Assessing social--ecological trade-offs to advance ecosystem-based fisheries management

PLoS One. 2014 Sep 30;9(9):e107811. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107811. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Modern resource management faces trade-offs in the provision of various ecosystem goods and services to humanity. For fisheries management to develop into an ecosystem-based approach, the goal is not only to maximize economic profits, but to consider equally important conservation and social equity goals. We introduce such a triple-bottom line approach to the management of multi-species fisheries using the Baltic Sea as a case study. We apply a coupled ecological-economic optimization model to address the actual fisheries management challenge of trading-off the recovery of collapsed cod stocks versus the health of ecologically important forage fish populations. Management strategies based on profit maximization would rebuild the cod stock to high levels but may cause the risk of stock collapse for forage species with low market value, such as Baltic sprat (Fig. 1A). Economically efficient conservation efforts to protect sprat would be borne almost exclusively by the forage fishery as sprat fishing effort and profits would strongly be reduced. Unless compensation is paid, this would challenge equity between fishing sectors (Fig. 1B). Optimizing equity while respecting sprat biomass precautionary levels would reduce potential profits of the overall Baltic fishery, but may offer an acceptable balance between overall profits, species conservation and social equity (Fig. 1C). Our case study shows a practical example of how an ecosystem-based fisheries management will be able to offer society options to solve common conflicts between different resource uses. Adding equity considerations to the traditional trade-off between economy and ecology will greatly enhance credibility and hence compliance to management decisions, a further footstep towards healthy fish stocks and sustainable fisheries in the world ocean.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Ecosystem
  • Europe
  • Fisheries*
  • Gadus morhua*
  • Humans
  • Models, Economic
  • Population Dynamics
  • Social Environment

Grants and funding

This study has been carried out with financial support from the Cluster of Excellence "Future Ocean" of Kiel University. The research leading to the paper has also received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 289257 (MYFISH). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.