State of the Ecosystem (SOE) reporting
Improving ecosystem information and synthesis for fishery managers
Ecosystem indicators linked to management objectives (DePiper, et al., 2017)
- Contextual information
- Report evolving since 2016
- Fishery-relevant subset of full Ecosystem Status Reports
Open science emphasis (Bastille, et al., 2020)
Used within Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's Ecosystem Process (Muffley, et al., 2020)
The IEA Loop1
State of the Ecosystem summary: Retain for 2022 and update where possible
Ecosystem synthesis themes: emphasize throughout document
Characterizing ecosystem change for fishery management
- Societal, biological, physical and chemical factors comprise the multiple system drivers that influence marine ecosystems through a variety of different pathways.
- Changes in the multiple drivers can lead to regime shifts — large, abrupt and persistent changes in the structure and function of an ecosystem.
- Regime shifts and changes in how the multiple system drivers interact can result in ecosystem reorganization as species and humans respond and adapt to the new environment.
Document Orientation
Spatial scale
A glossary of terms (2021 Memo 5), detailed technical methods documentation and indicator data are available online.
Key to figures
Trends assessed only for 30+ years: more information
Orange line = significant increase
Purple line = significant decrease
No color line = not significant or < 30 yearsGrey background = last 10 years
Performance relative to management objectives
Objective: Seafood production 
Indicators: Commercial and recreational landings
Key: Black = Landings of all species combined;
Red = Landings of MAFMC managed species
Multiple drivers: ecosystem and stock production, management, market conditions, and environment
Is biomass driving?
Key: Black = NEFSC survey;
Red = NEAMAP survey
Landings drivers: Ecosystem or stock production?
Key: Orange background = Tipping point overfishing threshold, Link and Watson 2019 Green background = Optimal range, Link and Watson 2019
Implications: Seafood Production
Key: Black = Landings of all species combined;
Red = Landings of MAFMC managed species
Drivers:
- market dynamics affecting commercial landings of surfclams and ocean quahogs
- other drivers affecting recreational landings: shark fishery management, possibly survey methodology
Monitor:
- climate risks including warming, ocean acidification, and shifting distributions
- ecosystem composition and production changes
- fishing engagement
Objective: Commercial Profits
Indicator: Commercial Revenue
Key: Black = Revenue of all species combined;
Red = Revenue of MAFMC managed species
- Surfclams and ocean quahogs are sensitive to ocean warming and acidification.
- pH in surfclam summer habitat is approaching, but not yet at, pH affecting surfclam growth
Indicator: Bennet--price and volume indices
Multiple drivers of landings, revenue, recreation: new indicator
Indicator: Realized catch relative to management target (ABC or ACL)
Implications
Objective: Recreational opportunities 
;
Indicators: Recreational effort and fleet diversity
Implications
Recreational effort ...
Decline in recreational fleet diversity suggests a potentially reduced range of opportunities.
Driven by party/charter contraction (from a high of 24% of angler trips to 7% currently), and a shift toward shore based angling.
Absence of a long-term trend in recreational effort suggests relative stability in the overall number of recreational opportunities in the MAB.
2021 Memo 22-23, Cumulative weather index and management complexity drivers under construction
Objective: Stability
Fishery Indicators: Commercial fleet count, fleet diversity
Fishery Indicators: commercial species revenue diversity, recreational species catch diversity
Objective: Stability 
Ecological Indicators: zooplankton and larval fish diversity
Ecological Indicator: expected number of species, NEFSC bottom trawl survey
Implications:
- stable capacity to respond to the current range of commercial fishing opportunities
- recreational catch diversity maintained by a different set of species over time
- monitor zooplankton diversity driven by declining dominant species
Objective: Commercial fishing community status, environmental justice
Indicators: Social vulnerability, fishery engagement and reliance
Mid-Atlantic commercial fishing communities
Implications: Highlighted communities may be vulnerable to changes in fishing patterns due to regulations and/or climate change. When any of these communities are also experiencing social vulnerability, they may have lower ability to successfully respond to change. These indicators may also point to communities that are vulnerable to environmental justice issues.
Objective: Recreational fishing community status, environmental justice
Indicators: Social vulnerability, fishery engagement and reliance
Mid-Atlantic recreational fishing communities
Implications: Highlighted communities may be vulnerable to changes in fishing patterns due to regulations and/or climate change. When any of these communities are also experiencing social vulnerability, they may have lower ability to successfully respond to change. These indicators may also point to communities that are vulnerable to environmental justice issues.
Objectives: Protected species Maintain bycatch below thresholds 
Indicators: Harbor porpoise and gray seal bycatch
Implications:
- Currently meeting objectives
The downward trend in harbor porpoise bycatch can also be due to a decrease in harbor porpoise abundance in US waters, reducing their overlap with fisheries, and a decrease in gillnet effort.
The increasing trend in gray seal bycatch may be related to an increase in the gray seal population (U.S. pup counts).
Objectives: Protected species Recover endangered populations
Indicators: North Atlantic right whale population, calf counts
Implications:
Population drivers for North Atlantic Right Whales (NARW) include combined fishery interactions/ship strikes, distribution shifts, and copepod availability.
Unusual mortality events continue for 3 large whale species, harbor and gray seals.
Risks to meeting fishery management objectives
Risks: Climate change
Indicators: ocean currents, bottom and surface temperature, marine heatwaves
Risks: Climate change and estuarine habitat
Indicators: Estuarine conditions, Chesapeake Bay
Risks: Climate change and estuarine habitat
Indicator: SAV trends in Chesapeake Bay
Indicator: Water quality attainment
Implications: (synthesize with Chesapeake Bay summary a few slides from now)
Risks: Climate change and offshore habitat
Indicator: cold pool indices
Indicator: warm core rings
Indicator: acidification
Risks: Ecosystem productivity
Indicators: primary production, zooplankton
Risks: Ecosystem productivity
Indicators: plankton-based forage anomaly and forage fish energy content (2021 Memo 17)
Implications: fluctuating environmental conditions and prey for forage species affect both abundance and energy content. Energy content varies by season, and has changed over time most dramatically for Atlantic herring
Risks: Ecosystem productivity
Indicators: fish condition (2021 Memo 18)
Preliminary results (2021):
- Multiple, different condition drivers by species
- Acadian redfish, butterfish and winter flounder more affected by fishing pressure and stock size
- Weakfish, windowpane flounder, and American plaice more affected by local bottom temperatures and zooplankton
Indicator: fish productivity anomaly
Risks: Ecosystem structure
Indicators: distribution shifts continue (slide 7), diversity mixed (slide 16), here summarize predator status and trends (2021 Memo 12, 15, 25)
No trend in aggregate sharks
Shark populations mainly at or above target
Gray seals increasing (details in NE report)
Implications: stable predator populations suggest stable predation pressure on managed species, but increasing predator populations may reflect increasing predation pressure.
Implications: Climate change and managed species
Multiple drivers with different impacts by species
Chesapeake Bay
- Warm winter water temperatures may have lowered striped bass recruitment; recruitments have trended down over the last 20 years.
- High summer salinities may have benefited oyster recruitment, growth, and survival.
- Average water temperatures and low hypoxic volume in summer are better for striped bass.
- Hurricane Ida reduced hypoxia in the short term, but warm fall temperatures and high-precipitation events resulted in above-average hypoxia overall.
- Warm winter water temperatures may have lowered striped bass recruitment; recruitments have trended down over the last 20 years.
Ocean acidification impact on shellfish growth
- Surfclams vulnerable to increased temperature and acidification
- Areas of low pH identified in surfclam and scallop habitat
- Lab work in progress identified pH thresholds for surfclam growth: approaching threshold
Shifting species distributions alter both species interactions, fishery interactions, and expected management outcomes from spatial allocations and bycatch measures based on historical fish and protected species distributions.
Risks: Offshore Wind Development
Indicators: development timeline, community specific revenue in lease areas
State of the Ecosystem → MAFMC Risk assessent example: Commercial revenue
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)
Key: Black = Revenue of all species combined;
Red = Revenue of MAFMC managed species
State of the Ecosystem → MAFMC Risk assessent example: Commercial revenue
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)
Key: Black = Revenue of all species combined;
Red = Revenue of MAFMC managed species