{"id":1227,"date":"2020-02-10T01:57:51","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T06:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/?p=1227"},"modified":"2023-07-28T12:20:39","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T16:20:39","slug":"what-is-the-status-of-the-worlds-managed-fisheries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/what-is-the-status-of-the-worlds-managed-fisheries\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Status of the World\u2019s Managed Fisheries?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
On average, fish stocks are increasing in places where they\u2019re managed \u2014 and they\u2019re in much worse shape in locations where they aren\u2019t managed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyone with a mild interest in the health of the planet is probably also interested in the status of the world\u2019s wild capture fisheries. As you might imagine, the status depends in part on which fisheries you consider \u2014 and what segment of history you review. Regardless, we all hope that effective fisheries management results in healthy fish stocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marine fisheries are an important part of the world\u2019s ecosystem and serve as an important food source for a large percentage of the planet. Most research to date has focused on determining the health or status of individual fish stocks, groups of related stocks, or even country-level assessments. It has been incredibly difficult to look at the health of global fish stocks as a whole, because the data required for such analyses are not easily accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, researchers have been adding global fisheries stock assessment information to a central database<\/a> for a number of years. This process enables scientists from all across the globe to address different research questions while using the same source data. As scientists add more and more data representing different fish stocks, the database becomes more representative of global \u201cwild-capture\u201d fisheries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A multinational team of scientists gathered data that constituted 49% of the world\u2019s wild capture fisheries \u2014 a monumental and time-consuming accomplishment. This study combined existing and new datasets to represent the most complete collection of managed wild capture fisheries to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, the scientists looked at the stock status trends \u2014 in other words, whether fish populations were increasing or decreasing \u2014 and compared these trends to the intensity of management that fisheries managers applied to each fish stock. The fisheries managers answered a series of detailed surveys, which enabled scientists to determine if the level of management intensity ultimately impacted the status of fish stocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the simplest of terms, the scientists determined that world\u2019s fish stocks do better on average when managed. Furthermore, when management is \u201cintensive,\u201d fish stocks on average are above target levels of abundance or are rebuilding \u2014 which is good news. However, in locations where stocks receive less intensive management, stock status and trends are worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The results of the study suggest that science-based fisheries management works, on average, to maintain the health of individual fish stocks. The challenge remains how to apply science-based methods and sustainability to the world\u2019s data-poor<\/em>, unaccessed<\/em> and unmanaged<\/em> fish stocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study drew on data about most of the catch in North and South American, Europe, Japan, Russia, Northwest Africa, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and globally-managed tuna fisheries. There was little to no data available for this study from South and Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Africa, or Central America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hilborn, Ray and 22 co-authors. 2020. Effective fisheries management instrumental in improving fish stock status<\/a>. Proc. Nat\u2019 Acad. Sci. 117 (4) 2218-2224. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1909726116<\/a><\/u><\/p>\n\n\n\n Funding for this research comes from multiple sources: The Nature Conservancy, The Wildlife Conservation Society, the Walton Family Foundation, the Environmental Defense Fund, and donations from 12 fishing companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Summary compiled by Scott Baker<\/em> The text from Hook, Line & Science<\/em> is available to reprint and republish, but only in its entirety and with this attribution: Hook, Line & Science<\/em>, courtesy of Scott Baker and Sara Mirabilio, North Carolina Sea Grant. HookLineScience.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On average, fish stocks are increasing in places where they\u2019re managed \u2014 and they\u2019re in much worse shape in locations where they aren\u2019t managed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":1232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,536,15,16,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-angler","category-fisheries-management","category-fishing","category-research","category-seafood"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nResearch Need<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What Did They Study?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What Did They Find?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
So What?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Anything else?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Reading<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Lead photo courtesy of NOAA<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n