Operationalizing Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management

Many fisheries management systems are rooted in single-species approaches that consider individual aspects of an ecosystem. There is growing interest, however, among managers, scientists, and fishing communities to move to ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM)- an approach that can identify ‘safe ecological limits’ for fishing through considerations of the ecosystem as a whole. Moving to EBFM will require managers to merge multi-species data and management approaches with existing reporting and management structures. To advance this work, the Lenfest Ocean Program is supporting research projects that aim to operationalize EBFM principles in current fisheries management systems.

Many of these projects demonstrate how existing data can be transformed to consider ecosystem health. A cornerstone project on Benchmarks for Ecosystem Assessment identified three ecosystem indicators- topology, resiliency, and distortive pressure- that can be calculated using current fisheries data to produce an Ecosystem Traits Index (ETI) score that signals when an ecosystem is stressed from fishing pressures or other extractive activities. These methods are now being implemented in Indonesia and the Gulf of Thailand to demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of such approaches.

Follow the links below to learn more about current and previous projects in the Lenfest Ocean Program EBFM portfolio.