Potential Benefits of Ecosystem-Based Forage Fish Management

We explore how current research on forage fish ecosystems can be operationalized for use in management decision-making, starting from the question: “What are the net economic benefits of a fractional reduction in forage fish catch?” To answer this question, we develop a conceptual model of the natural and economic components of forage fish systems, and pathways linking the components.  This allows for organization of the contributions of the fishery biology, ecology, and economics literature on forage fish. We use this model to highlight conditions of ecosystems, species, fishing industries, fish product markets, and governance institutions that are more likely to lead to a “win-win” scenario (i.e. net economic benefits are positive across all sectors and interests) or a “lose-lose” scenario (i.e. net economic benefits are negative across all sectors and interests) if the forage fish catch is decreased. By organizing the literature into a decision-making framework, we are able to provide guidance on the gaps that exist in the literature and how investments in new research can be best leveraged to equip fishery managers with the tools necessary to operationalize ecosystem-based management in areas that have significant forage fish populations.