Stock management really does work in rebuilding depleted fisheries, a new study shows.
The study, published in the Science magazine, was done on ten of the world’s largest marine communities. It examined the range of fishing rates that could provide high yields while maintaining most species from both a commercial and conservation perspective. It also studied management programmes which really have proven successful in rebuilding marine ecosystems.
It found that fishing levels had been substantially reduced in five of those ecosystems – Iceland, Newfoundland-Labrador, the Northeast US Shelf, the Southeast Australian Self, and the California Current ecosystem, however clear signs of rebuilding were seen in several of them.
Fourteen percent of the assessed stocks in those areas, all subject to widespread management, had collapsed by 2007, with very varying local significance: few such stocks had collapsed in the Bering Sea, while 60 percent had collapsed in eastern Canada.
Still, the study found that rebuilding collapsed stocks is feasible under well-designed management systems, where traditional methods such as catch quotas and community management are combined with strategically placed fishing closures (depending on local conditions), gear restrictions, widespread ocean zoning to separate areas managed for fisheries and for species and habitat conservation.
Rebuilding may take decades and will involve short-term costs, especially reduced yields and the loss of jobs. Therefore, a global view is needed as those who depend on fisheries in poorer regions may have no alternative food sources and incomes.
Also, developed countries should not shift fishing pressures to less developed areas of the world: strong governance is required to enforce compliance with rebuilding efforts, the study says.