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ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on April 23, 2008
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2008 65(6):1069-1080; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsn063
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Crown Copyright © 2008. Published by Oxford Journals on behalf of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. All rights reserved.

Can economic and biological management objectives be achieved by the use of MSY-based reference points? A North Sea plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and sole (Solea solea) case study

Graham M. Pilling1, Laurence T. Kell1, Trevor Hutton1, Peter J. Bromley1, Alex N. Tidd1 and Loes J. Bolle2

1 Cefas, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK
2 Wageningen–IMARES, PO Box 69, 1970 AB IJmuiden, The Netherlands

Correspondence to G. M. Pilling: tel: +44 1502 527730; fax: +44 1502 524546; e-mail: graham.pilling{at}cefas.co.uk.

Pilling, G. M., Kell, L. T., Hutton, T., Bromley, P. J., Tidd, A. N., and Bolle, L. J. 2008. Can economic and biological management objectives be achieved by the use of MSY-based reference points? A North Sea plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and sole (Solea solea) case study. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 1069–1080.

We examined the biological and economic impact of changing from management based on single-species limit reference points to one based on alternative targets, using the multispecies multifleet North Sea flatfish fishery. The robustness of reference points was tested against identified changes in plaice and sole biology. Current ICES single-species limit and precautionary biomass and fishing mortality reference points were seldom consistent with each other. Although they were generally robust to biological uncertainty, fishing at Fpa for sole could lead to stock collapse under one biological scenario. Adoption of alternative targets would reduce reliance on current reference points as stocks moved to a more sustainable state. Maximum sustainable yield (MSY), maximum economic yield (MEY), and maximum employment conditions implied different effort levels in the two fleets modelled, and different profits. Ftarget could be achieved with equal effort reductions in both fleets. Changes in stock biology affected the fishing effort required to maximize employment within the fishery, whereas MSY, Fmax, and MEY targets were robust to this uncertainty. Resulting profits and yields did vary widely, however. The selection of target reference points therefore requires stakeholders to define fishery objectives explicitly, against which targets can be evaluated for the resulting trade-offs between risk to stocks, yield, employment, and other social objectives.

Keywords: flatfish, limit and target reference points, maximum sustainable yield, North Sea

Received 9 March 2007; accepted 8 March 2008; advance access publication 23 April 2008.


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