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The invited papers in this book provide a range of opinions about the future of fisheries science in North America. The ideas of each author are carefully thought out speculations of what will change in their field and how the changes may be used to improve the stewardship of fisheries. The collection of thoughts does not cover all areas of fisheries science, but there is sufficient diversity to stimulate...
For most of its history, fisheries science has focused on the dynamics of single populations. Ecosystem considerations have gained prominence in recent decades, with attention given to predation and prey shortages as sources of mortality and environmental features as drivers of variation in recruitment, growth, and maturity. However, these are still population-based considerations, just linking the...
The political and economic influence of environmental nongovernmental agencies has major implications for fisheries science in the future. For example, the conservation of biodiversity has been adopted as a global benchmark for successful fisheries management by the Marine Stewardship Council, among others. while agreeable in principle, demonstrating progress toward biodiversity conservation is a...
A paradigm shift in oceans management is underway, which will influence the future of stock assessment. On one hand, fisheries are increasingly being seen as one ocean sector amongst many, with many new objectives under an ecosystem approach to management (EAM) being sought. On the other hand, there is growing acceptance that stock assessment needs to be considered as only one element of a more comprehensive...
Managing marine resources has always been challenging, but this task looms ever larger as society demands more seafood while also requiring that we act as careful stewards of marine ecosystems. Evaluating management strategies in light of the diverse and changing demands of society for the goods and services the oceans provide requires that we clearly expose trade-offs among conflicting objectives...
The relationship between fisheries management and fisheries science has become more complex and more challenging over recent years as we move from a fish stock-focused approach to the management of fisheries with the objective of maximum sustainable yield, to an approach with multiple objectives encompassing the precautionary approach, ecosystem-based management, and industry economic viability. At...
Fisheries science is empirical and improving the accuracy, precision, and quality of data is paramount. New technologies (e.g., optics and acoustics) may better equip researchers to examine ecosystems from the individual to the community level. However, these new technologies are capable of collecting a great deal of data. How will these data be used in ecosystem modeling? Do we attempt to measure...
Classical physics describes the universe in four dimensions: three for space and one for time. Modern theories propose additional hidden dimensions, too tightly curled up to be measured with current technology. Similarly, fisheries ecology considers dimensions associated with fish species, their genetic structure, prey organisms, the physical environment, and other factors. Many ecological dimensions...
Fishery stock assessment models connect ecosystem data to quantitative fishery management. Control rules that calculate annual catch limits and targets from stock assessment results are a common component of US Fishery Management Plans. Ideally, the outcome of such control rules are updated annually on the basis of stock assessment forecasts to track fluctuations in stock abundance. When the stock...
Fisheries scientists face an exciting but demanding future. Decision makers, stakeholders, and the public will be seeking advice from scientists on a wide range of topics, including the management implications of climatic change and other changes in fish habitats, complex trophic interactions, altered relationships among environmental and biological variables, and a broad range of ecosystem and other...
Useful trophodynamic models within an ecosystem approach to fisheries need to be simple enough that we can actually learn from them, but complex enough that we can believe that their results are reliable. Reliability is commonly assessed by comparing model outputs with data, but many food web models grow in complexity very quickly while the sources of information to parameterize and evaluate them...
Fishery papers on ecosystem indicators, or ecological indicators, have flourished over the last 10 years, and many were justified by referring to the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF). However, the reason(s) why indicators are relevant to an EAF are not always clear. Still less clear is the way(s) indicators might be used to give management advice in the context of an EAF. In this chapter...
It is important for fishery scientists and ecosystem-based fishery managers to recognize that there may be apparent persistence in an ecosystem followed by ecosystem changes corresponding to different ecological states and different levels of fisheries output; revenues paid to California fishers have varied more than fivefold in inflation adjusted dollars during the 75-year period of our study. Empirical...
Quantitative modeling methods applied to anthropomorphic effects of harvesting on aquatic ecosystems have become increasingly utilized tools in the management of fisheries. However, to date traditional modeling approaches have not been found to be very useful as “surrogate experimental systems” in applied ecology, such as fishing effects on entire ecosystems. A review is made of several dynamic ecosystem...
Since Hjort's seminal work in the early twentieth century, researchers studying the early life stages of fish have attempted to understand and clarify the roles of growth and loss to help predict patterns of recruitment variability. Estimating the abundance of eggs and larvae has provided a fishery-independent measure of stock spawning potential. We also have significant skills in predicting the drift...
Prepared for the 50th Anniversary Symposium of the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists There are few fisheries scientists today who have known the state of the fishery – be it local, national or global – to be other than in a state of crisis of one form or another. Of course we tend to live and observe such matters through the lens and context of our own times. Yet in...
Measuring, monitoring, and predicting oceanic and coastal conditions are widely acknowledged as essential activities in support of long-term ecosystem-based fishery management efforts. Efforts are underway to build new administrative and technical infrastructures to support collecting oceanographic data, assimilate it into models, and ensure its availability to the public, managers, and scientists...
Acoustic methods are widely used in fisheries research, often providing vital information that can be obtained in no other way. In reviewing active methods, phenomena of sound scattering are first described. The means of ensonification and detection, the generic sonar, is described. Examples include the traditional scientific echo sounder and the following six classes of sonar: multibeam, sidescan,...
A variety of observational techniques either have been developed or are under development for fisheries research. These techniques have greatly increased the quantity and quality of information that can be obtained from a research survey and it is anticipated that this trend will continue. Traditional ship-based surveys will be supplemented by data collected from fixed moorings, autonomous underwater...
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