In a Perfect Ocean

by Pauly, Daniel; Maclean, Jay L.; MacLean, J. L.

• ISBN13: 9781559633246
• ISBN10: 1559633247
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Island Pr

Summary

Recent decades have been marked by the decline or collapse of one fishery after another around the world, from swordfish in the North Atlantic to orange roughy in the South Pacific. While the effects of a collapse on local economies and fishing-dependent communities have generated much discussion, little attention has been paid to its impacts on the overall health of the ocean's ecosystems.In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Oceanpresents the first empirical assessment of the status of ecosystems in the North Atlantic ocean. Drawing on a wide range of studies including original research conducted for this volume, the authors analyze 14 large marine ecosystems to provide an indisputable picture of an ocean whose ecology has been dramatically altered, resulting in a phenomenon described by the authors as "fishing down the food web." The book:provides a snapshot of the past health of the North Atlantic and compares it to its present statuspresents a rigorous scientific assessment based on the key criteria of fisheries catches, biomass, and trophic levelconsiders the factors that have led to the current situationdescribes the policy options available for halting the declineoffers recommendations for restoring the North AtlanticAn original and powerful series of maps and charts illustrate where the effects of overfishing are the most pronounced and highlight the interactions among various factors contributing to the overall decline of the North Atlantic's ecosystems.This is the first in a series of assessments by the world's leading marine scientists, entitled "The State of the World's Oceans." In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Oceanis a landmark study, the first of its kind to make a comprehensive, ecosystem-based assessment of the North Atlantic Ocean, and will be essential reading for policymakers at the state, national, and international level concerned with fisheries management, as well for scientists, researchers, and activists concerned with marine issues or fishing and the fisheries industry.

Author Biography

Daniel Pauly is the principal investigator for the Sea Around Us project, sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and based at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Maps	xiii
Preface	xvii
Acknowledgments	xix
Introduction	xxi
A Brief History of the North Atlantic and Its Resources	1	(22)
Past Abundance in the North Atlantic	5	(5)
Development of the North Atlantic Fisheries	10	(7)
Northeast Atlantic fisheries	11	(3)
Northwest Atlantic fisheries	14	(3)
Effects of Technology	17	(2)
The Importance of Understanding the Past	19	(4)
The Decline of North Atlantic Fisheries	23	(40)
How Much Fish is Being Caught?	29	(4)
Reported catches	29	(1)
Discards, illegal, and unreported catches	30	(3)
Fishing Effort and Related Indices	33	(10)
Fishing intensity	33	(3)
Economic efficiency	36	(3)
Energy efficiency	39	(4)
Impacts on Biomass and Ecosystems	43	(18)
Biomass declines	48	(1)
Fishing down marine food webs	48	(5)
Squashed pyramids and shorter food chains	53	(3)
Competition with marine mammals	56	(5)
Report Card for an Impoverished Ocean	61	(2)
How Did We Get Here?	63	(28)
A Conceptual Failure	63	(3)
Distorted Economics	66	(9)
Small-scale vs. large-scale fisheries	71	(2)
Present vs. future generations	73	(2)
Ineffective Governance	75	(14)
Local and national governance	76	(4)
International arrangements	80	(3)
Fisheries compliance with international instruments	83	(6)
Institutions and Equity	89	(2)
What to Do?	91	(30)
Reducing Fishing Effort	94	(10)
Quotas	95	(3)
Vessel buyback and destruction	98	(1)
Marine reserves	99	(1)
Fishery benefits	100	(2)
Using the precautionary approach	102	(2)
Transforming the Market	104	(6)
Reducing subsidies	104	(1)
Energy and/or carbon taxes	105	(1)
Educating consumers	106	(2)
Nonconsumptive use of the oceans	108	(1)
Accounting for future generations	108	(2)
Transforming Governance	110	(6)
Dealing with illegal catches	112	(2)
Reducing the scale of fishing fleets	114	(2)
Recommendations: Leaning on the Firewall Between Science and Advocacy	116	(5)
Notes	121	(32)
References	153	(12)
Acronyms	165	(2)
Index	167