Fisheries final

important legal innovations of US environmental law

creating national parks, conducting environmental assessments, and allowing public access to information

vision

values and objectives are set

policy

creates objectives and infrastructure (many different disciplines and interest groups)

strategy

plan of action to reach targets (resources, priorities, goals, data collection, evaluation)

tactics

specific actions and tools (natural and social sciences)

legislative branch

enacts environmental laws (congress)

executive branch

administers environmental laws through federal agencies (white house and cabinet)

judicial branch

ensures that laws are applied correctly and are constitutional (Supreme and Federal Courts)

Statutory laws

conventional laws promulgated by the legislative branch – Congress

Regulatory laws (or administrative laws)

laws promulgated by the executive branches and agencies (rules, regulations, applications, licenses, hearings, appeals, and decision-making)

Common laws

laws promulgated by court cases or judicial power

example of importance of common law in environmental/conservation regulations

United States v. Maine (1975) – Defining Federal Control Over Fisheries

Conflicts over jurisdiction over offshore resources (state vs federal)

Supreme Court ruled that beyond 3 miles from shore, control over marine resources and fisheries belonged to the federal government, not individual states

Administrative Procedure Act (APA)

regulates the involvement of private entities in litigation

authorizes judicial review of agency actions

serves as a "constitution" for administrative and regulatory law.

problematic statutory language in environmental laws

vague or open-ended language that federal agencies must interpret—such as the phrase "best available science" in the ESA or the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA)

Magnuson-Stevens Act (1976)

Regulate fisheries in US federal waters

Endangered Species Act (1973)

One of the most powerful laws of species protection

Protects species and identifies critical habitat

Marine Mammal Protection Law (1972)

Protect mammals as important ecosystem units

Ecosystem-based protection

National Environmental Policy Act (1970)

Mandate federal agencies to make Impact Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements of major federal actions

Clean Water Act (1972)

regulate pollutant discharges into waterways

establish industrial water quality standards

Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (1972)

Regulate dumping materials

Authorizes National Marine Sanctuaries

Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996

required:

definition for “overfishing” and “overfished”

each fishery to specify criteria for both

each FMP establish measures for rebuilding overfished species, identify essential fish habitat, and establish methodology to assess bycatch

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act (MSRA) (2006)

Annual Catch Limits (ACLs)

Accountability Measures (AMs)

Accountability Measures (AMs)

designed to prevent ACLs from being exceeded and to respond to any catches over the ACL (quota reductions, gear restrictions, closures of a fishery)

Annual Catch Limits (ACLs)

amount of fish that may legally be caught each year (cannot exceed scientific recommendations and cannot allow overfishing)

Magnuson-Stevens Act Main Themes

Governance

U.S Federal Jurisdiction

Territorial Sovereignty

International Conservation

Domestic Conservation

The Department of Commerce oversees all _________ in the US. The Secretary of Commerce is the supreme head of fisheries in the US.

fisheries

__________ is the biggest regulating body responsible for managing all fisheries in federal waters

NOAA

Coastal fisheries are managed by…

State commissions (VMRC) and Interstate Management Commissions like the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

Freshwater fisheries are managed by…

US Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the interior

tragedy of the commons

need to take control of territorial waters (MSA) and enforce international conservation (ban driftnet fishing, ID nations doing IUU fishing)

Ban on Large-Scale Driftnet Fishing

Driftnets are non-selective, large gillnets with high bycatch (sharks, sea turtles, marine mammals)

1991 UN passed global ban on driftnet fishing in international waters.

1992 U.S. Congress enacted High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act, integrating it into the MSA and making it enforceable under U.S. law

main goals of the MSA for domestic management and conservation:

Prevent overfishing (Science-based catch limits).

Rebuild overfished stocks.

Increase long-term economic and social benefits of fisheries.

Ensure a safe and sustainable seafood supply.

Fisheries Management Plans are enacted by…

Regional Fisheries Management Councils

FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries

provides principles and standards applicable to the conservation, management and development of all fisheries

Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs)

international bodies established by treaties composed of countries sharing interest in managing and conserving fish stocks in a particular region

UNEP

key role in the development and facilitation of international environmental law

UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

international agreement that defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of oceans (guidelines for businesses, environment, management of marine resources)

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wile Fauna and flora (CITES)

Ensure that trade in animals and plant does not threat their existence

"legally binding" means all who have agreed to the treaty are legally obligated to comply with its terms and provisions

three appendices of CITES

Appendix I threatened species (species need import permit, export permit)

Appendix II species whose market could be detrimental for their survival (species need export permits)

Appendix III species protected in some parties and thus trade need to be monitored also by other countries (species need export permits)

Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

international treaty aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of migratory wild animals and their habitats

similar to CITES

fishing industry and seafood production

represent a considerable portion of developing countries' GDP and a marginal portion of GDP of developed countries

Globally, ___ is the leading producer with 15% of production

China

Developed countries like USA, EU, and Japan are mainly _______, and developing countries like China, India, Viet Nam, and Chile are the leading ________

importers; exporters

41% of catches are __ species

35

top three species

Anchoveta, pollock, and skipjack

__________ models are important tools to understand the behavior of fishers and their response to fisheries management

Bioeconomic

Revenue

landed catch multiplied by the unit price of fish

Costs

Fixed long-term costs: loans, insurance, depreciation, maintenance

Variable short-term costs: fuel, labor, operational costs (depend on the specifics)

Profits

revenue - costs

Gordon model

explains why profits are low in open-access fisheries (as fishing effort increases, production increases, and stock declines → overexploited)

Non-Malleable Capitals

waiting to rebuild fish stocks and reducing fishing effort can be substantially costly because capital invested in fisheries is non-malleable (value decreases over time)

Discount rate

rate at which the perceived value of the fish stock declines over time

Fishers generally have _______ discount rates than managers (fishers = focused on immediate income/short-term survival; managers = responsible for long-term sustainability)

steeper

Yield per Recruit Analysis

not always profitable to catch as much as we can immediately

predict optimal level of F and which age is best to start exploitation to get greatest yield (discount rate)

Subsidies

financial schemes to keep fishing even though this is unprofitable or will help fishers reconvert their capital

Capacity-enhancing subsidies (CES)

reduce the costs of loans, gas, gears, and boats

Beneficial subsidies

help conservation and management

Ambiguous subsidies

lead to investment or disinvestment of natural capital

downsides of subsidies

can change the relationship between cost and fishing effort lowering the slope of this linear relationship

Much fishing of the largest fishing fleets would be unprofitable without ________

subsidies

Food security

main driver for subsistence fishing (2% of total global harvest)

optimal foraging theory and optimal diet theories

search and selection of seafood respond to search time and efficiency, physiological state of predators, and nutrient and energy content

why does commercial fishing make fisheries more likely to be overexploited?

natural limits in subsistence fishing often disappear—competition, profit-seeking, and social changes encourage fishers to catch more fish instead of only taking what they need

high motivation to target most profitable species/sizes and discard more catches

human incentives for fishing

social/recreational/traditional value; religion

Recreational fisheries can have strong impact on ecosystems:

- Reduce predators

- Reduce fish stocks

- Spread invasive species

- Cause inbreeding of exploited species

recreational fisheries are essentially ___________ fisheries (difficult to manage such a diffused fishing effort)

open access

recreational fishing management needs to…

understand behavioral feedback of fisheries

communicate scarcity to fishers

provide incentives for sustainability

policymakers need to recognize the value of ________ fisheries where management approaches may not apply (bioeconomic models may be more appropriate)

recreational

co-management

done through angler associations (know local needs and involve anglers in management decisions and monitoring)

Successful co-management considers:

1) practices embedded locally, historically and socio culturally

2) focus on fishers

3) empower fishers in decision making

Arapaima fisheries co-management method

Fishers participated in monitoring schemes using alternative methods (counted the times Arapaima surfaced to breath)

Standard quota = 18; increased by 5 if fishers participated in counts; decreased by steps of 2 if they infringed regulations.

Arapaima fisheries co-management results

Population, adults, quotas, and income increased

Reduced violations of the management quota

Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated fishing (IUU)

can cause overfishing, harm marine ecosystems, reduce fish populations, and create economic losses for legal fishers

Socio-economic Impacts of IUU

Food security, local revenue, homicides, organized crime (drugs, slavery, human trafficking, piracy)

highest area of IUU

Eastern central Atlantic (rich ecosystem, poor governance, and corruption)

Drivers of IUU

poverty, poor governance (no monitoring; corruption), no consequences, high value of species, subsidies

Why is it so hard to understand the natural conditions of reefs, number of seals, and baselines of fish populations pre human-impact

Over millennia, humans have been altering the structure and function of marine ecosystems, causing ecological change, but science has recorded only a small fraction of this exploitation history, and modern ecology is mainly based on observations of the last 60-70 years

shifting baseline syndrome

intergenerational loss of ecological knowledge that affects fishers, scientists, and managers

fisheries managers accept the stock size and species composition at the start of their careers as the baseline and use that to assess future change rather than considering historical conditions

historical approach allows us to…

capture the full extent of ecological processes (full dynamics of long-living animals; better reference points on which to base fisheries management)

reveal unexpected natural states → set new recovery targets

historical data is often:

- Non-traditional

- Difficult to collect

- Difficult to integrate into conventional frameworks

- Multidisciplinary

apples to oranges

disciplines of historical ecology

computer and data science, math and stats, ecology and biology, history and social science

_________ statistics is perhaps the greatest opportunity in historical ecology because it allows you to incorporate prior knowledge into the focal analysis

Bayesian

__________ allows you to combine multiple parameters and estimates from different studies in an objective and statistically rigorous framework

Meta-analysis

__________ modeling is the best framework to combine multiple modeling parts and carry on uncertainty (combine meta-analysis and Bayesian inference)

hierarchical

Chagos archipelago

extremely remote, one of the biggest marine protected areas, human impact is very well recorded

MPAs

Areas of the ocean set aside for long-term conservation aims (not necessarily no-take)

Multiple levels of protections, objectives, and configurations.

Goals can be economic, ecologic, social and cultural.

MPA coverage in the World Ocean

Ia MPS

Strict nature reserve (Chagos); no-take

Ib MPA

Wilderness area; protect env. services

II MPA

National park; large-scale ecosystem

III MPA

Natural monument; small and specific

IV MPA

Habitat/species management area; sanctuaries

V MPA

Protected Landscape/Seascape/Area (Coastal biospheres)

VI MPA

Protected Area with Sustainable Use of Marine Resources (Multiple use)

Chagos example

Historical studies showed shark populations had already declined before scientific monitoring began due to illegal fishing and long-term human impacts. By combining historical records, surveys, and ecological models, researchers found major declines in silvertip sharks and showed the importance of historical ecology for understanding true ecosystem baselines and improving marine conservation.

MPA Guide

objective framework to categorize MPAs based on their stage of implementation, level of protection, and intended outcomes

MPA effects

higher biomass, density, individual size, richness

promote spillover

most effective MPA

no-take, high enforcement, over 10 years old, larger than 100 km², isolated

cons of MPAs

consequences to fishers

don’t work for migratory sp

ban inconsequential local fishing

just move effort to another area (same amount)

Considering the Kennedy family’s management goals, what management actions would you recommend?

Management should focus on reducing the overabundance of small largemouth bass to improve growth and condition. This can be done by encouraging harvest of smaller bass and protecting larger individuals through size limits. Improving habitat and maintaining good water quality will support both forage availability and overall ecosystem health, helping balance predator–prey dynamics and enhance recreational fishing and food provision goals.