To move to ecosystem-oriented approaches in fisheries management, managers, scientists, and fishing communities need to integrate new or additional ecosystem indicators in these assessments. Ecosystem-oriented approaches include the Ecosystem Approach to Fishery Management (EAFM) and Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM). In a previous project on Benchmarks for Ecosystem Assessment, an expert Working Group made of scientists, managers, and policymakers from four countries—United States, Chile, Australia, and India—identified three indicators that typify ecosystem structure and function: topology, resiliency, and distortive pressure. These indicators can then be collated from existing data and assessed under current management infrastructure. When combined, they produce an Ecosystem Traits Index (ETI) score that signals ecosystem health, allowing managers to more easily identify when an ecosystem is under stress and what actions they should take.
In this project, the Lenfest Ocean Program is supporting a team of researchers and practitioners led by Dr. Pavarot Noranarttragoon and Dr. Nipa Kulanujaree with the Thailand Department of Fisheries (DoF), to implement these indicators in the management of commercial and small-scale fisheries in the Gulf of Thailand. The project will demonstrate how indicators can be incorporated into current management strategies to better align with principles of EBFM.