Search

Fisheries can adversely affect threatened bycatch species and vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs). Thresholds are unique amongst bycatch management methods in providing flexibility in individual participants' approaches to avoid exceeding limits, and particularly for individual vessel quotas, in incentivizing the innovation of effective and commercially viable solutions. This study assessed bycatch thresholds for sharks and relatives, air-breathing marine species and macroinvertebrate indicators for identifying benthic VMEs of 21 intergovernmental organizations and arrangements (IGOs). Seven IGOs lacking bycatch thresholds, who tended to have fewer members, might rely on bycatch management by national authorities. Sharks were the predominant focus. IGOs did not know if thresholds were reached for almost half of measures, likely due to compliance monitoring deficits. Individual vessel limits may be more equitable and prevent a race for fish. However, risk pools and fleetwide thresholds may be more effective when mitigation approaches for individual vessels are limited. No IGO uses individual transferable bycatch quotas or risk pools, which would be challenging to implement regionally. No thresholds were reference points of a harvest strategy. There were limited incidences of thresholds being reached. Thresholds might be set too high to meet objectives. When reached, there was high variability in management responses being systematically implemented. Addressing deficits of thresholds being set too low, inadequate compliance monitoring and inconsistent management response implementation could improve performance. Thresholds have the potential to be an effective component of regional bycatch management strategies, incentivizing fishers to minimize their individual and collective bycatch fishing mortality and adverse effects on VMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing concern over the conservation status of sharks and relatives exposed to fishing mortality. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1999 adopted the International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA), which provides nations with advice on adopting and implementing national plans. An assessment of global national and regional plans of action on sharks (NPOAs) found: most are out of date; limited use of specific, measurable and timebound objectives and activities; no outcome objectives; and few performance assessments. This makes most NPOAs inadequate for planning and assessing efficacy. Over 33% of the annual retained catch of sharks and relatives was from countries without NPOAs and less than 12% was from countries with current NPOAs. NPOAs identified fisheries management framework deficits, ecology knowledge gaps, institutional capacity and coordination shortfalls, and budget constraints as the largest obstacles to implementation and are improvement priorities. We recommend how to amend the IPOA to better support the adoption and effective design and implementation of NPOAs for evidence‐informed conservation and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Utilization & Cultivation of Aquatics is the property of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Marine population modeling, which underpins the scientific advice to support fisheries interventions, is an active research field with recent advancements to address modern challenges (e.g., climate change) and enduring issues (e.g., data limitations). Based on discussions during the 'Land of Plenty' session at the 2021 World Fisheries Congress, we synthesize current challenges, recent advances, and interdisciplinary developments in biological fisheries models (i.e., data-limited, stock assessment, spatial, ecosystem, and climate), management strategy evaluation, and the scientific advice that bridges the science-policy interface. Our review demonstrates that proliferation of interdisciplinary research teams and enhanced data collection protocols have enabled increased integration of spatiotemporal, ecosystem, and socioeconomic dimensions in many fisheries models. However, not all management systems have the resources to implement model-based advice, while protocols for sharing confidential data are lacking and impeding research advances. We recommend that management and modeling frameworks continue to adopt participatory co-management approaches that emphasize wider inclusion of local knowledge and stakeholder input to fill knowledge gaps and promote information sharing. Moreover, fisheries management, by which we mean the end-to-end process of data collection, scientific analysis, and implementation of evidence-informed management actions, must integrate improved communication, engagement, and capacity building, while incorporating feedback loops at each stage. Increasing application of management strategy evaluation is viewed as a critical unifying component, which will bridge fisheries modeling disciplines, aid management decision-making, and better incorporate the array of stakeholders, thereby leading to a more proactive, pragmatic, transparent, and inclusive management framework–ensuring better informed decisions in an uncertain world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy decisions should be guided by the relative degree of risk of error and bias and strength of evidence of the efficacy of alternative management interventions. This study describes the benefits and limitations of applying a sequential evidence hierarchy to evaluate alternative fisheries bycatch management strategies. Fisheries bycatch is an obstacle to global food and livelihood security and is a main anthropogenic threat to several threatened species. Independent synthesis of all accumulated information is a fundamental principle for developing transparent, evidence-informed regional conservation policy. Meta-analytic syntheses produce the most robust and generalizable findings that are optimal for guiding regional bycatch management. Otherwise, given too few studies to support robust meta-syntheses, decisions should rely on qualitative syntheses of accumulated studies. Bycatch mitigation methods with findings only available from studies with relatively weak forms of evidence, or lacking any evidence, should only be considered as a precautionary approach when more certain alternatives are unavailable. Strictly applying a hierarchical approach on study evidence to make policy decisions, however, risks ignoring potentially important findings derived from studies using methods low on an evidence hierarchy. Instead, in making bycatch management policies, authorities should account for all accumulated evidence and the implications of different approaches for testing different hypotheses. Fisheries bycatch policy guided, but not bounded, by a sequential evidence hierarchy promises to achieve ecological and socioeconomic objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory decision tools enable stakeholders to reconcile conflicting natural resources management objectives. Fisheries targeting highly productive species can have profound impacts on co-occurring bycatch species with low fecundity and other life history traits that make them vulnerable to anthropogenic sources of mortality. This study developed a decision tool for integrated bycatch management for data-limited to data-rich fisheries, improving upon current piecemeal approaches. First, through a systematic literature review, participants compile a comprehensive database of methods to mitigate the catch and fishing mortality of threatened bycatch species. These mitigation methods are then categorized into tiers of a sequential mitigation hierarchy, where interventions that avoid capture are considered before those that minimize catchability, followed by methods that minimize fishing mortality, before approaches that offset residual impacts. The methods are also assembled within an evidence hierarchy, where findings from meta-analytic modelling studies are more robust and generalizable than from individual studies. The decision tool enables stakeholders to evaluate alternative bycatch management strategies' efficacy at meeting specific and measurable objectives for mitigating the catch and mortality of bycatch and for costs from multispecies conflicts, economic viability, practicality and safety, while accounting for the fishery-specific feasibility of compliance monitoring of alternative bycatch management measures. Ongoing adaptation of the bycatch management framework addresses findings from performance assessments, updated evidence, new mitigation methods and changes to governance systems. The proposed decision tool therefore enables stakeholders to develop bycatch management frameworks that provide precautionary protection for the most vulnerable populations with acceptable tradeoffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives: The environmental effects of static gear fishing include habitat-level effects such as permanent changes to the physical environment and the structure of the benthic and epibenthic communities. Ecosystems subjected to prolonged exposure to pressure from static gear may undergo permanent changes and may never regain their prior 'unfished' state even if the fishing pressure is removed entirely. These long-term changes to physical structure of benthic habitats have implications for benthic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Despite this, the understanding of habitat and static fishing gear interactions is limited- with most studies focusing on the impact of mobile fishing gear. The rise of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM), where managers and decision-makers manage target species within their environmental context while protecting essential ecosystem services and components, has led to an increased demand for ecosystem-level reference points. A systematic review could provide clarification on the short and long-term impacts of commercial static gear fishing on benthic community diversity. Methods: This review will examine primary studies on the relationship between static fishing gear, intensity, and benthic biodiversity to answer the primary question 'How do different types of static fishing gear affect benthic species richness and abundance?'. A structured search will be conducted in English. The search terms used to find relevant data to answer the research question were chosen specifically for this review and were generated using the R package litsearchr. Captured articles will be screened against pre-defined eligibility criteria. The internal and external validity of remaining studies will be classified using a pre-defined framework. Studies meeting validity will be used for data extraction. Data to be extracted includes data on study design, intervention, study results, habitat and geographical context. Outcome data (such as sample sizes, means and measures of variation such as confidence intervals, standard deviations, and standard errors) will also be extracted. Information on effect modifiers will also be collected where available as well as metadata on study methodologies and general article identifiers. Data will be used for both narrative and quantitative synthesis techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]