Responsible Approach to Marine Stock Enhancement: An Update

Abstract

Marine stock enhancement is a set of management approaches involving the release of cultured organisms to enhance or restore fisheries. Such practices, including sea ranching, stock enhancement, and restocking, are widespread, of variable success, and often controversial. A set of principles aimed at promoting responsible development of restocking, stock enhancement, and sea ranching has been proposed by Blankenship and Leber [American Fisheries Society Symposia 15: 167–175 (1995)], and has gained widespread acceptance as the ‘Responsible Approach’. Fisheries science and management, in general, and many aspects of fisheries enhancement have developed rapidly since the responsible approach was first formulated. Here we provide an update to the Responsible Approach in light of these developments. The updated approach emphasizes the need for taking a broad and integrated view of the role of enhancements within fisheries management systems; using a stakeholder participatory and scientifically informed, accountable planning process; and assessing the potential contribution of enhancement and alternative or additional measures to fisheries management goals early on in the development or reform process. Progress in fisheries assessment methods applicable to enhancements and in fisheries governance provides the means for practical implementation of the updated approach.

Keywords:

• fisheries enhancement
• stock enhancement
• sea ranching
• restocking
• responsible approach
• planning
• assessment
• population dynamics
• models

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Our work on this paper was supported by the William R and Lenore Mote Eminent Scholar Chair in Fisheries Ecology at Florida State University and Mote Marine Laboratory (KL); the Science Consortium for Ocean Replenishment (SCORE) and the Charles M. Breder Chair at Mote Marine Laboratory (KML); and both the Hatchery Science Review Group and SCORE (HLB). We particularly want to thank Rich Lincoln for his contributions to the ideas expressed in the original ‘Responsible Approach’ paper, which are embodied here also.