Sustainable Fisheries: Multi-Level Approaches to a Global Problem

Sustainable Fisheries: Multi-Level Approaches to a Global Problem

Edited by William W. Taylor, Abigail J. Lynch and Michael G. Schechter

Herndon, VA, American Fisheries Society, 2011, 399 pp, index, ISBN 13: 978-1-934874-21-9. £49.50, US$79.00 (paperback)

This volume is the outcome of a symposium and subsequent working dinner on global sustainable fisheries convened at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Through examination of biological case studies spanning several continents – detailing a cross-section of fisheries/fish-farming operations for freshwater, marine, and anadromous fish species – the book provides a broad-based examination of the many issues, problems, and concerns which challenge fisheries management, threaten the sustainability of fisheries both locally and globally, and jeopardize the ability of fisheries to supply needed animal protein and food security to increasing populations in less-developed countries.

After presenting a useful overview of key points, the book contains an introduction highlighting the global importance of fisheries – ecologically, economically, and socially – and stressing the importance of seeing the bigger picture when considering the state of natural resources/fisheries, and finding potential solutions. The introduction is followed by two major parts which (1) present a range of detailed case studies to illustrate key aspects of fisheries failures as related to science, governance, and enforcement; and (2) offer a synthesis and recommendations to help secure a more resilient future through sustainable fisheries. The book ends with an epilogue that uses Aldo Leopold's articulated need to adopt a land ethic (Leopold 1949) as segue to advocate an ecosystem approach to ‘… enhance our understanding of how land and aquatic systems interact and influence biotic communities and allied resources’.

The selected case studies present a wide range of challenges to sustainable fisheries, including:

•	complex issues (ecological, economic, social, scientific, governance, enforcement, etc.) faced in the international industry built upon Pacific salmon;
•	to develop a common set of metrics to measure the threats to and status of ecosystem health in the world's great lakes;
•	multiple problems associated with coral reef fisheries related to gear types, fishing effort, and fisheries targets, etc.;
•	factors threatening the long-term sustainable contribution of aquaculture to help meet the world's food supply needs;
•	policy and the role of entrepreneurial leadership and innovation to sustain industries built around the Peruvian anchoveta;
•	better management to ensure the important role of small-scale fisheries to help alleviate poverty in developing countries; and
•	to find a unified approach to monitoring, assessment, and management of highly migratory by-catch species, e.g. the Atlantic marlin.

These case studies effectively underscore the importance of small-scale local fisheries/aquaculture as a key source of both income and food to support families in developing countries, as well as the importance of high-seas industrial fisheries to reliably meet increasing global seafood consumption needs. They all combine to illustrate a global spectrum of activities in fishing and fish aquaculture industries which negatively impact fisheries ecosystems and threaten their sustainability.

A finer balance might have been struck by including as a case study the European Union's (EU) Marine Strategy Framework Directive (EU 2008), which is the first EU binding law designed to make a significant contribution to the preservation, protection, and restoration of marine ecosystems, including pollution reduction and minimization. The Directive aims to achieve ‘good environmental status’ (GES) in EU marine waters by 2020. According to the Directive, EU Member States should undertake a series of steps to progressively achieve GES and ensure the maintenance of ecologically healthy, clean and productive seas as well as reduce adverse human impacts on marine ecosystems.

Norway as case study could also have presented a useful example of sustainable fisheries practices. Norway is a major fishing nation – conducting extensive fishing operations in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea – that is committed to ecosystem-based fisheries management (Bianchi & Skjoldal 2008). A 2009 report by the World Wildlife Fund and University of British Colombia Fisheries Centre ranked Norway as the number one in the world with regard to sustainable fishing (Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs; http://www.norway.org.au/News_and_events/Business/Sustainable_Fishing/). That report used data from 2003 to 2005 and employed specific criteria including fishery impacts on biodiversity, discards and by-catch, implementation of Marine Protected Areas and no-take areas, consideration given to small-scale fisheries, coastal communities and aboriginal peoples, control of excess fishing capacity, extent and control of illegal fishing, and the use of flags of convenience to circumvent regulations. Each country's intentions, as shown through laws and regulations, were demonstrated through the effectiveness with which the measures were enforced.

This volume represents a welcome addition to the growing body of literature on sustainable fisheries. That the work was completed and published within two years is indeed impressive. To have ensured effective collaboration in such an ambitious undertaking, and timely submissions of input from busy authors across the globe would seem a herculean task. Presumably, English is not the mother tongue for many contributing authors; consequently, the quality of language varied considerably between the different case studies. Accordingly, the volume would have benefited significantly from a thorough final review and ‘tightening of the text’ by someone with scientific, technical and English language editing skills.

Statements made by Mueller & Taylor (2011) in the book's Epilogue ring true, that: ‘As humans, we need to consider thinking like fish to understand what is needed to sustain their production dynamics and resiliency in the face of changing local and global ecological processes’; and ‘… fish influence and forecast our own quality of life and survival’. The authors suggests that we need to ‘think like the fish within these systems in order to fully understand the complexities of interacting factors that affect their resiliency …’. However, the authors then stop short of offering a prescription. Rather than ‘thinking like fish’, I believe that ‘knowing what constitutes viable fish habitat’ is a more doable fish-centric ecosystem approach to sustainable fisheries – that quantifies habitat requirements/water quality standards for managed species (Funderburk et al. 1991) – and then takes measures needed to maintain those standards.

The breadth and detail of information contained in this volume make it a valuable reference document for scientists, students, or anyone interested in the state of world fisheries and aquaculture. Moreover, its depiction of the array of human activities that negatively impact marine ecosystems and jeopardize sustainable fisheries make it highly appropriate reading for resource managers, policy makers, and legislators who can influence our societal behaviours.

Margaret Mary McBride

Senior Scientist

Ecosystem Processes Research Group

Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway

E-mail: [email protected]

© 2012 Margaret Mary McBride