Fisheries-Led Development in the South Pacific: Charting a “Pacific Way” to a Sustainable Future

Considerable debate surrounds the appropriate mix of policies to drive fishing-led development among the developing nations in the South Pacific. Since the 1970s, South Pacific small island states have committed themselves to policies of tuna industry domestication, but serious doubts have emerged as to whether these can deliver improvements to the well-being of Pacific peoples. An alternative policy approach has been suggested by development economists that would see Pacific Island nations largely abandon direct involvement in the industry and return to collective efforts to secure reasonable access fees from distant water fishing nations that take the majority of the region's tuna catches. This article argues that one reason that this policy shift has not been taken is that tuna industry domestication policies remain bound up within the influential discourse of “resource nationalism.” It is contended that any movement toward a more environmentally and developmentally sustainable ocean fisheries policy will require close engagement and transformation of this sovereignty-focused narrative.     

Rio Plus Ten: The Evolution of International Marine Fisheries Governance

The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held at Rio de Janeiro was a seminal event that addressed the interplay of economic development and human use of natural resources with the need for protection of the natural environment. The general principles embodied in the Rio Declaration and the provisions included in the comprehensive Agenda 21 expressed the expectations of the international community and set the stage for national and international policy and legal developments in a host of different areas, including the governance of the ocean's living resources. Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 focused on the world's oceans and seas and crystallized growing world community concern with problems such as unregulated fishing, fishing vessel reflagging, overcapitalization of the fishing industry, inadequate fisheries enforcement, and insufficient cooperation among states. Further, the documentation of UNCED evidenced interest in new governance frameworks and concepts such as ecosystem-based management and precaution. In retrospect, it is clear that the ideas discussed at Rio have been important and have been implemented by a variety of governments and international organizations as they exercise their responsibilities for fisheries management. This article examines the principles and approaches suggested by UNCED as they relate to world fisheries and considers how they have been reflected in global fishery agreements such as the FAO Compliance Agreement and the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, in the work of international fishery bodies such as the FAO Committee on Fisheries, and in the efforts of a number of regional fishery commissions. It also addresses the significance and ramifications of changes suggested by Agenda 21 for the future conduct and management of world marine fisheries.     

To fish or not to fish: factors at multiple scales affecting artisanal fishers' readiness to exit a declining fishery

Globally, fisheries are challenged by the combined impacts of overfishing, degradation of ecosystems and impacts of climate change, while fisheries livelihoods are further pressured by conservation policy imperatives. Fishers' adaptive responses to these pressures, such as exiting from a fishery to pursue alternative livelihoods, determine their own vulnerability, as well as the potential for reducing fishing effort and sustaining fisheries. The willingness and ability to make particular adaptations in response to change, such as exiting from a declining fishery, is influenced by economic, cultural and institutional factors operating at scales from individual fishers to national economies. Previous studies of exit from fisheries at single or few sites, offer limited insight into the relative importance of individual and larger-scale social and economic factors. We asked 599 fishers how they would respond to hypothetical scenarios of catch declines in 28 sites in five western Indian Ocean countries. We investigated how socioeconomic variables at the individual-, household- and site-scale affected whether they would exit fisheries. Site-level factors had the greatest influence on readiness to exit, but these relationships were contrary to common predictions. Specifically, higher levels of infrastructure development and economic vitality - expected to promote exit from fisheries - were associated with less readiness to exit. This may be due to site level histories of exit from fisheries, greater specialisation of fishing households, or higher rewards from fishing in more economically developed sites due to technology, market access, catch value and government subsidies. At the individual and household scale, fishers from households with more livelihood activities, and fishers with lower catch value were more willing to exit. These results demonstrate empirically how adaptive responses to change are influenced by factors at multiple scales, and highlight the importance of understanding natural resource-based livelihoods in the context of the wider economy and society.     

Individual seabirds show consistent foraging strategies in response to predictable fisheries discards

Current fishing extraction methods often generate huge quantities of dead or dying biomass that is returned to the sea in the form of discards. This practice produces a readily available clumped resource for many scavengers such as seabirds, but in the face of declining stocks and via policy change, the amount of discards produced is set to decline in the future. To understand how discards have influenced seabird foraging in the past and how birds may respond to future change requires studies examining consistent individual foraging choices. There is increasing evidence that populations may be made up of generalist or specialist foragers and this is key to the population's ability to adapt to change. Here we test for consistent individual foraging behaviour of northern gannets Morus bassanus in relation to fishing vessels and examine consequences of scavenging behaviour in terms of foraging effort and body condition. Using a combination of bird‐borne bio‐logging devices (GPS and Time Depth Recorders) with high resolution GPS data acquired through vessel monitoring systems on fishing boats, we examined the overlap between birds and fisheries. We found that during repeat foraging trips in the same breeding season, gannets regularly foraged at fishing boats but there were also clear among individual differences in the extent of fisheries overlap. Furthermore, we show for the first time that these differences represent consistent strategies – individual differences in scavenging were highly repeatable across multiple trips within a period of several weeks. However, despite this finding, we found no differences in foraging effort or body condition between scavengers and non‐scavengers. Moreover, scavenging strategy did not appear to influence diving behaviour or vary by sex. Scavenging on discards appears to be a strategy employed consistently by a subsection of the population and future work should examine whether these specialisations persist throughout and between years and what causes these individual differences, exploring possible demographic and fitness consequences in light of global changes to fish stocks and fisheries management.     

Who owns sturgeon in the Caspian? New theoretical model of social responses towards state conservation policy

This article explores responses to the implementation of Russian sturgeon conservation policy in three fishing communities (in Dagestan, Kalmykia and the Volga River delta areas), along the Western and Northern coasts of the Caspian Sea. Enforcement of regulatory measures has led to complex socio-cultural responses. We show how social responses to conservation policy generate various forms of poaching. An analytical model of ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ forms of poaching is analyzed against three regulatory measures: introduction of specially designated fishing areas in Russia’s Caspian fisheries, border zone expansion and the ban on sturgeon fishing. We explain why in Kalmykia the policy led people to stop practicing hard forms of sturgeon fishing, while fishermen in Dagestan responded in a more complex manner by displaying resistance towards the new policies.     

Food security and marine capture fisheries: characteristics, trends, drivers and future perspectives

World population is expected to grow from the present 6.8 billion people to about 9 billion by 2050. The growing need for nutritious and healthy food will increase the demand for fisheries products from marine sources, whose productivity is already highly stressed by excessive fishing pressure, growing organic pollution, toxic contamination, coastal degradation and climate change. Looking towards 2050, the question is how fisheries governance, and the national and international policy and legal frameworks within which it is nested, will ensure a sustainable harvest, maintain biodiversity and ecosystem functions, and adapt to climate change. This paper looks at global fisheries production, the state of resources, contribution to food security and governance. It describes the main changes affecting the sector, including geographical expansion, fishing capacity-building, natural variability, environmental degradation and climate change. It identifies drivers and future challenges, while suggesting how new science, policies and interventions could best address those challenges.     

Enforcement Co-operation between Norway and Russia in the Barents Sea Fisheries

This article measures the Indonesian legal framework governing fishing vessel registration and fishing vessel licensing against the relevant international fisheries instruments. It is argued that the current Indonesian regulatory framework for vessel registration and licensing is not adequate to implement Indonesia's obligations under international fisheries instruments to combat illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing.     

Close the High Seas to Fishing?

The world''s oceans are governed as a system of over 150 sovereign exclusive economic zones (EEZs, ∼42% of the ocean) and one large high seas (HS) commons (∼58% of ocean) with essentially open access. Many high-valued fish species such as tuna, billfish, and shark migrate around these large oceanic regions, which as a consequence of competition across EEZs and a global race-to-fish on the HS, have been over-exploited and now return far less than their economic potential. We address this global challenge by analyzing with a spatial bioeconomic model the effects of completely closing the HS to fishing. This policy both induces cooperation among countries in the exploitation of migratory stocks and provides a refuge sufficiently large to recover and maintain these stocks at levels close to those that would maximize fisheries returns. We find that completely closing the HS to fishing would simultaneously give rise to large gains in fisheries profit (>100%), fisheries yields (>30%), and fish stock conservation (>150%). We also find that changing EEZ size may benefit some fisheries; nonetheless, a complete closure of the HS still returns larger fishery and conservation outcomes than does a HS open to fishing.     

Combining control measures for more effective management of fisheries under uncertainty: quotas, effort limitation and protected areas

We consider combinations of three types of control measures for the management of fisheries when the input information for policy decisions is uncertain. The methods considered include effort controls, catch quotas and area closures. We simulated a hypothetical fishery loosely based on the Icelandic cod fishery, using a simple spatially explicit dynamic model. We compared the performance with respect to conserving the resource and economic return for each type of control measure alone and in combination. In general, combining more than one type of primary direct control on fishing provides a greater buffer to uncertainty than any single form of fishery control alone. Combining catch quota control with a large closed area is a most effective system for reducing the risk of stock collapse and maintaining both short and long-term economic performance. Effort controls can also be improved by adding closed areas to the management scheme. We recommend that multiple control methods be used wherever possible and that closed areas should be used to buffer uncertainty. To be effective, these closed areas must be large and exclude all principal gears to provide real protection from fishing mortality.     

Drivers of the Distribution of Fisher Effort at Lake Alaotra,Madagascar

Understanding how fishers make decisions is important for improving management of fisheries. There is debate about the extent to which small-scale fishers follow an ideal free distribution (IFD) – distributing their fishing effort efficiently according to resource availability rather than being influenced by social factors or personal preference. Using detailed data from 1800 fisher catches and from semi-structured interviews with over 700 fishers at Lake Alaotra, the largest inland fishery in Madagascar, we show that fishers generally conform to IFD. However, there were differences in catch: effort relationships between fishers using different gear types as well as other revealing deviations from the predictions of IFD. Fishers report routine as the primary determinant of their choice of fishing location, explaining why they do not quickly respond to changes in catch at a site. Understanding the influences on fishers’ spatial behaviour will allow better estimates of costs of fishing policies on resource users, and help predict their likely responses. This can inform management strategies to minimise the negative impacts of interventions, increasing local support for and compliance with rules.     

The state of exploitation of the commercial demersal fishery of Cameroon

The state of exploitation of the demersal fisheries resources of Cameroon has been assessed using the classic Schaefer's (1954) model and the Gulland'ss (1961) moving average. The euilibrium yield found with the Schaefer method is statistically different (95 % probability) and higher than the Gulland approach. Because equilibrium models consistently over-estimate MSY and its related optimum effort, management option should target the 95 % value of the estimated parameters. The resources are being over-fished; as an immediate alternative to the urgent concern, catch and/or effort quotas could be allocated to the various fishing companies, with the total allocated catch and/or effort (for all fishing companies) 5% less than the estimated parameters. Enforcement control of that policy would be simplified as fishing activities are localised in the two main estuaries of the “Cameroon River” and Riodel-Rey;results should be complemented by economic studies of the fishery, as these economic factors would explain or better predict the behaviour of the fishing industry.     

In Defense of a Folk Model: The "Skipper Effect" in the Icelandic Cod Fishery

The Icelandic folk model of fishing success emphasizes the importance of the skipper. The validity of this folk model has recently been hotly debated in the social science literature. In this study an attempt is made to estimate the role of the skipper in fishing success. First, we document by a national survey the composition of the folk model of fishing success held by the Icelandic public. Second, drawing on extensive interview data we outline the model of fishing success proposed by skippers themselves. Third, we test this folk science of the skipper by means of visual and statistical analysis against a social science model that emphasizes the role of material factors. The results show that fishing success is not determined by technological and material factors, leaving plenty of room for human factors, such as the skills and knowledge of the skipper. These results are consistent with folk notions of the skipper effect, but contradictory to earlier results of social science. Finally, the results are discussed in a theoretical context with reference to resource management and the nature of folk models.     

Fishing,predation, and temperature drive herring decline in a large marine ecosystem

Since 1960, landings of Atlantic herring have been the greatest of any marine species in Canada, surpassing Atlantic cod and accounting for 24% of the total seafood harvested in Atlantic Canada. The Scotian Shelf‐Bay of Fundy herring fisheries (NAFO Division 4VWX) is among Canada''s oldest and drives this productivity, accounting for up to 75% of the total herring catch in some years. The stocks’ productivity and overall health have declined since 1965. Despite management measures to promote recovery implemented since 2003, biomass remains low and is declining. The factors that drive the productivity of 4VWX herring are primarily unresolved, likely impeding the effectiveness of management actions on this stock. We evaluated potential drivers of herring variability by analyzing 52 time‐series that describe the temporal and spatial evolution of the 4VWX herring population and the physical, ecological, and anthropogenic factors that could affect them using structural equation models. Variation in herring biomass was best accounted for by the exploitation rate''s negative effect and the geographic distribution of fishing and recruitment. Thermal phenology and temperature adversely and egg predation positively impacted the early life stage mortality rate and, ultimately, adult biomass. These findings are broadly relevant to fisheries management, but particularly for 4VWX herring, where the current management approach does not consider their early life stage dynamics or assess them within the ecosystem or climate change contexts.     

Tendencies in the Herring Population Development of the Baltic Sea

During the 1960's a change in population structure of Baltic herring started which resulted in the dominance of spring spawners in the entire Baltic since the beginning 1970's. Autumn spawning herring is very rare in the yields of fisheries since. This development has been accompanied by a likely increase of the total stock biomass of herring in the area. Yields of herring fisheries increased remarkable up to 1984, partly as a result of increased fishing effort. Recent developments of stock biomasses point to dependencies on fluctuations of growth rates. Growth is influenced by several environmental factors but is very likely especially dependent on abundance of food and on temperature. Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea increased perhaps the abundance of food for the planktonfeeding herring but it may have been contributing to the depletion of autumn spawning herring via the declining oxygen content of bottom water layers during the past 20 years.     

Commercial fisheries,inter‐colony competition and sea depth affect foraging location of breeding Scopoli's Shearwaters Calonectris diomedea

The distribution of seabirds at sea is influenced by physical, ecological and anthropogenic factors such as sea depth, prey distribution, intra‐specific competition and commerical fishing activities. We quantified the foraging habitat preferences of Scopoli's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea in the Mediterranean Sea. We analysed habitat preferences in relation to a suite of physical and ecological variables including sea depth, net primary production and distance to other colonies (as a proxy of intra‐specific competition). Since the Mediterranean is heavily impacted by commercial fisheries, we also incorporated the distance to fishing harbours in our analyses as a proxy of the availability of discards which are a potential feeding source for Scopoli's Shearwater. Foraging birds preferred shallower waters and avoided areas close to other colonies, thereby reducing interactions with conspecifics. We also found that long‐distance trips were undertaken to areas close to fishing harbours, suggesting that these represented particularly profitable locations to compensate for the greater travelling costs involved. No differences in foraging between the sexes were recorded. This study improves our understanding of the at‐sea distribution and habitat preference of a seabird inhabiting the over‐exploited Mediterranean Sea. Our results support growing evidence that seabirds exhibit complex relationships with commerical fishing activities, which must be considered when planning conservation programmes.     

Canadian Perceptions of Commercial Fisheries Management and Marine Mammal Conservation in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

ABSTRACT

Public attitudes toward the use of fisheries and marine mammals in the northwest Atlantic have played an influential role in recent controversies over management of these resources. A thorough assessment of public sentiment has, however, been lacking. We describe the results of a survey conducted to assess Canadian public opinion regarding a variety of commercial fisheries and marine mammal issues. Over one thousand, randomly selected adult Canadians were surveyed concerning their attitudes, knowledge, and concerns toward the conservation and management of marine mammals in the northwest Atlantic. The sample included 875 members of the general public, 130 sealers and 81 commercial fishermen.

Most Canadians (93–95%) in all sampling groups and in all provinces, except Quebec (54%), expressed concern about conflicts between marine mammals and commercial fisheries. Knowledge of basic marine mammal biology, however, was strikingly deficient and variable among groups: sealers obtained the highest knowledge rating, fishers were intermediate, and the general public scored lowest. The views of the Canadian general public, sealers, and commercial fishers were highly divergent regarding prioritization of goals for Canada's commercial fishing industry. Sealers and fishers emphasized employment, cultural and economic considerations, while the general public placed greater emphasis on ecological and ethical matters. All groups agreed that the most significant threats to Canada's commercial fisheries included fishing by foreign countries, pollution, and over-fishing. Competition from marine mammals and damage to fishing equipment by marine mammals were rated as the least important threats. Fishing by foreign vessels in Canadian waters was regarded by all groups with particular suspicion.

Unlike sealers and fishers, the general public consistently disputed the notion of sacrificing the needs of marine mammals for the benefit of commercial fishing. The public also expressed a strong preference for including fishing impacts on marine mammals in setting allowable catch quotas for commercial fish stocks, and further indicated a willingness to favor the interests of marine mammals over commercial fisheries in marine mammal entanglement situations.

More than ninety percent of all respondents indicated strong support for the ‘existence value’ of seals. Most Canadians opposed sealing for fur, whereas most approved of harvesting abundant adult seal populations for meat, harvests associated with the cultures of native peoples, and harvests important to local economies. Respondents were divided regarding the harvest of seals that damage fishing gear. All groups strongly opposed the harvest of newborn seals. Sealers and residents of Newfoundland supported lethal methods of seal population control, while residents of large urban areas and women were inclined to approve of non-lethal measures. An overwhelming majority of Canadians objected to the use of poisons or clubs as a means of population control.

Consideration of the results of this study could provide an enhanced basis for fashioning mutually acceptable policy solutions and mitigating conflicts between commercial fisheries and marine mammal conservation in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.     

The fishing conservation and management act of 1976: Economic issues associated with foreign fishing fees and foreign allocations

Abstract

In April 1976 President Ford signed Public Law 94–265, the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. As this legislation comes of age, a far‐reaching and new approach to the management of our nation's fishery resources will be set into motion. Some of the most significant provisions of the Act are the restriction on the amount of foreign fishing, the charging of fees for foreign fishing privileges, and an enormous expansion of the area over which the United States exercises fisheries management control. This article briefly explains why the Act came into existence and what its key provisions are. It outlines the proposed foreign fee system for FY1977 and discusses the important economic impacts upon the United States from foreign fishing fees and restricted amounts of foreign fishing. It then examines possible policy questions and the important economic information necessary to assess them.     

Climate change and fishing: a century of shifting distribution in North Sea cod

Globally, spatial distributions of fish stocks are shifting but although the role of climate change in range shifts is increasingly appreciated, little remains known of the likely additional impact that high levels of fishing pressure might have on distribution. For North Sea cod, we show for the first time and in great spatial detail how the stock has shifted its distribution over the past 100 years. We digitized extensive historical fisheries data from paper charts in UK government archives and combined these with contemporary data to a time‐series spanning 1913–2012 (excluding both World Wars). New analysis of old data revealed that the current distribution pattern of cod – mostly in the deeper, northern‐ and north‐easternmost parts of the North Sea – is almost opposite to that during most of the Twentieth Century – mainly concentrated in the west, off England and Scotland. Statistical analysis revealed that the deepening, northward shift is likely attributable to warming; however, the eastward shift is best explained by fishing pressure, suggestive of significant depletion of the stock from its previous stronghold, off the coasts of England and Scotland. These spatial patterns were confirmed for the most recent 3½ decades by data from fisheries‐independent surveys, which go back to the 1970s. Our results demonstrate the fundamental importance of both climate change and fishing pressure for our understanding of changing distributions of commercially exploited fish.     

Fish, Fact and Fantasy: a Long View

This paper suggests ways forward from the widely perceived present failures of fishery assessment and management. A history of fishery yield modelling is presented from the carefree days of the 1950s to the depressing series of stock collapses and depletions of the 1980s. Underlying this gruesome story has been the failure of management by quotas to arrest overcapacity in fishing power, the lack of robust and informative reference points and the inadequacy of methods dealing with some multispecies fisheries. The paper refines the use of the concept of Fext, defined as the minimum value of F in a self-regenerating yield model that leads to eventual extinction in a family of yield curves generated with a range of stock recruitment curves. Model reconstructions for North Sea cod and Icelandic herring make evident calamitous losses in catches forgone as result of the failure of rational management. An optimistic agenda that may achieve more effective fishery management in the future is presented. In some ways, we may have been trying to be too clever. A simple management system based on careful monitoring of fishing effort, biological targets such as F95, and exploitation of a diversity of fish resources may suffice to avert further disaster and hedge against uncertainty.