Ecosystem-based fisheries management forestalls climate-driven collapse

K K Holsman; A C Haynie; A B Hollowed; J C P Reum; K Aydin; A J Hermann; W Cheng; A Faig; J N Ianelli; K A Kearney; A E Punt

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-18300-3

Ecosystem-based fisheries management forestalls climate-driven collapse

Nat Commun. 2020 Sep 11;11(1):4579. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18300-3.

Authors

K K Holsman^{1

2}, A C Haynie³, A B Hollowed^{3

4}, J C P Reum^{3

4

5}, K Aydin^{3

4}, A J Hermann^{6

7}, W Cheng^{6

7}, A Faig⁴, J N Ianelli^{3

4}, K A Kearney^{3

6}, A E Punt⁴

Affiliations

¹ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA, 98115, USA. kirstin.holsman@noaa.gov.
² School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA. kirstin.holsman@noaa.gov.
³ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA, 98115, USA.
⁴ School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
⁵ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.
⁶ Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, now Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
⁷ Ocean Environment Research Division, NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA.

Abstract

Climate change is impacting fisheries worldwide with uncertain outcomes for food and nutritional security. Using management strategy evaluations for key US fisheries in the eastern Bering Sea we find that Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) measures forestall future declines under climate change over non-EBFM approaches. Yet, benefits are species-specific and decrease markedly after 2050. Under high-baseline carbon emission scenarios (RCP 8.5), end-of-century (2075-2100) pollock and Pacific cod fisheries collapse in >70% and >35% of all simulations, respectively. Our analysis suggests that 2.1-2.3 °C (modeled summer bottom temperature) is a tipping point of rapid decline in gadid biomass and catch. Multiyear stanzas above 2.1 °C become commonplace in projections from ~2030 onward, with higher agreement under RCP 8.5 than simulations with moderate carbon mitigation (i.e., RCP 4.5). We find that EBFM ameliorates climate change impacts on fisheries in the near-term, but long-term EBFM benefits are limited by the magnitude of anticipated change.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Associated data

figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.12568625.v1