Ecosystem-based fisheries management: Perception on definitions, implementations, and aspirations

Area of Science:

• Marine biology
• Fisheries science
• Conservation science

Background:

• Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) aims for sustainable marine resource use by integrating ecosystem factors.
• Current EBFM practices face challenges due to diverse fishery characteristics and management goals.
• A significant lack of consensus exists regarding EBFM interpretation and implementation among marine science professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the variability in the interpretation of Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) among different marine science professionals.
• To assess the practical implementation of EBFM across various fisheries, regions, and ecosystems.
• To propose a more realistic approach to EBFM implementation.

Main Methods:

• Surveyed diverse marine science professionals (policy-makers, managers, scientists, conservationists, ecologists) on their understanding of EBFM.
• Developed a checklist of EBFM characteristics to evaluate fisheries.
• Scored fisheries based on region, species, ecosystem, size, and capacity to assess EBFM implementation variability.

Main Results:

• Professionals from different fields held significantly divergent views on what constitutes EBFM.
• Fisheries rarely met all criteria on the EBFM checklist, indicating implementation challenges.
• The study found that not all EBFM traits are necessary or feasible for every fishery.

Conclusions:

• A universal interpretation and application of EBFM is not currently achieved.
• Context-specific ecosystem considerations within fisheries management are more practical and effective than attempting to meet all theoretical EBFM criteria.
• The findings suggest a need for adaptive and tailored EBFM strategies that align with specific ecosystem attributes and fishery objectives.