Holistic Approach to Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management Linking Biological Hierarchies for Sustainable Fishing

About this book

This book provides cutting-edge scientific ideas and novel concepts on the ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management. It begins by reviewing the scientific fundamentals and problems currently faced by conventional fisheries science, based on population dynamics. In turn, it reviews the theoretical basis of ecosystem dynamics, including selected ecosystem indicators. Surplus production and balanced harvests are discussed in the ecosystem dynamics context. Several ecosystem-holistic indicators are described, but particular emphasis is placed on two: the noxicline (gain in entropy due to loss of biomass) and resilience, which are expressed as ecosystem (holistic) points of reference for defining allowable harvest rates. Both biological (population) and ecosystem (holistic) points of reference are subsequently analyzed in the context of fisheries management and conservation. An adaptability concept is also discussed as a management policy for facing climate change. In closing, the concepts presented are applied to six study cases involving a range of different ecosystems and fisheries.

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Biography

Francisco Arreguín-Sánchez is a Professor at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas. Research lines: Dynamics of exploited ecosystems and populations; climate change, and fisheries management. Currently his chief scientific research is in ecosystems dynamics, with a focus on holistic properties like resilience and self-organization, and their response to disturbances caused by climate change and fishing.