„Simple“ Fisheries Management Tools for the Coastal Zone Amanda Stern-Pirlot INCOFISH WP7 IfM-GEOMAR

Outline Goals of fisheries management Major problems of contemporary fisheries management Indicators approach INCOFISH „Don‘t eat babies“ campaign

Goals of Fisheries Management –Productive capacity of stocks sustained into the future at low level of risk. (stop unsustainable fishing practices) –Ecosystem health not jeopardized by fishery practices –Efficient resource use (no waste or bycatch) –Management responsive to changes in ecosystem/fishery health –Stakeholders and government fisheries administration sharing responsibility and involvement in management (co- management)

Major problems Compexity of management recommendations and laws Cost of management Lack of acceptance of prevailing management among stakeholders (not involved in the process of lawmaking)

FAO/Fisheries Dept. Trends in the state of major marine fishery resources

Indicators approach Indicators are variables (proxies, indices, values) that show the extent of completion toward predefined “performance” targets. For INCOFISH WP7 we are focusing on size- based indicators and sized-based management approaches and MPAs

Acceptable among stakeholders

Scientifically valid If all fish are allowed to reproduce at least once, overfishing is virtually impossible Examples where this type of mgmt has been effective: Striped Bass in the US; Seahorses in the Philippines

INCOFISH‘s „Don‘t eat babies“ campaign 86% of Germans would prefer to eat sustainably caught fish 77% of ICES advice is correct or conservative regarding TACs Advice is largely ignored because of short- term concerns of industry lobbiests

INCOFISH‘s „Don‘t eat babies“ campaign 30-50% of all fish in the European catch are juvenilles (according to ICES catch data from 55 stocks). Extreme cases: NS Cod in catch is 88% juvenille Close to 2 billion more Euros could be earned if fish were not harvested until they reach maturity, excluding recruitment advantages

Our Tools so far Fish ruler for public use– already successful in Germany Online size buying guide available on INCOFISH portal by the end of June

Thank You!

Striped Bass in the US Stocks in Chesapeake Bay and the Mid-Atlantic Coast were severely depleated due to overfishing until 1981 High value species, lots of research done Recommendations by ASMFC to allow fishing only on mature fish, based on female size-at-first maturity Recommendation put into enforcable law via Striped Bass Conservation Act Stocks rebounded and are now back to acceptable sizes

What they have in common Management that stakeholders understand and accept with a common sense and scientifically valid basis Relatively easy enforcement