It’s all about the ecosystem 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

An idea “as old as the hills

Biologists Francis, a retired professor at the University of Washington, and Field, a scientist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, say the council should consider the ecosystem's needs as a whole when making decisions, rather than its current system of managing for single species. (Considering ecosystem-based fisheries management in the California Current, Marine Policy, 2006).

Ecosystem approaches mean different things to different people, but as Francis and Field note, the “underlying concept is as old as the hills.”

Managers of marine fisheries must take into greater consideration everything from climate change to the role of humans as both predators and competitors in their hunt for food, they say.

The traditional approach, and the one taken by the Pacific council, is to emphasize production. The council tries to maintain fish populations as close as possible to “the maximum amount of surplus production, or maximum sustainable yield.” Usually that means removing 60 percent of any single species from the ocean. When the council determines maximum sustainable yield, it does not take into account the needs of other species in the food web.

The Pacific council, which has responsibility for managing ocean fisheries, has published volumes of information on single species, but has never even tried to evaluate the needs of the ecosystem. The council has talked about drawing up ecosystem-based fishery management plans, but claims it lacks the funding to begin working on them.

Other councils have embraced the ecosystem approach, including councils in Hawai`i and Alaska.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council in Alaska publishes a yearly “Ecosystem Considerations” report on the health of Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska,. It also has developed a “fishery ecosystem plan.” These documents evaluate the marine ecosystems and guide decisions. The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council in Hawai`i, or Wespac, has published a fishery ecosystem plan, but the document represents little more than old plans with a new cover.

The Pacific council has done neither of these. It has been extremely sensitive to fishing communities and fish companies in their call for increased harvests, especially in the wake of economically painful decisions over the last decade to cut fishing on depleted species. There's a gnawing fear among fishers that ecosystem-based management could cost them more jobs or income.

Others point out that ecosystem-based management by definition would lead to greater sustainability for all species, larger harvests in the long run and provide a buffer against climate change.

The council is dominated by fishing interests, including recreational and commercial fishers, government fishery agencies, and seafood processors. While its meetings are open to anyone who wants to testify, its decisions are left largely to industry insiders in both the private and public sectors.

That does not mean that the Pacific council vote for its members' pocketbooks every time. In fact, the council has voted to close areas and seasons for conserving the depleted rockfish. However, the council took some of its conservation actions on behalf of rockfish only after it was ordered to do so by the federal courts.

The Pacific council's record includes the designation of 500,000 square miles of essential fish habitat, where bottom trawling is banned - though other types of fishing are allowed.

While many fishers strongly oppose marine reserves, some fishing groups have acknowledged the potential benefit of ecosystem planning, such as the creation of marine reserves where all types of fishing is not allowed. While marine reserves reduce the size of fishing grounds, they can also benefit fishers.

“What the science has shown is that generally there are more fish, or at least resident fish, and they tend to be larger, when fishing is restricted or prohibited within these areas,” says Zeke Grader, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA), the west coast's largest trade association of commercial fishing families.

Scientists have found that a marine reserve in the California Current may be most valuable for their ability to protect the big, fat old female rockfish that have been shown to produce by far the most offspring. Fishers traditionally target these fish because of their high value at the fish market.

Problems that plague the changing ecosystem are likely to persist or get worse if policy-makers fail to understand the changes and fail to plan accordingly. If the Pacific council fails to consider the ecosystem's needs, other government agencies are bound to step in and develop ecosystem plans in the absence of council action. Indeed, that's already happening.

It’s all about the ecosystem 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

An idea “as old as the hills

Next: A turf battle with the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

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