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One billion people depend on seafood as their primary source of protein and 25% of the world's total animal protein comes from fisheries. Yet a third of fish stocks worldwide are overexploited or depleted. Using individual case studies, many have argued that community-based co-management should prevent the tragedy of the commons because cooperative management by fishers, managers and scientists often results in sustainable fisheries. However, general and multidisciplinary evaluations of co-management regimes and the conditions for social, economic and ecological success within such regimes are lacking. Here we examine 130 co-managed fisheries in a wide range of countries with different degrees of development, ecosystems, fishing sectors and type of resources. We identified strong leadership as the most important attribute contributing to success, followed by individual or community quotas, social cohesion and protected areas. Less important conditions included enforcement mechanisms, long-term management policies and life history of the resources. Fisheries were most successful when at least eight co-management attributes were present, showing a strong positive relationship between the number of these attributes and success, owing to redundancy in management regulations. Our results demonstrate the critical importance of prominent community leaders and robust social capital, combined with clear incentives through catch shares and conservation benefits derived from protected areas, for successfully managing aquatic resources and securing the livelihoods of communities depending on them. Our study offers hope that co-management, the only realistic solution for the majority of the world's fisheries, can solve many of the problems facing global fisheries.

Marine ecosystems are in decline. New transformational changes in governance are urgently required to cope with overfishing, pollution, global changes, and other drivers of degradation. Here we explore social, political, and ecological aspects of a transformation in governance of Chile's coastal marine resources, from 1980 to today. Critical elements in the initial preparatory phase of the transformation were (i) recognition of the depletion of resource stocks, (ii) scientific knowledge on the ecology and resilience of targeted species and their role in ecosystem dynamics, and (iii) demonstration-scale experimental trials, building on smaller-scale scientific experiments, which identified new management pathways. The trials improved cooperation among scientists and fishers, integrating knowledge and establishing trust. Political turbulence and resource stock collapse provided a window of opportunity that triggered the transformation, supported by new enabling legislation. Essential elements to navigate this transformation were the ability to network knowledge from the local level to influence the decision-making processes at the national level, and a preexisting social network of fishers that provided political leverage through a national confederation of artisanal fishing collectives. The resultant governance scheme includes a revolutionary national system of marine tenure that allocates user rights and responsibilities to fisher collectives. Although fine tuning is necessary to build resilience of this new regime, this transformation has improved the sustainability of the interconnected social-ecological system. Our analysis of how this transformation unfolded provides insights into how the Chilean system could be further developed and identifies generalized pathways for improved governance of marine resources around the world.

The yellow clam fishery in Uruguay provides a longstanding case study of co-management in small-scale fisheries. This paper employs a participatory approach to examine the co-management experience in the yellow clam fishery and distil numerous lessons for implementing the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines). There were three main findings in the study. First, from the perspective of the fishers, co-management has proven successful in advancing gender equity, human rights and subjective well-being within the fishery, which align with the SSF Guidelines. Second, co-management is likely most effective at achieving the goals of the SSF Guidelines when it is accompanied by wide-scale structural changes in legislation and efforts to improve its coherence across areas of jurisdiction. Third, the nature and rate of socio-economic and ecological change currently being experienced - and which is expected to continue - requires a significant amount of flexibility in co-management arrangements in order for them to deliver on the intended outcomes of the SSF Guidelines. These findings help further the implementation of the SSF Guidelines through co-management in the yellow clam fishery, and serve as a learning platform for scaling up good practices to other small-scale fisheries of Uruguay. Additionally, the findings can also be applied in other regions dealing with similar issues in the management and governance of small-scale fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spawning aggregations are critical for the resilience of some coral reef fish populations and for the sustainability of many coastal fisheries. However, overexploitation of these aggregations is leading to a rapid decline of fish stocks. The fish aggregation site (FAS) associated with the San Felipe Keys National Park (in southwestern Cuba) is of great importance for the conservation of northern Caribbean snapper. An assessment of the pressure which fishing is placing on these populations, however, has not to date been conducted. To characterize the fishing use of San Felipe Keys FAS, data pertaining to five snapper species were evaluated in 2014. Samples consisted of 3879 individuals collected from 80 catch samples from commercial and sport fishing modalities. Catch assessment was performed using indicators based on length-frequency data (minimum legal size, length at first maturity, optimal length and average size of catch) and on fisheries effort data (seasonal and spatial yield by different modalities). To identify whether individuals were caught before or after spawning, the stage of gonads was analyzed. Individuals with sizes below the maturity length and with mature gonads before spawning prevailed in the five species, with Lutjanus analis and L. cyanopterus being the most affected. The government commercial fishing fleet had the highest volume of catches and the largest impact. The indicators suggest that the current use of this FAS may impede the effective preservation of reproductive capacity of the population. Therefore, management and conservation initiatives of this FAS are urgently needed to maintain the sustainability and resilience of the coralline social-ecological system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural and functional changes in a sandy beach ecosystem in the southwestern Atlantic (Barra del Chuy, Uruguay) were assessed by contrasting four Ecopath trophic models and performing temporal dynamic simulations using Ecosim. Each model (1982, 1989, 1996 and 2012) represents a historical period of a clam fishery in which regulatory structure, management tools and resource status varied substantially. The results showed that this land-ocean interface experienced significant changes reflected at the population and ecosystem levels, owing to a combined effect of fishing and climate variability. Most system biomass (excluding phytoplankton and detritus) consisted of benthic invertebrates. Phytoplankton increased significantly over time, whereas the biomass of benthic macrofaunal components varied among the periods due to bottom-up processes, mass mortalities of the harvested clams and fishing intensity. Major fishing impacts on the targeted clam and mass mortalities occurred concurrently with low phytoplankton biomass, and clam recovery occurred in the absence of harvesting and increasing primary production. Ecosystem-level attributes (e.g., Total System Throughput, Ascendency) showed considerable temporal fluctuations, which were primarily related to changes in system productivity associated with a climatic shift from a cold phase to a warm phase and increasing onshore winds. An analysis of robustness and order showed an ecosystem state lacking the flexibility to adapt to new perturbations. Dynamic simulations showed the prominent bottom-up role of environmental variability on ecosystem function and structure. Temporal dynamics is conducted by changes in primary production forced mainly by temperature patterns. The concurrent role of climate variations and fishing explained the long-term dynamics of this ecosystem, suggesting that sandy beaches are fragile social-ecological systems whose services are increasingly threatened by long-lasting stressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global change is occurring now, often with consequences far beyond those anticipated. Although there is a wide range of assessment approaches available to address-specific aspects of global change, there is currently no framework to identify what governance responses have worked and where, what has facilitated change and what preventative options are possible. To respond to this need, we present an integrated assessment framework that builds on knowledge learned from past experience of responses to global change in marine systems, to enable decision-makers, researchers, managers and local stakeholders to: (i) make decisions efficiently; (ii) triage and improve their responses; and (iii) evaluate where to most effectively allocate resources to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience of coastal people. This integrated assessment framework, IMBER- ADApT is intended to enable and enhance decision-making through the development, a typology of case-studies providing lessons on how the natural, social and governance systems respond to the challenges of global change. The typology is developed from a database of case-studies detailing the systems affected by change, responses to change and, critically, an appraisal of these responses, generating knowledge-based solutions that can be applied to other comparable situations. Fisheries, which suffer from multiple pressures, are the current focus of the proposed framework, but it could be applied to a wide range of global change issues. IMBER- ADApT has the potential to contribute to timely, cost-effective policy and governing decision-making and response. It offers cross-scale learning to help ameliorate, and eventually prevent, loss of livelihoods, food sources and habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastics and other marine debris affect wildlife through entanglement and by ingestion. We assessed the ingestion of marine debris by seven albatross species in the southwest Atlantic by analyzing stomach contents of birds killed in fisheries. Of the 128 specimens examined, including four Diomedea species ( n = 78) and three Thalassarche species ( n = 50), 21 (16.4%) contained 1–4 debris items, mainly in the ventriculus. The most common type was plastic fragments. Debris was most frequent in Diomedea species (25.6%) and, particularly, Diomedea sanfordi (38.9%) and very rare in Thalassarche species (2.0%), presumably reflecting differences in foraging behavior or distribution. Frequency of occurrence was significantly higher in male than female Diomedea albatrosses (39.3% vs. 18.0%). Although levels of accumulated debris were relatively low overall, and unlikely to result in gut blockage, associated toxins might nevertheless represent a health risk for Diomedea albatrosses, compounding the negative impact of other human activities on these threatened species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns over fishing impacts on marine populations and ecosystems have intensified the need to improve ocean management. One increasingly popular market-based instrument for ecological stewardship is the use of certification and eco-labeling programs to highlight sustainable fisheries with low environmental impacts. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is the most prominent of these programs. Despite widespread discussions about the rigor of the MSC standards, no comprehensive analysis of the performance of MSC-certified fish stocks has yet been conducted. We compared status and abundance trends of 45 certified stocks with those of 179 uncertified stocks, finding that 74% of certified fisheries were above biomass levels that would produce maximum sustainable yield, compared with only 44% of uncertified fisheries. On average, the biomass of certified stocks increased by 46% over the past 10 years, whereas uncertified fisheries increased by just 9%. As part of the MSC process, fisheries initially go through a confidential pre-assessment process. When certified fisheries are compared with those that decline to pursue full certification after pre-assessment, certified stocks had much lower mean exploitation rates (67% of the rate producing maximum sustainable yield vs. 92% for those declining to pursue certification), allowing for more sustainable harvesting and in many cases biomass rebuilding. From a consumer's point of view this means that MSC-certified seafood is 3-5 times less likely to be subject to harmful fishing than uncertified seafood. Thus, MSC-certification accurately identifies healthy fish stocks and conveys reliable information on stock status to seafood consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-scale fisheries (SSF) are critical to food systems and livelihoods. However, the relation between fisheries resilience, outcomes of proximate and distal drivers and the potential space for transformative changes have been largely unexplored. Such knowledge is key to understanding how fishery resources, institutions and actors respond to, and learn from, diverse drivers of change and social-ecological crises, as well as to design policies aimed at building resilience in SSF. This paper provides a new heuristic model to analyze the factors that combined lead SSF to trajectories towards shifts, traps and collapses, including the opportunity to navigate sustainable transformations. We illustrate the proposed Heuristic with three case studies with different biophysical and socio-cultural contexts and final outcomes: the Galician shellfisheries on foot (Spain), the Chilean king crab small-scale fishery (Chile), and the Galapagos sea cucumber small-scale fishery (Ecuador). The application of the Heuristic and a detailed description of model key elements for each case study provide practical examples and a valuable guide for fisheries scientists, practitioners and decision-makers to learn and/or respond in a flexible way to SSF social-ecological crises in the pursuit of fisheries sustainability and equity. Scholars are welcome to adopt our Heuristic to classify and bound SSF, order events, suggest hypotheses of linked drivers, pathways of change, potential trajectories, and outcomes, and envision potential space for transformative changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All clam fisheries in the western Mediterranean Sea have dramatically declined in the last few decades. Recently, most have collapsed in Spain, resulting in job loss for hundreds of small-scale fishers. However, insufficient attention has been given to the profound significance of this socio-ecological crisis. We evaluated the historical, social, and ecological context of the striped venus clam (Chamelea gallina) fisheries in the western Mediterranean Sea, focusing on one of the main productive areas of this region (the Ebro Delta, Catalonia, NE Spain) to detect possible causes of the decline in clam landings. Different governance systems (self-governance, centralized governance, and de facto co-governance) had been successful in maintaining striped clam fisheries since they were established in the 1940s. However, since the industrialization of fishing fleets in the mid-1970s, a lack of reliable management (e.g. , free access; conflicts between different interested parties) and a progressive increase in fishing capacity, fishing effort, and technological enhancements across the small fishing grounds have increased the vulnerability of the exploited stocks and set them on a collapse trajectory. We recommend the following management measures to promote the recovery of the striped venus clam stock and mitigate the loss of its ecological, social, and economic value: (1) the closure of the fishery in the Ebro Delta; (2) the preparation and implementation of a Spanish Management Fishery Plan to restore the striped clam fishing grounds; (3) the establishment of a supra-regional Management Plan for the striped venus clam on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. • Clam fisheries in western Mediterranean Sea declined dramatically in the last decades. • Most small-scale clam fisheries collapsed in Mediterranean coast of Spain. • Long-term trends in the striped venus clam fishery in the Ebro Delta are assessed. • Weak management and increase in fishing capacity set stocks on a collapse trajectory. • Local and supra-regional Management Plans and co-governance are encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quantitative fishing survey of the scallop Zygochlamys patagonica was conducted in Uruguayan waters of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean in July 2001. The area surveyed extends between latitudes 35°50′S and 36°50′S, water depth ranging from 75 to 135 m. Stations were located systematically on parallel transects along the latitudinal gradient at 10-miles intervals and tows were set at every 5 m water depth interval. Stock estimates were obtained using geostatistics (kriging). This model-based approach showed a persistent spatial structure of the scallop population, as denoted by the spherical model fitted to both the whole population and the harvestable stock (individual height>55 mm). The structure of spatial dependence suggests a latitudinal structured process close to 48 km (total population) and 61 km (harvestable stock). Mean kriged density for the most likely value of gear efficiency (e=0.35) was 0.0122 and 0.0089 kg m−2 respectively, whereas global biomass estimated by block kriging were 48 039 and 35 246 t. Further analysis conducted at the bed of highest scallop densities provided additional support to the spatially structured process observed at a macroscale. Sensitivity analysis conducted with gear efficiency (e), revealed consistency of estimates with accepted theory, i.e., density and biomass estimates increased with decreasing e. Most of the life history traits of Z. patagonica showed clear large scale patterns: (1) concerning latitude, the highest density patch was found at the middle (36°20′S: mean=0.0279 kg m−2) of the surveyed area, whereas the southern border (36°50′S: mean=0.0204 kg m−2) had densities 16 times higher than the northern one (35°50′S: 0.0013 kg m−2). Muscle weight also increased linearly towards higher latitudes, whereas the harvestable stock, mean individual height and maximum height increased asymptotically in the NE–SW direction. Only muscle yield, either as global mean or discriminated by scallop size, significantly increased at the northern end of species distribution. (2) Bathymetric analysis showed a clear maximum density at depths close to 100 m, coinciding with the minimum proportion of harvestable stock, and a consistent inverse relationship between depth and (a) individual height and (b) muscle weight. Guidelines are suggested for fishery planning and development, taking special emphasis on the applicability of spatially explicit management tools. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Production modelling using fishery yield but total mortality rate in place of fishing effort (yield-mortality models) does not suffer from undetected changes in catchability or fishing power from technological change, is easier to apply to multi/gear fisheries for the same species, and produces biologically meaningful reference points. They can be calibrated against analytical models and may use the same data sets. Their disadvantage has been the equilibrium assumption as per Csirke and Caddy (1983). Annual mortality rates may come from procedures such as catch curve analysis which make local equilibrium assumptions, but becomes dynamic if the mortality estimates are annual. Theory and problems in fitting this model are described using the same data sets as illustrated in the equilibrium yield-mortality (Y-Z) model in Caddy and Defeo (1996), but also for North Sea cod using data from the working group report on the ICES website. A non-linear quasi-Newton fitting procedure was used in which all three parameters, (r, B∞, and M) are constrained to positive values by a penalty function in the minimisation algorithm. For short time-series with high inter-annual variations in yield, the model is very sensitive to initial values. We suggest using the equilibrium model to generate seed values for dynamic fitting. Trials with the North Sea cod data show that with a long term and robust data set the dynamic model explains a large proportion of the variance and provides a good fit to trends in the catch series. It recovered a value for natural mortality rate similar to that used in other assessments. We also demonstrate that data sets for conventional VPA/cohort analysis can be successfully reused to deduce values of M, r, and B∞ from Y-Z models. For all data sets, the dynamic model is more sensitive to time series trends than the equilibrium model although M values were generally lower, but fairly consistent with published values. Guidelines for future work are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the beginning of the fishing industry in Uruguay, a variety of fishing activities began, evolved, and expanded into the deeper waters of the Uruguayan marine territory. The purpose of this study was to identify and map the Uruguayan higher intensity fishing areas over a 58-year time span. The concept of métier was used, which allows the grouping of fishing modalities according to target species, fishing units, gear and operation areas as descriptors for each activity. Information sources included published articles, reports, records in official publications, direct observations and research surveys conducted between 1960 and 2018 in the Río de la Plata and the Argentine-Uruguayan Common Fishing Zone. An overlapping model using a geographic information system was deployed in order to identify area use and intensity weighted by the number of fishing units. A total of 60 métiers were listed in two fleet segments, 25 artisanal métiers and 35 industrial métiers, throughout the analysed period. Currently, most métiers are inactive, and of those that are operational, most are the oldest métiers that are considered to be traditional fisheries. The overlap model showed higher activity spatially concentrated on the continental slope, in the eastern coastal zone and along the area near Montevideo, separated by fleet segment. Industrial activity showed an expansion of the area according to the number of métiers between 1995 and 2010. This analysis allowed us to quantify the geographical extent of fisheries in the long term, providing critical information for fisheries management and marine spatial planning. • The "Métier" concept was applied to fisheries between 1960 and 2018. • Sixty métiers were identified, including active and inactive, in two fleet segments. • The use of marine areas was different in small-scale and industrial fleet segments. • The area used by the industrial fleet expanded when the number of métiers reached the maximum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification program is a market-based instrument aimed at recognizing sustainable fishing practices. Although there are 10 MSC-certified fisheries in Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC), this proportion is low (4%) compared to the total number of certified fisheries globally. Therefore, implementation of MSC certification in LAC fisheries is examined by considering: (1) fishing industry drivers for certification and (2) certified fisheries performance against the MSC standard. The MSC certification was suitable for large multi-national enterprises with export-oriented markets and for small-scale fisheries with exclusive access rights harvesting high-value resources. Maintaining or increasing market-share was a main motivation to pursue certification. Most LAC certified fisheries showed high performance in terms of stock status, governance and management systems. However, the expansion of the MSC certification in LAC remains limited by: (1) intrinsic weaknesses of fisheries in the region (shortage of information and instability in governance systems); and (2) high costs associated to certification and extrinsic market conditions (price shocks and demand retractions). Innovative strategies to encourage the development of domestic certified seafood markets, and a major inclusiveness of small-scale fisheries with traditional management arrangements at the local level, could constitute significant steps toward a more sustainable pathway on a regional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We examined the bycatch of great albatrosses in pelagic longline fisheries of the southwest Atlantic. [•] We determined the areas and seasons where the interaction is most intense. [•] We identified key vessel operational practices and habitat variables affecting bycatch. [•] Results are useful for developing or improving conservation measures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The worldwide increasing trend in fishing catches together with the impact of fishing on ecosystems and inefficient fishery management have led to overfishing and frequent collapse of traditional fish stocks. In this context, the assessment of fishery-induced impacts and the implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management programs are urgently required. In this study, the mean trophic level (TLm) and the fishing-in-balance (FIB)-index of Uruguayan landings during 1990 and 2001 were estimated using the trophic level of 60 fishery resources. A decline in total landings (Y) is observed, which is explained by the lower fishing yield in major fishery resources (especially demersal). Moreover, a marked decreasing trend in TLm at a rate of approximately 0.28 trophic levels per decade, and a decreasing trend in FIB-index since 1997 were observed. The present situation of fishery resources in Uruguay (fully exploited or overexploited) and the drop in Y, FIB and TLm can be considered as indirect indicators of the fishing impacts on the trophic structure of Uruguayan marine communities. We suggest that a more holistic ecosystem-based fisheries management could help to alleviate the critical situation of fish stocks in Uruguayan waters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]