Fishery management FMSP Stock Assessment Tools Training Workshop Bangladesh 19 th - 25 th September 2005

Purpose of talk To introduce a framework for fishery management based on the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries Complements Chapters 1-2 of FAO Fish. Tech. Pap. 487, as published by FMSP project R8360 Chapters 1-2

Content Fishery management systems - a framework The new international legal regime The precautionary approach Adaptive management Goals and operational objectives Indicators and reference points Decision control rules Management measures Tying it all together - Management plans

Fishery management systems A fishery management system is the overall combination of policies, legal arrangements, stock assessment methodologies, reference points, management measures, and monitoring and enforcement arrangements used to manage a fishery. Chapter 2

The management context The legal regime Domestic laws International agreements Management approach to uncertainty Precautionary or adaptive management? Or both? Management scope Single or multi-species? Ecosystem approach? Property rights Use rights? Control rights? Stakeholder roles in management State or community control? Co-management? Fishery scale Industrial or artisanal? Economically important? Management capacity Technical skills, staff, funds? Sections 1.1 and 2.1 – 2.4 Fishery Policy Define management intentions Policy goals and operational objectives (biological, ecological, economic, social, other sectors) Section Stock assessment process Data/Inputs Intermediate parameters Indicators Reference points Management advice in terms of risk, allowing for uncertainty Chapters 3 and 4 and Parts 2 and 3 Management process Fishery Management Plan Define management standards For each operational objective: Conceptual reference points (target, limit, precautionary) Indicators Technical reference points Set management measures Decision control rules defined by reference points and harvesting strategy Management strategy, comprising one or more control measures (inputs; outputs; technical, ecological etc) Monitoring Control and Surveillance Sections – Figure 1.1 A framework for fishery management (FTP 487)

The new international legal regime 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity Chapter 17 of UNCED’s Agenda UN ‘Fish Stocks Agreement’ 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Section 1.1

The precautionary approach All fishery managers face many uncertainties: Current state of fish stocks? Long term potential? Effect of environment, climate and other species? FAO Code of Conduct advises that: States should apply the precautionary approach widely to conservation, management and exploitation of living aquatic resources in order to protect them and preserve the aquatic environment. The absence of adequate scientific information should not be used as a reason for postponing or failing to take conservation and management measures In implementing the precautionary approach, States should take into account, inter alia, uncertainties relating to the size and productivity of the stocks, reference points, stock condition in relation to such reference points, levels and distribution of fishing mortality and the impact of fishing activities, including discards, on non-target and associated or dependent species, as well as environmental and socio- economic conditions. Section 2.1.2

A precautionary management process A management system should be developed with stakeholders, including the following elements: Goals and operational objectives Performance indicators and reference points Harvesting strategies and decision control rules, including precautionary reference points allowing for uncertainty Management measures and overall management strategy –See FAO FTP 487 Chapter 2 –and Cochrane, 2002 for further details Section 2.5

Adaptive management Too much precaution may provide little information about the dynamics of the fish stock (don’t know MSY until it has been exceeded!) Adaptive management – ‘learning by doing’ – uses an experimental approach to reduce uncertainty and find good management solutions Can be ‘passive’ (using natural variation) or ‘active’ – need to create good ‘contrast’ in treatments to get results Most useful in inshore and inland resources, with high levels of natural diversity and where resource can be split into separate stock units Guidelines developed by FMSP projects R7335 and R7834 (on website) Section 2.1.3

Goals and operational objectives (1/3) Goals set the specific priorities for each fishery Operational objectives’ like OVIs in a logical framework should be precise, measurable, realistic and achievable Some objectives will be incompatible – need to accept tradeoffs Section 2.3.1

Goals and operational objectives (2/3) Need to consider four subsets of goals: biological; ecological; economic and social For sustainable development, give first priority to biology Section 2.3.1

Examples of goals and op. objectives (3/3) Section GoalsOperational Objectives BiologicalTo maintain the target species at or above the levels necessary to ensure their continued productivity To maintain the stock at all times above 50% of its mean unexploited level EcologicalTo minimise the impacts of fishing on the physical environment and on non-target (bycatch), associated and dependent species To maintain all non-target, associated and dependent species above 50% of their mean biomass levels in the absence of fishing activities EconomicTo maximise the net incomes of the participating fishers To stabilise net income per fisher at a level above the national minimum desired income SocialTo maximise employment opportunities for those dependent on the fishery for their livelihoods To include as many of the existing participants in the fishery as is possible given the biological, ecological and economic objectives listed above

Indicators and reference points Set indicators and reference points for each operational objective An indicator is a specific state, or variable, which can be monitored in a system such as a fishery to give a measure of the state of the system at any given time (Cochrane, 2002) A reference point is an estimated value derived from an agreed scientific procedure and/or an agreed model which corresponds to a state of the resource and/or of the fishery and can be used as a guide for fisheries management Indicators and ‘RP’s should be used in combination to express the operational objectives in ways that can be measured in quantitative fisheries assessments. Section 2.5.2

Indicators Quantitative measures of the state of the fishery (one required for each objective) Often fall into one of three categories The catch of fish The size of the fish stock (the ‘biomass’) The amount of fishing (the ‘pressure’ on the stock) In the short term, each of these are directly related to each other as ….. C = F x B

Catch Fishing effort Stock size (biomass) Catch Fishing effort Catch per unit effort (CPUE) or Stock size (biomass) Long term (equilibrium) relationships between Catch, Effort and Stock size Indicators (not directly related!)

Reference points Give the point to aim at (target) or to avoid (limit) for each indicator and objective Can estimate using stock assessment tools (e.g. F MSY, F 0.1 ) (or set as arbitrary, but agreed values, e.g. C=450mt) You will provide management advice by comparing current values of indicators and reference points, e.g.: If F now > F MSY ‘Over-fishing’ If F now > F 0.1 Potential over-fishing If F now < F 2/3 MSY Assumed to be sustainable

Indicators & Reference Points - examples Operational objective - to maintain stock at all times above 50% of its mean unexploited level Reference point - 50% of the carrying capacity, K, as estimated by the Schaefer production model (i.e. above B MSY ) using X data and Y fitting method Indicator - stock size Performance indicator - stock size as a percentage of the chosen reference point (e.g. B / B MSY ) As another example, YPR is an indicator, while F 0.1 and F max are reference points that are based on YPR Section 2.5.2

Reference points Conceptual reference points – used in defining the decision control rules, e.g. Limit reference points (LRPs, e.g. B lim, F lim ) Target reference points (TRPs) Precautionary reference points or buffers (e.g. B pa, F pa ) Technical reference points – mathematical expressions used to clearly define each conceptual reference point E.g. F MSY, F 0.1, B MSY, MBAL etc (see later) Section 2.3.2

Target or limit reference points? (defining the objectives and control rules) Target RP - aim here, slightly above or below both OK Indicator X Limit RP - avoid danger zone below here Indicator X E.g. Catch rate E.g. spawning stock size

B MSY Stock size this year F MSY If B now < B MSY, no fishing allowed next year (danger zone) Fishing mortality rate to be allowed next year If B now > B MSY, fishing allowed at rate of F MSY next year Decision control rules – a simple example Section 2.3.3

Precautionary reference points Such points were adopted in response to the UN Fish Stocks Agreement (see point 5 of Annex II), to help make sure that the LRPs are avoided. Define the point at which managers should take action, to avoid the LRPs being reached. The distance by which the precautionary point is removed from the LRP is usually set according to: the uncertainty in the data and the risk tolerance of the manager. Section 2.3.4

And ‘precautionary’ reference points... Limit RP Indicator X Take action at the Precautionary RP to avoid the risk of getting to the Limit RP Precautionary RP

B lim B pa Stock size this year F lim F pa Fishing mortality rate to be allowed next year If B now > B pa, fishing allowed at rate of F pa next year If B now < B lim, no fishing allowed next year (danger zone) If B lim < B now < B pa, fishing allowed next year at a rate below F pa, as set by the sliding scale Decision control rules – a ‘precautionary’ example

Using ref. pts. to monitor the state of the fishery The precautionary plot used by ICES (North Atlantic) Axes reversed, now: X-axis: pressure Y-axis: state Note definitions: overfishing vs overfished Section F pa F lim B pa B lim TARGET ZONE BUFFER ZONE OVERFISHED OVERFISHING HIGH RISK ZONE Fishing mortality rate Stock size (biomass)

Reference points and Annex II of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement 4.Management strategies shall seek to maintain or restore populations of harvested stocks, and where necessary associated or dependent species, at levels consistent with previously agreed precautionary reference points. Such reference points shall be used to trigger pre-agreed conservation and management action. Management strategies shall include measures which can be implemented when precautionary reference points are approached. 5.Fishery management strategies shall ensure that the risk of exceeding limit reference points is very low. If a stock falls below a limit reference point or is at risk of falling below such a reference point, conservation and management action should be initiated to facilitate stock recovery. Fishery management strategies shall ensure that target reference points are not exceeded on average. Section Bangladesh signed 1995, not yet ratified (?) India ratified 2003, now bound to comply

FAO Guidance on Indicators Most reference points and control rule systems have so far been set up using age-based stock assessments, e.g. VPA etc, and using spawning stock biomass to set F FAO however emphasise the generality of these proposals, with a ‘basket’ of reference points needed for biological, ecological, economic and social goals See FAO ‘sustainable development reference system’ FAO Indicators for sustainable development of marine capture fisheries. FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries. No. 8. Rome, FAO p. Section 2.3.2

Management measures 1.Input controls (fishing effort restrictions) 2.Output controls (catch limits) 3.Technical measures (size limits, closed seasons, closed areas etc) 4.Ecological and integrated management Input and output controls often vary between years, depending on harvesting strategy and state of stock Technical measures usually fixed, or updated every few years based on long-term assessments Sections and 5.4

Management plans The full fishery management system for each fishery unit should be agreed in advance with stakeholders and clearly described in a management plan This should identify the goals, objectives, reference points, decision control rules, monitoring methods, management measures etc, in addition to specifying clearly the roles, rights and responsibilities of the fishery management authority and any other interested parties. see e.g. FAO, 1997; Die, 2002 Sections 2.3 and 2.4

Phase I Where are you now? Phase II Where do you want to be? Phase III How are you going to get there? Time Phase IV How will you know you are there? Plan Do Review New plan Do Review New plan etc Process for developing a management plan See new guidebooks from FMSP project R8468

Summary of the management plan PurposeGoalsObjectivesManagement Standards Management Measures IndicatorReference Point Management Measures Decision Control Rules Biological Ecological Social Economic How to quantify the goals and objectives How to achieve the goals and objectives Phase II Where do you want to be? Phase III How are you going to get there?

Summary – elements of the fishery system Context Legal regime Approach to uncertainty – precautionary, adaptive or both Management scope (single species, multi-species or ecosystem) and geographic area Control rights (co-management, decision making and stakeholder roles) Allocation of use rights in the fishery (access to fishing, or rights to catches) Fishery scale – industrial or artisanal, economically important? Policy Goals and operational objectives (biological, economic, social, ecological) Management Process Decision control rule framework – conceptual and precautionary reference points Technical reference points and indicators to be used, stock assessment methodologies and tools, and the data required Harvesting strategy and management measures See Part 1 summary tables