PARENT SESSION
Oral Session 9: Marine Ecology I: Management.
Presiding: D Policansky
Monday, August 2, 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, Meeting Room C 120.

Ecosystem-based management for the oceans: Integrating fisheries and ecosystem conservation.

McLeod, Karen^*,1, ¹ COMPASS, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

ABSTRACT- Marine ecosystems around the globe are experiencing unprecedented changes, leading to calls for ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management (EBFM). Although timely and appropriate, EBFM represents only a subset of fully integrated ecosystem-based management (EBM) for the oceans. Fishing has multiple, unintended, negative consequences for target and non-target species, habitats, and the trophic structure of marine communities. However, a myriad of other human activities both on land and at sea also impact the oceans; the cumulative effects of these multiple stressors are transforming marine ecosystems. An ecosystem-based approach allows for more holistic thinking that acknowledges that ecological and social systems, including fisheries, are linked parts of a larger whole. Fishery production is entirely dependent on functioning ecosystems, yet a false dichotomy between fisheries and ecosystem conservation goals pervades much of current management. If we continue to manage marine ecosystems with the goal of providing only the sustainable yield of particular species or maintaining systems within a perceived optimal state, they may experience irreversible, catastrophic shifts. I will review recent case studies that demonstrate the need for EBM, including increased frequency and severity of pathogens, harmful algal blooms, and coral bleaching; shifts in species dominance and between ecosystem states; and the functional importance of biological diversity. I will give examples that illustrate linkages between fisheries and ecosystem conservation and demonstrate the negative consequences of managing fisheries without explicitly considering the ecosystems in which they are embedded. Key scientific and policy questions remain to be addressed in order to operationalize EBM for the oceans, but reconciling fisheries policy with oceans policy is clearly a necessary step.

Key words: fisheries, ocean policy, ecosystem-based management, marine conservation