The Spot Prawn Fishery: A Status Report - Earth Economics

The Spot Prawn Fishery: A Status Report
The Commission of European Communities
recently approached ICES to facilitate a better
understanding of the precautionary principle in
the context of setting annual catch quotas. According
to ICES, reference points or thresholds are one
of the centerpieces of precautionary management.
These thresholds typically are used to identify a
spawning biomass level below which the sustainability
of the stock or species is placed at risk
(Commission of European Communities 2000).
Zhang (1999) explores the idea that managers
can use two distinct types of precautionary reference
points: a management or target reference
point (TRP) and a conservation or limit reference
point (LRP). The TRP indicates the exploitation
target for management purposes; the LRP
defines the biological limit of the stock or population
in question. The paper describes a number of
different empirical equations and fisheries assessment
models that can be used to derive the reference
points based on the characteristics of the
species and the fishery.
Once the reference points or thresholds are
established, the fishery will need to be frequently
monitored in order to “ensure that the exploitation
pattern does not change” (Boutillier and
Bond 1999b). Within the bounds of these safety
margins or reference points is room for many different
types of management strategies. Managers
must define the environmental, economic, and
sociocultural goals they are seeking to maximize;
e.g., ecosystem health, sustainability, yield by
weight, the economic value of catches, community
stability, jobs, etc. Multi-annual decision-making
regimes can then be established that outline
the guidelines, criteria, and thresholds needed
to sustainably manage a fishery.
1.2 Ensure the Adequacy of Environmental
Information
The history of fisheries management reads like
a good novel: crisis, ruin, intrigue, noble aspirations,
“good guys” and “bad guys,” fortunes
won and lost. The numbers tell the same tale,
both globally and in the US. According to the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO 1997), nearly 70% of the world’s fish
stocks are overfished, depleted, or fully exploited.
In the US, almost 50% of the fisheries for which
there are data are overfished or in decline.
The crisis in fisheries management does not exist
because of a lack of attempts to manage. In the US,
the National Marine Fisheries Service, in its various
organizational iterations, has been actively managing
and regulating fishing since the 1800s. Collapses
are directly attributable to a lack of ecological
information, a resultant uncertainty in science,
and a failure to manage with precaution due
to these information limits. Scientific and management
uncertainty stems from a number of
sources:
•dearth of information regarding the status of fish
populations
•numerous unknowns regarding ecological
relationships and factors affecting population
abundance and distribution, and the cumulative
effect of these variables on the population or
ecosystem
•unpredictability surrounding the nature, inci-
Our marine economies are whollyowned
subsidiaries of the marine
environment.The services and products
provided by the sea secure our
dependence on it. Not only does
the ecological state of the world’s
oceans mandate a higher level of
concern and a greater stewardship
role, but we must also acknowledge
the fact that we are not as removed
from the ocean as we often assume.
“We are, in a sense, soft vessels of
seawater. Seventy percent of our
bodies is water, the same percentage
that covers Earth’s surface.We
are wrapped around an ocean within.You
can test this simply enough:
Taste your tears” (Safina 1998, p.
434).
“Recognizing our interrelationship
does not imply notions of some
unreal ocean utopia wherein all
creatures swim at peace” (Safina
1998, p. 440). A sea ethic is not
some new, naïve mythology. Rather,
a sea ethic is a concept that will
allow us to expand the concept of
humanity and the richness of our
human experience.
Such a perspective frees the
mind and opens doors: to a lifetime
of boundless inquiry, to a
wealth of enriching insights and
reflection, to the chance to be
more fully human, to the possibility
of making a meaningful
contribution.The only prerequisites
for taking this path are
respectfulness and an extravagant
desire for exploration—
both impulses that build an elevated
sense of vitality and purpose
(Safina 1998, p. 440).
Fostering a “sea ethic” in spot prawn
management would require that
the ecological footprint of the fishery
be continually minimized.The
destruction of critical marine habitat
or high levels of avoidable bycatch
cannot be justified in ecological or
economic terms.These actions are
potentially damaging to the spot
prawn, to marine ecosystems, and to
the fishing industries and communities
that depend on them.
49