Incorporating Ecosystem Objectives into Fisheries Management

including: ‘best practice’ reference points and

use of Marine Protected Areas

Keith SainsburyCSIRO Australia Ussif Rashid SumaliaUBC CanadaCMI Norway

Incorporating Ecosystem Related Objectives Into Management for Sustainable Fisheries

• What are these “ecosystem related objectives”

• The challenge

• Some ways forward

Some Ecosystem Related Objectives From International Agreements

• Manage resources sustainably for human nutritional, economic and social goals (LOSC and UNCED)

• Protect rare or fragile ecosystems, habitats and species (UNCED)

• Conserve genetic, species and ecosystem biodiversity (CBD)

• Preventative, precautionary and anticipatory planning and implementation (UNCED)

• Protect and maintain the relationships and dependencies between species (UNCED)

UNCED=UN Convention on the Environment and

Development (1992)

LOSC=UN Law of the Sea Convention (1982)

CBD= Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)

The Challenge: Bridging the Gap Between “High Level” Objectives and Operational Management

Operational questions:

• What specific outcomes are intended?

• What are the targets, limits and levels of acceptable change?

• How will a given management action help or hinder the intent?

• How would success or failure be measured and detected?

• How can precaution and balance be achieved across objectives that span use and conservation of complex ecosystems?

Steps Forward - Bridging the Gap

Achieving sustainability is not easy, even for target

species let alone ecosystems

But we know enough to make a very good start:

1. Report performance and assess management strategies for the system as a whole

2. Use reference points that incorporate uncertainty and ecosystem considerations

3. Make better use of inherently precautionary management measures such as protected areas

1. Performance Reporting and Assessment for the Management System as a Whole

• Establish the hierarchy between high level and operational objectives

• High level objectives need operational objectives

• Operational objectives need indicators and reference points

• Indicators and reference points give performance measures

Com ponent

Operationalobjective

Referencepoint

Broad statem ent of in tent

O bjective w ith d irect and practica lin terpretation

Target and lim it 'benchm arks' forindicators

High levelobjective

R elationship betw een indicator andbenchm ark

Perform ancem easure

A m ajor issue of re levance

IndicatorSom ething m easured to track anoperational objective

Performance Reporting for the Management System as a Whole: a practical application

• An approach to reporting Sustainable Development for Australian fisheries

- similar approach elsewhere

• Identify components for high level objectives

• Develop ‘component tree’ linking high level objectives to operational objectives

- via as many sub-components needed

Ecological well-being

Ÿ R etained speciesŸ N on-reta ined speciesŸ O ther environm ental

issues

Hum an well-being

Ÿ Ind igenousŸ Local and regionalŸ N ational socia l and

econom ic

Ability to achieve

Ÿ G overnanceŸ Effects of environm ent &

other users

Example ‘component tree’ linking high level to operational objectives

• Risk assessment to identify and weight important branches

• Report for each terminal

- objectives

- performance

measures

- monitoring

- management

response

• Transparent, simple & flexible reporting framework

NATIO NALSO CIAL

ECO NO M IC

RETAINEDSPECIES

NO N-RETAINEDSPECIES

OTHERENVIRON-

MENTAL ISSUES

CO M M UNITYISSUES

Impacts of the biological community(eg trophic structure) through

Other

Removal of/damage tooragnisms by:

Addition/movement ofbiological material by:

Air qualityFuel useage/exhaustG reenhouse gasem m issions

W ater qualityDebrisO il d ischarge

Substrate qualityForeshoreInter-tidal

Bait collection S tock enhancem ent

Benthic b iota

G host fishing

F ishing

T ranslocation

D iscarding/provis ioning

Assessment of the Management System as a Whole

• The ‘component tree’ identifies the important issues and

- targets, monitoring, and proposed management

response

• Taken as a whole

- are they likely to achieve the objectives within and

across branches?

• What management strategies can be expected to achieve the operational objectives?

- balance of outcomes

- risks and precaution

Scientific Evaluation of Feedback Management Strategies

Methods for evaluation have been developed:

• Adaptive management methods (Walters, Hilborn and others)

• Management procedure methods (IWC, Butterworth and others)

• Management strategy evaluation

Simulation Testing of Operational Management Strategies

A Management

Strategy contains:

• Performance measures

• Monitoring

• Analysis method

• Decision rules

• Feedback for “detection and

correction”

• Implementation

Performancemeasures

Models ofsystem &impacts

Proposedaction

SIMULATEEcologicalDynamics

In itia l SystemStructure

Subsequent SystemStructure

SIMULATEManagement

Decision Process

O bservations

Assessm ent analysis

Apply m anagem entstrategy decision ru les

Im plem ent decis ions

Management Strategy Evaluation - Experience

Many applications:

• Fishery target species management- reference points, monitoring, decision rules

• Maintaining food-chain dependencies (eg CCAMLR)

• Setting by-catch limits (eg Potential Biological Removals)

• Maintaining habitats and fish community composition (eg Australian NW Shelf and GB Reef)

Understanding robustness, risk, precaution, trade-offs

2. Use Reference Points that Incorporate Uncertainty and Ecosystem Considerations

• Appropriate reference points depend on the management system as a whole

• But there is an emerging ‘best practice’

• Incomplete but developing

- mainly at species level and accounting for some

ecological processes

- weak for ecosystem properties (habitats,

biodiversity, food-webs, community structure)

- no guarantee they are necessary or sufficient for

ecological sustainability

• A credible starting point

- practical and useable now

Some Emerging ‘Best Practice’ Reference Points for Ecologically Sustainable Fisheries

Ÿ Fishing m orta lity as c lose tozero as possib le

Lim itTarget

Target and by-catch species

Endangeredand protected

species

Significantprey species

Food-web

Ÿ M orta lity or b iom ass for M SYŸ Equivalent lim its for data lim ited

fisheries

Ÿ Potentia l B io logical R em oval levelof m orta lity

Ÿ Biom ass not less than halfw aybetw een M SY and unfished levels

Ÿ Foodw eb in balance (F IB ) indexnot decreasing

Ÿ Viable and representative food-w eb undisturbed in protectedareas: reference s ites

Some Emerging ‘Best Practice’ Reference Points for Ecologically Sustainable Fisheries

Lim itTarget

Biodiversity

Habitats

Reversibility

Effects of non-fishery uses

Ÿ N o loss o f spaw ning areas orloca l extinctions.

Ÿ Low se lective d iffe rentia lŸ Sm all reduction in e ffective

spaw ning popu la tion .Ÿ V iab le and representa tive

b iod ivers ity und is turbed inpro tected areas: re ference s ites

Ÿ N o extinctions or s tocks be lowgenetica lly v iab le leve ls

Ÿ Effective spaw ning popu la tion notless than ha lf unfished leve l

Ÿ N ot less than ha lf o f hab ita t areapresent w hen unfished

Ÿ R evers ib le in hum an generationtim e (20y)

Ÿ O verfished s tocks recovered in 10yor 1 fish generation tim e if g reatlyd iffe rent

Ÿ C om bined fishery and non-fisheryuses m eet the above

Ÿ C om bined fishery and non-fisheryuses m eet the above

3. Use of Inherently Precautionary Management Measures Such as Marine Protected Areas

What is an MPA?

• An area managed to protect and maintain biological diversity, and natural and associated cultural resources (IUCN 1994)

Categories of MPA range from:

• Reserve or sanctuary - minimal impacts and no extractive use

• Habitat/species protected area - manage to protect specific values

• Resource Protected Area - managed for sustainable resource use

What can MPAs achieve in theory?

• Reference site for comparison

• Preservation and restoration

Immediate Short-term Medium - Long-term

Number and densityincrease

Number and densityincrease

‘Natural’ age/size structuresre-established‘Natural’ age/size structuresre-established

Spillover Larval Export

Reduced lossof genetic informationReduced lossof genetic information

Fishing mortality eliminated Fishing mortality eliminated

Individuals live longer Individuals live longer

Reproductive output increases Reproductive output increases

Recruitment enhanced Recruitment enhanced

Spawning habitat condition improves

Spawning habitat condition improves

Community StructureCommunity Structure

Biomass & spawning biomass increaseBiomass & spawning biomass increase

Mean age and size increaseMean age and size increase

Stability Enhancement

Habitat damage stopped Habitat damage stopped

Biodiversity increasesEcological function enhancedCommunities stabilizeHabitat complexity increaseHigher trophic structure rebuilds

Population Structure

Population Abundance

What Have MPAs Achieved in Practice?

• Often demonstrated• Increased abundance, size and density of species

• Sometimes demonstrated• Increased fecundity and reproductive capacity • Increased species richness and genetic diversity • Increased fishery yield in surrounding area

• Economic benefits to fishery and other uses

• But effects poorly known because• Weak baseline data• Reserves small and/or recent• Little performance evaluation for most MPAs

How Can We Enhance MPA Success?

• Apply design methods that are available- including uncertainty

- area, location, shape of MPAs

- networks of MPAs

• Identify operational objectives and management

strategy

- evaluate and establish monitoring and performance assessment

• Meet critical information needs

- what is where, and what interconnections

- scale and location of major seafloor habitat types

- new technologies can help

Incorporating Ecosystem Related Objectives Into Fisheries Management: Conclusions

There are existing methods and approaches that can be

applied now:

1. Use transparent and ‘whole system’ approach to - link high level and operational objectives

- demonstrate basis of prioritisations

- structure performance reporting

2. Assess and design management strategies for- robustness and precaution

- adequacy of monitoring and planned ‘detection-

correction’ response

Incorporating Ecosystem Related Objectives Into Management for Sustainable Fisheries: Conclusions

3. Use emerging ‘best practice’ reference points

4. Improve design and use of marine protected areas

- precaution and preservation

- monitoring and performance assessment

- use as reference sites

Continuous improvements will be made but we have the basis for a credible and major first step