Food for thought: pretty good multispecies yield

Anna Rindorf, C. M. Dichmont, P.S. Levin, Pamela Mace, S. Pascoe, Raul Prellezo, A.E. Punt, David G. Reid, Robert Stephenson, Clara Ulrich, Morten Vinther, Lotte Worsøe Clausen

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Abstract

MSY principles for marine fisheries management reflect a focus on obtaining continued high catches to provide food and livelihoods for humanity, while not compromising ecosystems. However, maintaining healthy stocks to provide the maximum sustainable yield on a single-species basis does not ensure that broader ecosystem, economic, and social objectives are addressed. We investigate how the principles of a “pretty good yield” range of fishing mortalities assumed to provide >95% of the average yield for a single stock can be expanded to a pretty good multispecies yield (PGMY) space and further to pretty good multidimensional yield to accommodate situations where the yield from a stock affects the ecosystem, economic and social benefits, or sustainability. We demonstrate in a European example that PGMY is a practical concept. As PGMY provides a safe operating space for management that adheres to the principles of MSY, it allows the consideration of other aspects to be included in operational management advice in both data-rich and data-limited situations. PGMY furthermore provides a way to integrate advice across stocks, avoiding clearly infeasible management combinations, and thereby hopefully increasing confidence in scientific advice
Original languageEnglish
JournalICES Journal of Marine Science
Volume74
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)475-486
ISSN1054-3139
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

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