Implications of Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management for Defining, Assessing and Addressing Bycatch

There is an emerging global consensus on the need to adopt an ecosystem approach to management of human activities in marine systems.  Key elements of the approach include the recognition that humans are an integral part of the ecosystem, that management must consider inter-relationships among components of the system and the effects of environmental forcing, and that management units should be based on ecological rather than political boundaries. I will review progress toward defining an ecosystem approach to fishery management on the Northeast U.S. continental shelf with a focus on the implications of technological interactions and by-catch on the development of effective ecosystem-based management strategies.  Among the strongest reasons for adopting Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management is the pervasive influence of both technological and biological interactions in this coupled human-resource system. The multispecies nature of the dominant fisheries in the region substantially complicates any attempt at conventional single species management.  It is argued that management strategies targeted at identifiable portfolios of interacting species, coupled though biological interactions and/or common harvesting practices and set within geographically defined ecological production units affords the greatest opportunity for success in managing this complex system.