Diverse stakeholders agreed that an ecosystem approach was necessary. Developing and implementing an ecosystem approach to fishery management was done in collaboration between managers, stakeholders, and scientists.
Outline
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Ecosystem Approach (EAFM)
Tailoring ecosystem reporting for fishery managers
Mid-Atlantic EAFM risk assessment
Mid-Atlantic EAFM conceptual modeling (towards MSE)
Improvements: open-source data and technical documentation
Integrated Ecosystem Assessment
Eight regional Fishery Management Councils establish plans for sustainable management of stocks within their jurisdictions. All are governed by the same law, but tailor management to their regional stakeholder needs.
More information: http://www.fisherycouncils.org/ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/laws-policies#magnuson-stevens-act
"We rebuilt all the stocks, so why is everyone still pissed off?" --Rich Seagraves
in 2011, the Council asked:
And many people answered, from commercial fishery, recreational fishery, environmental organization, and interested public perspectives.
Visioning report:
http://www.mafmc.org/s/MAFMC-stakeholder-input-report-p7b9.pdf
• There is a lack of confidence in the data that drive fishery management decisions.
• Stakeholders are not as involved in the Council process as they can and should be.
• Different jurisdictions and regulations among the many fishery management organizations result in complexity and inconsistency.
• There is a need for increased transparency and communications in fisheries management.
• The dynamics of the ecosystem and food web should be considered to a greater extent in fisheries management decisions.
• Stakeholders are not adequately represented on the Council.
• Pollution is negatively affecting the health of fish stocks.
Visioning report, p. 3:
http://www.mafmc.org/s/MAFMC-stakeholder-input-report-p7b9.pdf
Visioning Project → Strategic Plan with one objective to develop
"A non-regulatory umbrella document intended to guide Council policy with respect to ecosystem considerations across existing Fishery Management Plans"
Details, including workshop presentations and white papers: http://www.mafmc.org/eafm
The Mid-Atlantic Council identified several theme areas from the visioning project as noted in the left panel of the workflow graphic: forage fish, species interactions, social and economic issues, climate and habitat. The Council held full day workshops during Council meetings where experts on the topics provided overviews and Council members asked questions and discussed the issues. Workships on Forage fish, Climate, Climate and Governance, Interactions (species and fleet), and Habitat were held between 2013 and 2015, resulting in white papers on Forage fish, Climate (and habitat), Interactions (species, fleet, climate, and habitat). Social and economic considerations were integrated in each workshop rather than looked at separately.
2016 Ecosystem Approach to Fishery Management (EAFM) Policy Guidance document: http://www.mafmc.org/s/EAFM-Doc-Revised-2019-02-08.pdf
Mid-Atlantic EAFM framework1:
[1] Gaichas, S., Seagraves, R., Coakley, J., DePiper, G., Guida, V., Hare, J., Rago, P., et al. 2016. A Framework for Incorporating Species, Fleet, Habitat, and Climate Interactions into Fishery Management. Frontiers in Marine Science, 3.
The Council’s EAFM framework has similarities to the IEA loop on slide 2. It uses risk assessment as a first step to prioritize combinations of managed species, fleets, and ecosystem interactions for consideration. Second, a conceptual model is developed identifying key environmental, ecological, social, economic, and management linkages for a high-priority fishery. Third, quantitative modeling addressing Council-specified questions and based on interactions identified in the conceptual model is applied to evaluate alternative management strategies that best balance management objectives. As strategies are implemented, outcomes are monitored and the process is adjusted, and/or another priority identified in risk assessment can be addressed.
Risk assessment highlights prority species/issues for more detailed evaluation
A conceptual model maps out key interactions for high risk fisheries, specifies quantitative management strategy evaluation
Quoted from Gaichas et al 2016 For this example, the existing Mid Atlantic food web model is used to define key species interactions for each managed species, habitat expertise is needed to link habitats to species, physical oceanographic and climate expertise is needed to link key climate drivers to habitats, and the expertise of fishermen, economists and other social scientists, and fishery managers is needed to link fish with fisheries and objectives for human well-being. The key link between fisheries and human well being objectives is identified as the system of regulatory allocations of total allowable catch between states along the Mid Atlantic coast. The interaction between this allocation system (based on historical catch) and climate-driven distribution shifts of the managed species has created considerable difficulty in this region. This conceptual model clearly connects climate considerations to management, as well as habitat considerations of concern to the Council but outside Council jurisdiction (water quality in coastal estuaries).
Common framework across industry, science, business; but methods matter. Assessing the risks correctly is essential to good decision making.
Clarify exactly what we are assessing and why
Iterative process starting with the Council workshops
Council staff and scientists create examples based on Council input
↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑ ↓ ...
Council discusses, clarifies, revises with public input
Risk assessment paper1: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2018.00442/full
[1] Gaichas, S. K., DePiper, G. S., Seagraves, R. J., Muffley, B. W., Sabo, M., Colburn, L. L., and Loftus, A. L. 2018. Implementing Ecosystem Approaches to Fishery Management: Risk Assessment in the US Mid-Atlantic. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5.
Element | Definition | Indicators |
---|---|---|
Ecological | ||
Assessment performance | Risk of not achieving OY due to analytical limitations | Current assessment method/data quality |
F status | Risk of not achieving OY due to overfishing | Current F relative to reference F from assessment |
B status | Risk of not achieving OY due to depleted stock | Current B relative to reference B from assessment |
Food web (MAFMC Predator) | Risk of not achieving OY due to MAFMC managed species interactions | Diet composition, management measures |
Food web (MAFMC Prey) | Risk of not achieving OY due to MAFMC managed species interactions | Diet composition, management measures |
Food web (Protected Species Prey) | Risk of not achieving protected species objectives due to species interactions | Diet composition, management measures |
Ecosystem productivity | Risk of not achieving OY due to changing system productivity | Four indicators, see text |
Climate | Risk of not achieving OY due to climate vulnerability | Northeast Climate Vulnerability Assessment |
Distribution shifts | Risk of not achieving OY due to climate-driven distribution shifts | Northeast Climate Vulnerability Assessment + 2 indicators |
Estuarine habitat | Risk of not achieving OY due to threats to estuarine/nursery habitat | Enumerated threats + estuarine dependence |
Offshore habitat | Risk of not achieving OY due to changing offshore habitat | Integrated habitat model index |
Element | Definition | Indicators |
---|---|---|
Economic | ||
Commercial Revenue | Risk of not maximizing fishery value | Revenue in aggregate |
Recreational Angler Days/Trips | Risk of not maximizing fishery value | Numbers of anglers and trips in aggregate |
Commercial Fishery Resilience (Revenue Diversity) | Risk of reduced fishery business resilience | Species diversity of revenue |
Commercial Fishery Resilience (Shoreside Support) | Risk of reduced fishery business resilience due to shoreside support infrastructure | Number of shoreside support businesses |
Social | ||
Fleet Resilience | Risk of reduced fishery resilience | Number of fleets, fleet diversity |
Social-Cultural | Risk of reduced community resilience | Community vulnerability, fishery engagement and reliance |
Food Production | ||
Commercial | Risk of not optimizing seafood production | Seafood landings in aggregate |
Recreational | Risk of not maintaining personal food production | Recreational landings in aggregate |
Element | Definition | Indicators |
---|---|---|
Management | ||
Control | Risk of not achieving OY due to inadequate control | Catch compared to allocation |
Interactions | Risk of not achieving OY due to interactions with species managed by other entities | Number and type of interactions with protected or non-MAFMC managed species, co-management |
Other ocean uses | Risk of not achieving OY due to other human uses | Fishery overlap with energy/mining areas |
Regulatory complexity | Risk of not achieving compliance due to complexity | Number of regulations by species |
Discards | Risk of not minimizing bycatch to extent practicable | Standardized Bycatch Reporting |
Allocation | Risk of not achieving OY due to spatial mismatch of stocks and management | Distribution shifts + number of interests |
"So what?" --John Boreman, September 2016
Clear linkage of ecosystem indicators with management objectives
Synthesis across indicators for big picture
Objectives related to human-well being placed first in report
Short (< 30 pages), non-technical (but rigorous) text
Emphasis on reproducibility
State of the ecosystem reports were revised to emphasize linkages between management objectives, local social systems, human activities, marine habitat, the environment, and the marine ecological community.
Synthetic overview
Human dimensions
Protected species
Fish and invertebrates (managed and otherwise)
Habitat quality and ecosystem productivity
Objective Categories | Indicators |
---|---|
Seafood Production | Landings by feeding guild |
Profits | Revenue by feeding guild |
Recreation | Number of anglers and trips; recreational catch |
Stability | Diversity indices (fishery and species) |
Social & Cultural | Commercial and recreational reliance |
Biomass | Biomass or abundance by feeding guild from surveys |
Productivity | Condition and recruitment of managed species |
Trophic structure | Relative biomass of feeding guilds, primary productivity |
Habitat | Estuarine and offshore habitat conditions |
Status (short-term) and trend (long-term) of components are measured as indicators and plotted in a standardized way
Indicators are selected to
Be broadly informative about a component in a management context1-3
Minimize redundancy of information
Be responsive to ecosystem change
[1] Rice J. C.Rochet M. J. "A framework for selecting a suite of indicators for fisheries management." ICES Journal of Marine Science 62 (2005): 516–527.
[2] Link J. 2010. Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management: Confronting Tradeoffs . Cambridge University Press, New York.
[3] Zador, Stephani G., et al. "Ecosystem considerations in Alaska: the value of qualitative assessments." ICES Journal of Marine Science 74.1 (2017): 421-430.
The figure format is illustrated here. Trend lines are shown when slope is significantly different from 0 at the p < 0.05 level. An orange line signifies an overall positive trend, and purple signifies a negative trend. To minimize bias introduced by small sample size, no trend is fit for < 30 year time series. Dashed lines represent mean values of time series unless the indicator is an anomaly, in which case the dashed line is equal to 0. Shaded regions indicate the past ten years. If there are no new data for the most recent year, the shaded region will still cover this time period.
Indicators
This element is applied at the ecosystem level. Revenue serves as a proxy for commercial profits.
Risk Level | Definition |
---|---|
Low | No trend and low variability in revenue |
Low-Moderate | Increasing or high variability in revenue |
Moderate-High | Significant long term revenue decrease |
High | Significant recent decrease in revenue |
Ranked moderate-high risk due to the significant long term revenue decrease for Mid-Atlantic managed species (red points in top plot)
This element is applied at the ecosystem level, and ranks the risk of not achieving optimum yield due to changes in ecosystem productivity at the base of the food web.
Four indicators are used together to assess risk of changing ecosystem productivity: primary production, zooplankton abundance, fish condition and fish recruitment.
Risk Level | Definition |
---|---|
Low | No trends in ecosystem productivity |
Low-Moderate | Trend in ecosystem productivity (1-2 measures, increase or decrease) |
Moderate-High | Trend in ecosystem productivity (3+ measures, increase or decrease) |
High | Decreasing trend in ecosystem productivity, all measures |
We examine trends in total primary production, zooplankton abundance for a key Mid-Atlantic species, and two aggregate fish productivity measures: condition factor (weight divided by length of individual fish) and a survey based "recruitment" (small fish to large fish) index.
Ranked low-moderate risk due to the significant long term trends in zooplankton abundance for major species (top right plot)
This element is applied at the species level. Risks to species productivity (and therefore to achieving optimum yield) due to projected climate change in the Northeast US were evaluated in a comprehensive assessment1.
Risk Level | Definition |
---|---|
Low | Low climate vulnerability ranking |
Low-Moderate | Moderate climate vulnerability ranking |
Moderate-High | High climate vulnerability ranking |
High | Very high climate vulnerability ranking |
[1] Hare, J. A., Morrison, W. E., Nelson, M. W., Stachura, M. M., Teeters, E. J., Griffis, R. B., Alexander, M. A., et al. 2016. A Vulnerability Assessment of Fish and Invertebrates to Climate Change on the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf. PLOS ONE, 11: e0146756. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0146756.
Each species ranked according to position/color in the plot on the right
Species | MgtControl | TecInteract | OceanUse | RegComplex | Discards | Allocation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ocean Quahog-C | lowest | lowest | lowmod | lowest | lowest | lowest |
Surfclam-C | lowest | lowest | lowmod | lowest | lowest | lowest |
Summer flounder-R | modhigh | lowest | lowmod | highest | highest | highest |
Summer flounder-C | lowmod | modhigh | lowmod | modhigh | lowmod | highest |
Scup-R | lowest | lowest | lowmod | modhigh | modhigh | lowest |
Scup-C | lowest | modhigh | lowmod | modhigh | modhigh | lowest |
Black sea bass-R | highest | lowest | modhigh | highest | modhigh | highest |
Black sea bass-C | lowmod | lowmod | highest | modhigh | lowmod | highest |
Atl. mackerel-R | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | highest |
Atl. mackerel-C | lowest | lowmod | modhigh | highest | lowmod | highest |
Butterfish-C | lowest | lowmod | modhigh | highest | modhigh | lowest |
Longfin squid-C | lowest | modhigh | highest | highest | highest | highest |
Shortfin squid-C | lowest | lowmod | lowmod | lowmod | lowest | lowest |
Golden tilefish-R | na | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest |
Golden tilefish-C | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest |
Blueline tilefish-R | lowest | lowest | lowest | modhigh | lowest | highest |
Blueline tilefish-C | lowest | lowest | lowest | modhigh | lowest | highest |
Bluefish-R | lowmod | lowest | lowest | lowest | modhigh | highest |
Bluefish-C | lowest | lowest | lowmod | lowmod | lowmod | highest |
Spiny dogfish-R | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest |
Spiny dogfish-C | lowest | modhigh | modhigh | modhigh | lowmod | highest |
Unmanaged forage | na | na | na | na | na | na |
Deepsea corals | na | na | modhigh | na | na | na |
[1] Gaichas, S. K., DePiper, G. S., Seagraves, R. J., Muffley, B. W., Sabo, M., Colburn, L. L., and Loftus, A. L. 2018. Implementing Ecosystem Approaches to Fishery Management: Risk Assessment in the US Mid-Atlantic. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5.
Species level risk elements
Species | Assess | Fstatus | Bstatus | FW1Pred | FW1Prey | FW2Prey | Climate | DistShift | EstHabitat |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ocean Quahog | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | highest | modhigh | lowest |
Surfclam | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | modhigh | modhigh | lowest |
Summer flounder | lowest | lowest | lowmod | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowmod | modhigh | highest |
Scup | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowmod | modhigh | highest |
Black sea bass | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | modhigh | modhigh | highest |
Atl. mackerel | lowest | highest | highest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowmod | modhigh | lowest |
Butterfish | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | highest | lowest |
Longfin squid | lowmod | lowmod | lowmod | lowest | lowest | lowmod | lowest | modhigh | lowest |
Shortfin squid | lowmod | lowmod | lowmod | lowest | lowest | lowmod | lowest | highest | lowest |
Golden tilefish | lowest | lowest | lowmod | lowest | lowest | lowest | modhigh | lowest | lowest |
Blueline tilefish | highest | highest | modhigh | lowest | lowest | lowest | modhigh | lowest | lowest |
Bluefish | lowest | lowest | lowmod | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | modhigh | highest |
Spiny dogfish | lowmod | lowest | lowmod | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | highest | lowest |
Monkfish | highest | lowmod | lowmod | lowest | lowest | lowest | lowest | modhigh | lowest |
Unmanaged forage | na | na | na | lowest | lowmod | lowmod | na | na | na |
Deepsea corals | na | na | na | lowest | lowest | lowest | na | na | na |
Ecosystem level risk elements
System | EcoProd | CommRev | RecVal | FishRes1 | FishRes4 | FleetDiv | Social | ComFood | RecFood |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mid-Atlantic | lowmod | modhigh | highest | lowest | modhigh | lowest | lowmod | highest | modhigh |
Working group of habitat, biology, stock assessment, management, economic and social scientists developed:
Final conceptual model and supporting information at December 2019 Council meeting
Council to proceed with management strategy evaluation (MSE) using the information from conceptual modeling as a basis. Topic: addressing recreational fishery discards with EAFM
In this interactive circular graph visualization, model elements identified as important by the Council (through risk assessment) and by the working group (through a range of experience and expertise) are at the perimeter of the circle. Elements are defined in detail in the last section of this page. Relationships between elements are represented as links across the center of the circle to other elements on the perimeter. Links from a model element that affect another element start wide at the base and are color coded to match the category of the element they affect.Hover over a perimeter section (an element) to see all relationships for that element, including links from other elements. Hover over a link to see what it connects. Links by default show text for the two elements and the direction of the relationship (1 for relationship, 0 for no relationship--most links are one direction).For example, hovering over the element "Total Landings" in the full model shows that the working group identified the elements affected by landings as Seafood Production, Recreational Value, and Commercial Profits (three links leading out from landings), and the elements affecting landings as Fluke SSB, Fluke Distributional Shift, Risk Buffering, Management Control, Total Discards, and Shoreside Support (6 links leading into Total Landings).
Integrated ecosystem assessment is a valuable framework for the general implementation of ecosystem approaches to natural resource management
The Council’s rapid progress in implementing EAFM resulted from positive collaboration between managers, stakeholders, and scientists. Collaboration is essential to IEA and to the success of EAFM.
Ecosystem indicators and reporting can be tailored to specific regional objectives.
Risk assessment is a rapid, familiar, scaleable, and transparent method to move forward with EAFM within a real-world operational fishery management context.
This EAFM process highlights certain species and certain management issues as posing higher cumulative risks to meeting Council-derived management objectives when considering a broad range of ecological, social, and economic factors.
Conceptual modeling links the key factors for high risk fisheries and scopes more detailed integrated analysis and management strategy evaluation.
The Council foresees refining the process so that ecosystem indicators monitor risks to achieving ecological, social, and economic fishery objectives, which can then be mitigated through management action.
This workflows also ensures that there's no information lost between SOE cycles. We know exactly how a data set was analyzed and handled so that the data can be updated for next year's reports.
The New England and Mid-Atlantic Ecosystem reports made possible by (at least) 38 contributors from 8 institutions
Donald Anderson (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute)
Amani Bassyouni (Virginia Department of Health)
Lisa Calvo (Rutgers)
Matthew Camisa (MA Division of Marine Fisheries)
Patricia Clay
Lisa Colburn
Geret DePiper
Deb Duarte
Michael Fogarty
Paula Fratantoni
Kevin Friedland
Sarah Gaichas
James Gartland (Virginia Institute of Marine Science)
Heather Haas
Sean Hardison
Kimberly Hyde
Terry Joyce (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute)
John Kosik
Steve Kress (National Audubon Society)
Scott Large
Don Lyons (National Audubon Society)
Loren Kellogg
David Kulis (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute)
Sean Lucey
Chris Melrose
Ryan Morse
Kimberly Murray
Chris Orphanides
Richard Pace
Charles Perretti
Karl Roscher (Maryland Department of Natural Resources)
Vincent Saba
Laurel Smith
Mark Terceiro
John Walden
Harvey Walsh
Mark Wuenschel
Qian Zhang (Unversity of Maryland and US EPA Chesapeake Bay Program)
Contacts:
sarah.gaichas@noaa.gov
geret.depiper@noaa.gov
bmuffley@mafmc.org
sean.lucey@noaa.gov
Diverse stakeholders agreed that an ecosystem approach was necessary. Developing and implementing an ecosystem approach to fishery management was done in collaboration between managers, stakeholders, and scientists.
Outline
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Ecosystem Approach (EAFM)
Tailoring ecosystem reporting for fishery managers
Mid-Atlantic EAFM risk assessment
Mid-Atlantic EAFM conceptual modeling (towards MSE)
Improvements: open-source data and technical documentation
Integrated Ecosystem Assessment
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