Ecosystem-based fisheries management: Moving from single-species to multi-species management

Background/Question/Methods

Ecosystem-based fishery management is promoted as a means of alleviating many of the escalating direct and indirect effects of fishing on targeted populations, trophic connectivity, essential habitats, and ecosystem functions. Although the ecosystem-based approach that advocates for the consideration of multiple species and values has international and growing support, few studies have tried to quantify the context-specific gains from implementing it. Using a multi-species bioeconomic model for a Caribbean reef community, we evaluate a range of management options along a continuum from open access to economically optimal management of multiple interacting species with fishing and nonfishing values. We ask: (1) Where are the largest economic and ecological gains in the progression from open access to single- and multi-species management and how does the strength of trophic coupling influence these gains? (2) How do standing stock, fishing effort, and economic returns qualitatively and quantitatively differ as the scope of management changes? and (3) How does the explicit incorporation of nonfishing values alter management recommendations? 

Results/Conclusions

We find that the optimal solution when accounting for nonfishing values can include temporary or permanent fishing moratoriums in contrast to continuous fishing at low levels when only fishing profits are considered. We also show that the greatest gains from ecosystem-based fishery management are not from improved estimation of the trophic coupling, but from reforming the social and economic management of individual fish stocks and by explicitly incorporating a broader set of values into management decisions.