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This article is a reflection on the author's recognition for their contributions to utilizing economics in the sustainable management of environmental resources. The author discusses the importance of breaking down disciplinary silos in fisheries science and emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary collaboration, ethical engagement, and global jurisdiction in addressing environmental challenges. The author also highlights their work in interdisciplinary oceans and fisheries economics, including their role as Project Director of the OceanCanada Partnership, which aims to foster resilient and sustainable oceans along Canada's coasts. The article concludes with a call for responsible resource extraction and the preservation of the ocean's ecosystem for future generations. [Extracted from the article]

In 2010 world governments agreed to eliminate, phase out or reform incentives that harm biodiversity by 2020. Yet few governments have even identified such incentives, never mind taking action on them. While some subsidies are well studied, such as in fisheries and fossil fuel production, there is an urgent need for the conservation community to study the potential effects a broader array of subsidies have on biodiversity. In addition, we need a better understanding of who benefits from these subsidies. We term this pursuit 'subsidy accountability', which is crucial but challenging work crossing disciplines and government ministries. It requires ecologists, forensic accountants, and policy wonks, calculating and forecasting the positive and negative effects of subsidies and their elimination on biodiversity and vulnerable human populations. The Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services recently concluded that action on biodiversity loss requires transformative economic change; true action on subsidies is one step towards such change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rebuilding overexploited marine populations is an important step to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 14—Life Below Water. Mitigating major human pressures is required to achieve rebuilding goals. Climate change is one such key pressure, impacting fish and invertebrate populations by changing their biomass and biogeography. Here, combining projection from a dynamic bioclimate envelope model with published estimates of status of exploited populations from a catch‐based analysis, we analyze the effects of different global warming and fishing levels on biomass rebuilding for the exploited species in 226 marine ecoregions of the world. Fifty three percent (121) of the marine ecoregions have significant (at 5% level) relationship between biomass and global warming level. Without climate change and under a target fishing mortality rate relative to the level required for maximum sustainable yield of 0.75, we project biomass rebuilding of 1.7–2.7 times (interquartile range) of current (average 2014–2018) levels across marine ecoregions. When global warming level is at 1.5 and 2.6°C, respectively, such biomass rebuilding drops to 1.4–2.0 and 1.1–1.5 times of current levels, with 10% and 25% of the ecoregions showing no biomass rebuilding, respectively. Marine ecoregions where biomass rebuilding is largely impacted by climate change are in West Africa, the Indo‐Pacific, the central and south Pacific, and the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Coastal communities in these ecoregions are highly dependent on fisheries for livelihoods and nutrition security. Lowering the targeted fishing level and keeping global warming below 1.5°C are projected to enable more climate‐sensitive ecoregions to rebuild biomass. However, our findings also underscore the need to resolve trade‐offs between climate‐resilient biomass rebuilding and the high near‐term demand for seafood to support the well‐being of coastal communities across the tropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean warming and deoxygenation are already modifying the habitats of many aerobic organisms. Benthic habitat in the Northeast Pacific is sensitive to deoxygenation, as low oxygen concentrations occur naturally in continental shelf bottom waters. Here, we examine the potential impacts of deoxygenation and ocean warming on the habitat distribution of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis), one of the most commercially important groundfish in North America. We combine fisheries‐independent Pacific halibut survey data (1998–2020) with oceanographic measurements and a regional ocean circulation model to investigate current and future (end of 21st century) influences of deoxygenation and warming on optimal Pacific halibut habitat. We use the observations and model output to derive a metabolic index of Pacific halibut‐specific suitable habitat. Our results show high Pacific halibut counts in regions where the metabolic index is greatest and demonstrate that interannual variability in Pacific halibut abundance is coherent with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Working with model projections, we examine potential future changes in suitable Pacific halibut habitat by the end of the century under a high carbon dioxide emissions scenario. These projections indicate that suitable Pacific halibut habitat may largely disappear off the coast of Washington state, retreating approximately 5° latitude northward. In bottom waters along coastal British Columbia and Alaska continental shelf, Pacific halibut habitat is projected to decrease by about 50%. Such habitat changes may potentially drive a northward shift in Pacific halibut, with significant implications for commercial fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change, ocean acidification (OA) and the subsequent changes in marine productivity may affect fisheries and eventually the whole economy in the Arctic. We analysed how changes in climate and ocean pH under scenarios of anthropogenic CO2 emissions are likely to affect the economics of marine fisheries in the Arctic. We applied a Dynamic Bioclimate Envelope Model (DBEM) and outputs from four different Earth System Models (ESMs) to project future changes in the distribution and maximum catch potential of exploited marine fishes and invertebrates. We projected that total fisheries revenue in the Arctic region may increase by 39% (14-59%) by 2050 relative to 2000 under the Special Reports on Emission Scenario (SRES) A2. Simultaneously, total fishing costs, fishers' incomes, household incomes and economy-wide impacts in the Arctic are also projected to increase. Climate change with OA is expected to reduce the potential increases in catch and the economic indicators studied herein. Although the projections suggest that Arctic countries are likely to be 'winners' under climate change in comparison with tropical developing countries, the effects of OA will lower the expected future benefits in the Arctic. The predicted impacts are likely to be conservative as we consider only the direct effects of OA on fishes and calcifiers, of which there are only a few in the Arctic. Results of this study would be useful for designing effective adaptation strategies to climate change and measures to mitigate the potential negative impacts of OA in the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is shifting the distribution of shared fish stocks between neighboring countries' Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and the high seas. The timescale of these transboundary shifts determines how climate change will affect international fisheries governance. Here, we explore this timescale by coupling a large ensemble simulation of an Earth system model under a high emission climate change scenario to a dynamic population model. We show that by 2030, 23% of transboundary stocks will have shifted and 78% of the world's EEZs will have experienced at least one shifting stock. By the end of this century, projections show a total of 45% of stocks shifting globally and 81% of EEZs waters with at least one shifting stock. The magnitude of such shifts is reflected in changes in catch proportion between EEZs sharing a transboundary stock. By 2030, global EEZs are projected to experience an average change of 59% in catch proportion of transboundary stocks. Many countries that are highly dependent on fisheries for livelihood and food security emerge as hotspots for transboundary shifts. These hotspots are characterized by early shifts in the distribution of an important number of transboundary stocks. Existing international fisheries agreements need to be assessed for their capacity to address the social–ecological implications of climate‐change‐driven transboundary shifts. Some of these agreements will need to be adjusted to limit potential conflict between the parties of interest. Meanwhile, new agreements will need to be anticipatory and consider these concerns and their associated uncertainties to be resilient to global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish from marine and inland capture fisheries is an important food that contributes significantly to diets and health, but their contribution is somewhat overlooked in food security and poverty‐related policies. Given the current numbers of malnourished people globally, there is a pressing need to consider how to better realize the potential of fish in food systems that can address malnourishment. To do so, we re‐examine the fisheries literature from the perspective of food systems. Starting with nutritional needs and considering how these may be met through local food systems reveals an ongoing transformation that has implications for small‐scale fisheries, as increasingly become part of globalized food systems. We describe the factors that can change the nature of production, mediate access to fish and the distribution of benefits that can lead to impoverishment. This emphasizes the governance challenges that lie at the heart of complex, contested and increasingly globalized food systems, in which actors interact to shape the systems, determining who benefits and how. We draw attention to critical issues of access, power and the values and norms that underpin efforts to manage and transform fisheries, exposing the unequal struggle to secure access that small‐scale fishers and poor people must endure. We suggest a vital challenge for fisheries management is to engage with this struggle and develop policies and management measures that would enable fisheries to make positive contributions to food systems and nutritional security, while meeting global sustainable development objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arctic sea ice loss has direct consequences for predators. Climate‐driven distribution shifts of native and invasive prey species may exacerbate these consequences. We assessed potential changes by modelling the prey base of a widely distributed Arctic predator (ringed seal; Pusa hispida) in a sentinel area for change (Hudson Bay) under high‐ and low‐greenhouse gas emission scenarios from 1950 to 2100. All changes were relatively negligible under the low‐emission scenario, but under the high‐emission scenario, we projected a 50% decline in the abundance of the well‐distributed, ice‐adapted and energy‐rich Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) and an increase in the abundance of smaller temperate‐associated fish in southern and coastal areas. Furthermore, our model predicted that all fish species declined in mean body size, but a 29% increase in total prey biomass. Declines in energy‐rich prey and restrictions in their spatial range are likely to have cascading effects on Arctic predators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine biological resources are likely to come under increasing stress over the course of the 21st century as global climate change and ocean acidification interact with other stresses, including heavy fishing pressures and marine pollution, to create far reaching and difficult-to-predict changes in species abundance, spatial distribution, and trophic interactions. The governance systems in place for marine fisheries and for the marine environment, more broadly, will be critical in determining the extent to which these resources can be managed for sustainability. The paper focuses on the governance of internationally shared fisheries, and draws on a body of game-theoretic research to discuss present-day governance problems and to evaluate the implications of global environmental change for future efforts to maintain cooperative and effective governance of shared fishery resources. In particular, the increased likelihood of abrupt and unpredictable changes in the productive potential and migratory behavior of exploited fish stocks may threaten to disrupt cooperative management arrangements. The paper discusses the value of contingency planning based on anticipation of the possibility of such events and concludes with a discussion of future directions for both research and policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective fisheries management is necessary for the long‐term sustainability of fisheries and the economic benefits that they provide, but focusing only on ecological sustainability risks disregarding ultimate goals related to well‐being that must be achieved through broader social policy. An analysis of global landings data shows that average fishing wages in 36%–67% of countries, home to 69%–95% of fishers worldwide, are likely below their nationally determined minimum living wage (which accounts for costs of food, shelter, clothing, health and education). Furthermore, even if all fisheries in every country were perfectly managed to achieve their Maximum Sustainable Yield, a common sustainability target, average incomes of fishers in up to 49 countries—70% of fishers worldwide—would still not meet minimum living wages. Access to decent work and livelihoods are fundamental human rights, including for all fisherfolk around the world, and strategies to support their well‐being must therefore integrate a much wider set of perspectives, disciplines and institutions. Key first steps for fisheries researchers are to more fully recognize and estimate fisheries benefits to households—including income from women and/or alternative employment, unreported landings, or shadow values of subsistence catch—and to help identify and learn from economic equity outcomes in rebuilt fisheries around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is reshaping the way in which contaminants move through the global environment, in large part by changing the chemistry of the oceans and affecting the physiology, health, and feeding ecology of marine biota. Climate change-associated impacts on structure and function of marine food webs, with consequent changes in contaminant transport, fate, and effects, are likely to have significant repercussions to those human populations that rely on fisheries resources for food, recreation, or culture. Published studies on climate change-contaminant interactions with a focus on food web bioaccumulation were systematically reviewed to explore how climate change and ocean acidification may impact contaminant levels in marine food webs. We propose here a conceptual framework to illustrate the impacts of climate change on contaminant accumulation in marine food webs, as well as the downstream consequences for ecosystem goods and services. The potential impacts on social and economic security for coastal communities that depend on fisheries for food are discussed. Climate change-contaminant interactions may alter the bioaccumulation of two priority contaminant classes: the fat-soluble persistent organic pollutants ( POPs), such as polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCBs), as well as the protein-binding methylmercury (MeHg). These interactions include phenomena deemed to be either climate change dominant (i.e., climate change leads to an increase in contaminant exposure) or contaminant dominant (i.e., contamination leads to an increase in climate change susceptibility). We illustrate the pathways of climate change-contaminant interactions using case studies in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean. The important role of ecological and food web modeling to inform decision-making in managing ecological and human health risks of chemical pollutants contamination under climate change is also highlighted. Finally, we identify the need to develop integrated policies that manage the ecological and socioeconomic risk of greenhouse gases and marine pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimizing the impact of fishing is an explicit goal in international agreements as well as in regional directives and national laws. To assist in practical implementation, three simple rules for fisheries management are proposed in this study: 1) take less than nature by ensuring that mortality caused by fishing is less than the natural rate of mortality; 2) maintain population sizes above half of natural abundance, at levels where populations are still likely to be able to fulfil their ecosystem functions as prey or predator; and 3) let fish grow and reproduce, by adjusting the size at first capture such that the mean length in the catch equals the length where the biomass of an unexploited cohort would be maximum ( Lopt). For rule 3), the basic equations describing growth in age-structured populations are re-examined and a new optimum length for first capture ( Lc_opt) is established. For a given rate of fishing mortality, Lc_opt keeps catch and profit near their theoretical optima while maintaining large population sizes. Application of the three rules would not only minimize the impact of fishing on commercial species, it may also achieve several goals of ecosystem-based fisheries management, such as rebuilding the biomass of prey and predator species in the system and reducing collateral impact of fishing, because with more fish in the water, shorter duration of gear deployment is needed for a given catch. The study also addresses typical criticisms of these common sense rules for fisheries management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conservatively estimate the distant-water fleet catch of the People's Republic of China for 2000-2011, using a newly assembled database of reported occurrence of Chinese fishing vessels in various parts of the world and information on the annual catch by vessel type. Given the unreliability of official statistics, uncertainty of results was estimated through a regionally stratified Monte Carlo approach, which documents the presence and number of Chinese vessels in Exclusive Economic Zones and then multiplies these by the expected annual catch per vessel. We find that China, which over-reports its domestic catch, substantially under-reports the catch of its distant-water fleets. This catch, estimated at 4.6 million t year−1 (95% central distribution, 3.4-6.1 million t year−1) from 2000 to 2011 (compared with an average of 368 000 t·year−1 reported by China to FAO), corresponds to an ex-vessel landed value of 8.93 billion € year−1 (95% central distribution, 6.3-12.3 billion). Chinese distant-water fleets extract the largest catch in African waters (3.1 million t year−1, 95% central distribution, 2.0-4.4 million t), followed by Asia (1.0 million t year−1, 0.56-1.5 million t), Oceania (198 000 t year−1, 144 000-262 000 t), Central and South America (182 000 t year−1, 94 000-299 000 t) and Antarctica (48 000 t year−1, 8 000-129 000 t). The uncertainty of these estimates is relatively high, but several sources of inaccuracy could not be fully resolved given the constraints inherent in the underlying data and method, which also prevented us from distinguishing between legal and illegal catch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The announcement of plans for exploratory oil drilling at a number of offshore sites in Belize raised concerns about the risks associated with drilling, particularly given the socio-economic importance of the marine ecosystem. The current economic value of fisheries and marine ecotourism is estimated, along with the potential revenue from offshore oil and potential economic losses stemming from oil pollution, under various assumptions on risk and uncertainty. Marine fisheries and ecotourism are estimated to generate around US$ 183 million per year. Single-year estimated maximum revenue is higher for oil extraction initially but quickly declines; during a 50 year (two generation) period, total discounted benefits from marine fisheries and ecotourism are estimated at US$ 5.1 billion, compared to US$ 3.2 billion from offshore oil revenue. Following a hypothetical oil spill, discounted losses in marine fisheries and ecotourism due to perception and ecological impacts are estimated at US$ 912 million, with clean-up costs and capital losses of US$ 6.1-10.4 billion. Considering the short extraction life of oil resources compared to fisheries and ecotourism, the difference in benefits increases substantially in favour of the latter with a longer time horizon. A recent public referendum resulted in a 98% vote against oil exploration and a subsequent annulment of oil concessions pending environmental impact assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine social-ecological systems consist of interactive ecological and human social elements so that changes in ecological systems affect fishing-dependent societies and vice versa. This study compares the responses of marine ecological and fishing-dependent systems to environmental change and the impacts of globalization, using four case-studies: NE Atlantic (Barents Sea), NW Atlantic (Newfoundland), SE Atlantic (Namibia) and the equatorial Atlantic (Ghana). Marine ecological systems cope with short-time changes by altering migration and distribution patterns, changing species composition, and changing diets and growth rates; over the longer term, adaptive changes lead to increased turn-over rates and changes in the structure and function of the system. Fishing communities cope with short-term change through intensification and diversification of fishing, migration and 'riding out the storm'. Over the longer term, adaptive changes in policy and fisheries governance can interact with social-ecological change to focus on new fisheries, economic diversification, re-training, out-migration and community closures. Marine social-ecological systems can ultimately possess rapid adaptive capacity in their ecological components, but reduced adaptive capacity in society. Maintaining the diversity of response capabilities on short and longer time scales, among both ecological and human fishing systems, should be a key policy objective. The challenge is to develop robust governance approaches for coupled marine social-ecological systems that can respond to short- and long-term consequences of global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]