ecosystem-based management is an emerging paradigm influencing the management of commercial fisheries. Increasingly, developed nations are adopting explicit legislation and policy governing the assessment and management of their fisheries against criteria of ecological sustainability. Yet the ability to evaluate ecosystem impacts of fisheries is compromised by a general lack of understanding of marine ecosystem function (beyond the population level) and a lack of robust and practical indicators for ecosystem health and management. Recent technological advances can assist in developing criteria, including structural analyses of seafloor communities potentially impacted by fishing gears (e.g. demersal trawling). Similarly, advances in fishing gear technology, including improved selectivity and the development of gears which have a more benign environmental impact, can mitigate some of the ecological impacts of fishing. Such technological advances are summarized in the context of contemporary fisheries management.
ecosystem-based fisheries management • fishing gear technology • sea-bed mapping • underwater camera
Abstract

Ecosystem-based management is an emerging paradigm influencing the management of commercial fisheries. Increasingly, developed nations are adopting explicit legislation and policy governing the assessment and management of their fisheries against criteria of ecological sustainability. Yet the ability to evaluate ecosystem impacts of fisheries is compromised by a general lack of understanding of marine ecosystem function (beyond the population level) and a lack of robust and practical indicators for ecosystem health and management. Recent technological advances can assist in developing criteria, including structural analyses of seafloor communities potentially impacted by fishing gears (e.g. demersal trawling). Similarly, advances in fishing gear technology, including improved selectivity and the development of gears which have a more benign environmental impact, can mitigate some of the ecological impacts of fishing. Such technological advances are summarized in the context of contemporary fisheries management.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	McShane, PE and Broadhurst, MK and Williams, A
Keywords:	ecosystem-based fisheries management • fishing gear technology • sea-bed mapping • underwater camera
Journal or Publication Title:	Fish and Fisheries
Publisher:	Blackwell Publishing
ISSN:	1467-2960
DOI / ID Number:	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-2679.2007.00242.x
Additional Information:	The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com
Item Statistics:	View statistics for this item

Actions (login required)

Item Control Page