SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE REQUIRED

As noted in Chapter 4, few ecosystem metrics and model outputs can provide tactical management advice. In truth, it may be unreasonable to expect much tactical ecosystem advice to ever exist. However, there may be some ecosystem analogues to SS reference points that delineate ecosystem overfishing (Murawski 2000; Link 2005; Methratta and Link 2006). Regardless of whether system-level tactical advice exists or not, to readily do EBFM there is a blatant need for an entire system perspective that has been sorely lacking in fisheries science and management. We need to be able to address questions such as whether fishing impacts other ecosystem components and properties (e.g. impacts to other fishing sectors, impacts across broader ocean use sectors, impacts to other, legally considered species), or conversely, whether other ecosystem considerations beyond the fishery are impacting the fishery (i.e. fish stocks). Certainly system-level strategic advice is feasible now.

A useful way to address these questions is to place them in the context of a decision framework and to utilize key ecosystem indicators. As noted in Chapter 4, I submit that most decision-theoretic frameworks consist of three main components (Figure 4.1; Sainsbury et al. 2000), the first of which is to establish goals. What goods and services are wanted from or out of an ecosystem for society? What are the policy objectives? And so on.