Slide 1:

• Fishery management: Fisheries management is the process of regulating and

overseeing fishing activities to ensure sustainable use of aquatic resources.

• Objectives: Includes maintaining fish populations at sustainable levels, protecting

marine ecosystems, and maximizing long-term economic and social benefits.

• Role: The fisheries manager is responsible for planning, implementing, and enforcing
management strategies to balance conservation with economic and social needs.

• Who Is the Fisheries Manager?

• Government authorities: National and regional fisheries departments oversee policy

and enforcement.

• Local community leaders and organizations: Involved in co-management, especially

in small-scale fisheries.

• Research institutions and scientists: Provide data and recommendations for

sustainable practices.

• Industry stakeholders and fishers: Play a crucial role in compliance and decision-
making.

• Difference Between Management and Governance:

• Fisheries management: deals with regulations, strategies, and enforcement

mechanisms.

• Fisheries governance: refers to broader policy-making, legal frameworks, and

institutional arrangements.

• Key Principles for fisheries management:

• Science-Based Decision-Making

• Adaptive Management

• Compliance and Enforcement

• Equity and Fairness

Slide 2:

Importance of Biology in Fishery Management:

Key reasons why Biology matters:

 • Population Dynamics: Knowing fish growth rates, lifespan, and reproduction helps
predict sustainable harvest levels.

• Species Distribution: Understanding where and when fish are found supports better
spatial management.

• Life Cycles: Different life stages have unique vulnerabilities

Marine ecosystem overview

Marine ecosystems are complex networks of organisms interacting with their

environment. Including

• Coral reefs: Biodiversity hotspots critical for juvenile fish.

• Mangroves: Nursery grounds for many species and protect coastal areas.

• Open ocean: Wide-ranging species with complex migratory patterns.

Key Ecological Principles:

• Food Chains and Food Webs: Illustrate energy transfer between trophic levels.

• Carrying Capacity: Determines the population a habitat can support.

• Resilience: Ecosystem’s ability to recover from stress.

Growth and Mortality Rates:

• Key factors affecting growth include:

• - Temperature

• - Food availability

• - Population density

• Types of Mortality includes:

• - Natural mortality (predation, disease)

• - Fishing mortality (harvest pressure)

Habitat and Distribution:

• Fish distribution depends on:

• - Temperature: Warm-water species differ from cold-water species.

• - Salinity

• - Depth Zones: Coastal species differ from deep-sea fish.

 • - Ocean Currents: Transport larvae and influence fish movements.

Species Interactions:

Fish interactions influence population dynamics:

• - Predation: Controls species abundance (population sizes).

• - Competition: Species compete for food and space.

• - Symbiosis: Some species rely on partnerships for survival

Environmental Drivers:

Environmental factors affecting fish populations include (Climate change impacts):

• - Ocean Warming: Causes species to shift to cooler waters.

• - Sea level rise

• - Acidification: Weakens calcifying organisms like shellfish.

• - Pollution: Reduces oxygen levels and damages habitats.

Climate change impacts

Climate change alters marine ecosystems by:

• Raising ocean temperatures

• Increasing frequency of extreme weather events
• Disrupting fish migration and spawning patterns
• Changing ocean temperatures shift species distribution
• Acidification weakens calcium-based organisms like shellfish.

Overfishing and Ecosystem Collapse:

Consequences of overfishing:

• Loss of key predators disrupts the food web

• Ecosystem imbalances can lead to stock collapse.

• Example: the Atlantic Cod collapse in the 1990s

 Slide 3:

Adaptive and Co-Management:

• Combines scientific knowledge with local experience.

• Encourages joint decision-making and shared responsibility among stakeholders.

•
Why broaden management Objectives?

• Narrow biological focus misses equity, cultural identity, and community well-being.
. Management must be holistic.

Multidimensional Goals

• • Ecological sustainability
• Economic efficiency
• Social equity
• Cultural heritage

• Equity and Inclusion:

• Special attention to marginalized groups (e.g., women, indigenous communities)

strengthens legitimacy and effectiveness.

Why are institutions important?

• Institutions define rules and norms. Effective institutions support compliance,

mediate conflicts, and sustain long-term resource use. Weak institutions lead to rule-
breaking and resource collapse.

• Role of Institutions:

• Institutions provide the rules of the game.

They affect compliance, enforcement, conflict resolution, and legitimacy.

• Good vs. Weak Institutions:

• Strong institutions: enforce rules, adapt to change, mediate conflicts.

Weak institutions: permit rule-breaking, lead to collapse.

Social -ecological resilience

• Equity in Fisheries:
 • Ensuring fair access and benefits among different groups, including gender, ethnic
minorities, and small-scale fishers.

Slide 4:

Fisheries are normally classified by a set of criteria:

▪ Economic category (industrial, artisanal, subsistence)

▪ Spatial dimension (freshwater: lake, river; marine: coastal, oceanic, foreign waters)

▪ Seasonal profile (may involve dynamic adaptations to natural variations)

▪ Home port (the origin of the vessel)

▪ Landing port (from which the fleet operates)

▪ Fishing gears (alternating seasons)

▪ Vessel size

▪ Targeted species

▪ Product types

▪ Markets

Cost data can be separated into three cost components:

▪ Fixed costs

▪ Effort-dependent costs

▪ Costs varying with catch quantities

What are opportunity costs of fishing?

▪ The opportunity cost of labor is based on the highest wages fishers could earn in
alternative employment

▪ Opportunity cost of capital is the return it could generate in another investment.

Basic market failures in fisheries:

▪ Fisheries represent a classic case of market failure, particularly under open access
conditions.
 ▪ Markets typically allocate resources efficiently, common-pool resources like fish
stocks often result in overuse because users pay nothing for access.

Bio economic reasonings

• Bioeconomic reasoning combines biological stock dynamics with economic behavior

to analyze fisheries.

Bio economic equilibrium:

In an unregulated fishery, open access allows all fishers to harvest the same stock, leading to
competition and overexploitation.

The economics of Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY): maximum sustainable yield ( MSY)
represents the largest long-term biological catch a fishery can support. While MSY is a useful
biological reference point, it lacks consistent economic meaning.

Resource rent maximisation: aims to achieve the highest long-term economic return from a
fishery by restricting effort below the level of Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY).

How do politics interfere with economics?

▪ Fisheries management is inherently political, as regulations reflect societal priorities

rather than purely economic logic. While economic theory offers tools to evaluate
efficiency and sustainability.

The short history of resource conservation:

▪ Fisheries management emerged as a response to crises driven by overfishing and

rapid technological change. Early concerns led to the establishment of ICES in 1902
and later scientific advances by Beaverton and Holt.

Technical measures:

▪ Technical measures, such as gear regulations, were among the earliest tools used in
fisheries management to protect biological resources.

Taxation:

Taxation in fisheries, as proposed by Gordon (1954), aims to reduce effort and capture
resource rent without disrupting markets.

Entry limitation:

is a direct and often necessary method to reduce fishing effort when indirect measures fail.

It restricts access by granting fishing rights to selected individuals, potentially using

controversy “dispute” over fairness.

Quota regulations:
Quota regulations shift control from input (effort) to output (catch), commonly through
Total Allowable Catch (TAC) limits.