FISHERY MANAGEMENT

The ecosystem approach to Fishery

 Abbreviations and Acronyms

1982 Convention UNCLOS - United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10
December 1982
BRD - by-catch reduction device
C&C - command and control measures
CBD 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (see http://www.biodiv.org/doc/legal/ cbd-
en.pdf)
CCAMLR - Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
Code of Conduct FAO - Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries
COP - Conference of the Parties
CPUE - catch per unit effort
EAF - ecosystem approach to fisheries
EBFM - ecosystem-based fisheries management
EEZ - exclusive economic zone
ESD - ecologically sustainable development
FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FM - fisheries management
GEF - Global Environment Facility
GMO - genetically modified organism
ITQ - individual transferable quota
LME - large marine ecosystem
MCS - monitoring, control and surveillance
MPA - marine protected area
MSY - maximum sustainable yield
NGO - non-governmental organization
PIA - prior impact assessment
SEEA - system of environmental and economic accounts
SNA - system of national accounts
TAC - total allowable catch
TED - turtle exclusion device
TEV - total economic value
TROM - target resource-orientated management
TURFs - territorial use rights in fishing
UNCED - United Nations Conference on Environmental Development
VITQs - value-based individual transferable quotas
WCED - World Commission on Environment and Development (1984-87)
WHAT - World Humanities Action Trust WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development,
Johannesburg, South Africa, 2002
 Lesson 1 : Fishery Management
Background

From ancient times, fishing has been a major source of food for humanity and a provider of
employment and economic benefits to those engaged in this activity.
The adoption in 1982 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provided a new
framework for the better management of marine resources. The new legal regime of the oceans
gave coastal States rights and responsibilities for the management and use of fishery resources
within the areas of their national jurisdiction, which embrace some 90 percent of the world’s
marine fisheries.
FISHERIES RESOURCES could not sustain due to:
 uncontrolled increase of exploitation
 Degradation of fish corrals
 over-exploitation of important fish stocks

Fisheries management is the integrated process of information gathering, analysis, planning,

consultation, decision-making, allocation of resources and formulation and implementation,
with enforcement as necessary of regulation or rules which govern fisheries activities in order
to ensure the continued productivity of the resources and accomplishment of other fisheries
objectives. (Source: FAO, 1997)

Figure 1
Fishery management is directed toward maximizing the benefits of the production unit (fish stock)
that is being managed. Since stock boundaries may transcend national boundaries, many new
geopolitical complications arise. Thus it is important to design an institution which promotes
compromise among diverse human interests and values. This can be difficult not only
conceptually, but practically as well if different management bodies in different countries use
different approaches, timing, systems, etc.

Since ultimately the goal is to manage a stock

appropriately, it is possible to delegate some management
elements to a more local scale, while insuring that the
collective impact on the fishery resource is sustainable.
Management institutions-local, regional, national, or
international-require supporting infrastructure. This
includes research facilities and scientists to determine the
current state of the managed stock or stocks, to assess
how current management is interacting with these stocks
and to provide advice on how future management will
impact the sustainability of the managed species. The
science that supports management is necessarily
multidisciplinary in nature and includes biology, stock dynamics, oceanography and ecosystem
considerations, economics, sociology, and institutional behavior. Beyond the science and its
delivery to managers there must be in place data reporting and collections systems, and
enforcement systems. Overlying all these systems is the management authority itself, consisting
of one or more committees or panels responsible for making the decisions about the particulars
of a management system.
Management institutions can be either formal, such as those established by law, or informal, such
as non-legally binding arrangements. The latter were common in villages or communities that
influenced fishing practices of their members, helping to conserve fishery resources within their
sphere of influence. Today, formal fishery management arrangements established in law are the
norm. Such arrangements have become necessary because of the increases in efficiency and
demand, and the increasing mobility of the population as traditional village or community level
influences have broken down. It is now recognized that traditional informal management
arrangements were insufficient to conserve fishery resources throughout their range. Thus there
is a wide variety of national legislation and an elaborate international framework for managing
fisheries.

The concepts and principles of an Ecosystem Approach to Fishery are not new, as they are
contained in a number of international instruments, agreements and conference that have already
been negotiated, adopted or are in the process of being implemented.
These include:
• the 1972 World Conference on Human Environment;
• the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea Convention;
• the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and its Agenda 21;
• the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity;
 • the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement; and
• the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

Figure 2

EAF is relevant to fisheries development, trade, research, aquaculture, inland and marine
capture fisheries, the current document focuses on marine capture fisheries. It should be read
as a supplement to the FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries (No. 4, ROme,
1997, 82 pp.), hereafter referred to as the FM Guidelines.
The broad principles and approach for effective and responsible fisheries management are
contained in the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, many of which relate to an
ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF).
EAF is, in effect, a means of implementing many of the provisions of the Code and provides a
way to achieve sustainable development in a fisheries context.

References
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2003
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/fisheries-management
Name: Date:
Yr&Sec: Score:
Instructor:

Activity No. 1

Direction: In your own understanding, explain the picture provided in the concept notes.

A. Figure 1

B. Figure 2
Name: Date:
Yr&Sec: Score:
Instructor:

Assessment 1

I. True or False. Direction: Answer the following questions below. Write T if the
statement is True and F if the statement is False.

1. GMO means Genetic Modified Outcome.

2. Degradation of fish corral is essential to sustain aquatic resources.
3. Ecosystem Approach to Fishery is, in effect, a means of implementing many of the
provisions of the Code and provides a way to achieve sustainable development in a
fisheries context.
4. Fisheries management is the integrated process of information gathering, analysis,
planning, consultation, decision-making, allocation of resources and formulation and
implementation, with enforcement as necessary of regulation or rules which govern
fisheries activities in order to ensure the continued productivity of the resources and
accomplishment of other fisheries objectives
5. Fishing activity is one of the major source of food for humanity.

II. Analysis (5 points)

1. Explain briefly. What is the use of fishery management in ecosystem?