Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management: Conservation or Utilization?

Concerns over the status of many fisheries resources have created a debate about balancing utilization and conservation for long-term sustainability.  Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) is an emerging strategy that some believe will allow for greater utilization of fisheries resources, while others believe it will be more conservative.  While the name ecosystem-based implies conservation, it actually references the holistic nature of the process that accounts for changes within a target stock as well as its predators, prey, environment, and human interactions.  The core of EBFM is still fisheries management, which by its definition focuses on the utilization of fishery resources.  However, EBFM explores trade-offs between resources and fisheries that cannot be easily addressed within the current management system.  In doing so, realized yield may improve and become more stable.  Maximum sustainable yield can be thought of as a multi-dimensional utility that changes in response to multiple biomasses and environmental conditions.  We present an example of a two-tiered quota system, with a multispecies catch ceiling and species specific biomass floors.  Whether this will be more conservative than previous management disciplines has yet to be realized but it has great potential to balance utilization and conservation towards sustainability.