The conservation of productive fisheries is a goal that is cross-cultural and unanimously shared by virtually every nation with a coast. The need for protein and use of coastal resources for uses other than fisheries however, has created an ebbing tide on sustainability. Today more so than ever, nations are striving to manage their stocks of fish to provide a continuous stream of benefits. Dr. Andrew Rosenberg spoke to the need for using an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management. He called for a policy and ethic that strives to address all components of the marine system from offshore interests to coastal development, citing that viewing fisheries as distal to these entities was both counterproductive and foolhardy.

He opened the lecture with a review of the current state of major fisheries throughout the world, the Scotian Shelf, and New England. In each case, there was a pronounced decline; however when management actions were taken such as closures and no-take areas, the biomass was seen to recover. He talked about the evidence for ecosystem effects in the form of large documented changes in species abundance and dominance. Related to this point, he described how marine regime shifts have been documented both as a result of environmental change and overfishing. Finally, he talked about how shifting baselines alter perceptions of marine ecosystems.

Why is it we can send people to the moon but can’t manage fisheries? Part of the answer, Rosenberg maintains, is that the policy makers in fisheries management are faced with uncertain scientific stock estimates, but near certain public pressures. A fisherman can stand up to a microphone and tell an electorate that he or she will lose their job if they enact a proposed fishing cut. Meanwhile the scientists who provided the electorate with the data that the cut is based on is only 95% confident that the stock is “X” plus or minus 50,000 metric tons. Dr. Rosenberg maintains that scientists should emphasize what they do know, and not what they do not know to help formulate socially-desirable fisheries outcomes.

The take-home message of Rosenberg’s lecture was that fisheries are part of a larger system and to manage them in isolation is to fail. He plainly believes that fisheries are indeed in trouble, but in order to improve them we need a more holistic view of marine resource management. More specifically, we need to look at all aspects of the marine anthrosphere: coastal development, recreation, transport, offshore interests and others in addition to fisheries. In short, we need a more ecosystem-based management paradigm if sustainable fisheries are to succeed.