Fisheries management around the world elements and implementation

Fisheries management around the world: elements and implementation Ray Hilborn School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington

Elements of a fishery • A population being exploited • A fishery, people and fleets • A management system

The fish population • The biology of the fish and their productivity – Natural mortality – Recruitment – Growth • The ecosystem – predators, competitors and prey • Physical Environment – Forcing of productivity – Physical habitat structure • Refuge from predators • Habitats conducive to prey • Need for migration – Larval transport

The Fishery • Harvesting fleets, subsistence, commercial recreational – Motivation – commercial profit • Processing • Markets – Commercial fisheries must have markets – Price sensitivity, need for stability

The Management System • Legal Framework – What laws govern the management of the fishery – In the U. S. Federal fisheries these are usually the Magnuson-Steven Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act – International agreements, Law of the Sea, Stradling stocks agreement, U. N. code of conduct for responsible fishing

The management system • Data collection and research – Catch data – Index of abundance • Surveys • CPUE – – Size and age distribution Tagging studies – movement and stock structure Genetics for stock structure Basic biology of fish, growth, maturation etc

The management system • Regulatory structure – Access – who can fish – The assessment process: how you go from data to best science • Reference points • Harvest strategies – Setting time area, catch limits

The management system • Funding – How much money is allocated to management – Who decides how much – Where does the money come from

The management system • Monitoring Compliance Surveillance – How to assure that regulatory limits are being enforced • • Paper trails Log books Port sampling Observers – human and otherwise VMS – satellite monitoring of vessels On-water observation by air or water Under-cover enforcement

Types of management systems • Totally top down – Government runs everything • Consultative – Top down with extensive input from stakeholders • Co-management – Various shared responsibilities • Devolved – Most activities done by users

Roles in fisheries management Activity Managers Scientists Users Public NGO Goals Always Little Always Mostly Harvest strategy Always Usually Little Data collection Always From Little much to little Little Assessment none Always Same same Access Always Little Same same Setting regulations Always unless devolved Little Same same Enforcement Always unless devolved little Same same Funding none None some Mostly rarely Mostly

Status of fish stocks • Trends in abundance • Stock size relative to MSY target • Fishing mortality rate relative to MSY targt

Trends in abundance

Trends in biomass

Trends in fishing mortality

US West Coast European Union US East Coast Russia/Japan

Fishing Pressure Maximum Sustainable Yield Stock Size

Stock Size below target level S Stock Size above target level

Fishing Pressure Overfished and overfishing Over fished Overfishing Fully Exploited Stock Size Under exploited

Fishing Pressure Current and Future Problem Current Problem – Better Future Possible Future Problem Okay Stock Size Okay

Most recent update of RAM Legacy

Distribution of stock size in FAO catch database

Impact of average catch on status Log 10 average catch

How to measure sustainability • • Abundance Fishing Pressure Trends The fisheries management system

Country-level fishery governance survey • 28 countries • 10 species per country (semi-randomized) • 46 questions among 5 dimensions: … … Socioeconomic s … … Stock status … … Species 8 Species 7 Species 6 Species 5 Species 4 1 1 0. 5 0 1 0. 5 1 1 0. 5 NA 0. 5 0 Confidence level Enforcement 1 1 Species 10 … … Species 9 Management Species 3 … … Species 2 Research Species 1 Country X 0 0 NA NA A B

Research Management • landings data • objectives and fishery management plan • body size or age data • regulations to limit fishing pressure • surveys to monitor trends in abundance • capacity to adjust regulations and fishing • stock assessments Enforcement pressure Socioeconomics • dockside monitoring and at-sea observers • controls on access and entry • penalties and compliance • transparency • protection of sensitive habitats • community involvement • discarding and by-catch measures • capacity-enhancing subsidies

Average response by governance dimension n = 191 survey responses

Bristol Bay Salmon Fishery In Alaska

Goals Harvest strategy Maximum yield with owner operator fleet Fixed escapement goal: daily opening and closing of fishery Data collection State agency Assessment Access Stage agency with collaborators 1800 vessel permits and 1000 shore based fishing permits Setting regulations State agencies Enforcement Funding State agencies State

Pollock Fishery In Alaska

Goals Ecosystem management Harvest strategy TAC Cautious exploitation rates Data collection Assessment Federal agency Access Fixed shares to 3 gear groups, each group formed cooperatives with sharing agreements Federal agency with coops doing self enforcement Setting regulations Enforcement Federal agency Funding Federal and fleet shared

Rock Lobster in New Zealand

Goals Harvest strategy Maximum profit through ITQ system and MSY Target CPUE with management strategy Data collection Fishing fleet Assessment Access Quota holders with government supervision ITQ system Setting regulations State agencies Enforcement State agencies Funding Levy’s on quota holders

Geoduck in Puget Sound

Goals MSY and revenue to state Harvest strategy Rotational harvest Data collection State agency Assessment Stage agency Access Setting regulations Auction of annual harvest rights State agencies Enforcement State agencies Funding State from auction revenues

Role of math and statistics • It has traditionally been essential in providing management advice through statistical models • For NZ rock lobster and geoduck it has become relatively unimportant as empirical approaches have replaced statistical ones • Fisheries provided the cutting edge in resource management of applied decision analysis, Bayesian statistics and formal optimization

Conclusions • We generally know how to sustainably manage fisheries • The best approaches differ greatly depending on the objectives, nature of the fishery and biology of the fish • More than one approach is likely viable • Two key issues I would highlight are – Eliminate the race to fish cooperation not competition – Be clear of your objectives

Oxford University Press publication Available in English, Japanese and Chinese

The dynamics of an unregulated fishery • Development of a profitable fishing operation • Expansion of fleet so long as it is profitable – Fixed and variable costs – Stagnation and overcapacity • Movement onto new fishing opportunities

History of the California Current fisheries

Number of trawl vessels in Finnish herring fishery

Where do fishermen go? Tasmanian abalone fishery

Fishing season in halibut fishery

How to incorporate ecosystem aspects • By-catch – Commonly dealt with by gear and area regulations or by-catch quotas • Sensitive habitats – Usually handled by gear/area restrictions (trawl bans on sensitive habitats) • Trophic interactions – Science is immature – Trophic models offer conflicting advice – Requires complex trade-offsq`1 `

How to incorporate and socioeconomic aspects • Primarily done through overall objectives and access agreements – Some countries ignore – usually means aggregation of ownership – Alaska has explicit policy to maintain owneroperators in state fisheries • Harvest regulations, and enforcement may differentially affect different sectors – Observer programs