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ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access published online on April 8, 2009
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil, doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsp073
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© 2009 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Regulating a complex adaptive system via its wasp-waist: grappling with ecosystem-based management of the New England herring fishery

Andrew Bakun1, Elizabeth A. Babcock1 and Christine Santora2

1 Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
2 School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

Correspondence to A. Bakun: tel: +1 305 421 4986; fax: +1 305 421 4600; e-mail: abakun{at}rsmas.miami.edu.

Bakun, A., Babcock, E. A., and Santora, C. 2009. Regulating a complex adaptive system via its wasp-waist: grappling with ecosystem-based management of the New England herring fishery. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 000–000.

We use the New England herring fishery as an example of the unresolved scientific issues pertinent to ecosystem-based management of forage-fish fisheries. The biomass of herring off New England is currently well above maximum sustainable yield (BMSY), leading to pressure for expanded harvests. Associated concerns include: the maintenance of sufficiently abundant forage to meet the current needs of marine mammals and seabirds while supporting the rebuilding of overfished groundfish resources; the preservation of the service functions of a healthy population of pelagic zooplanktivorous fish to prevent possible outbreaks of pests, or hypoxia events; and the limitation of unintended bycatch of marine mammals, seabirds, and juvenile stages of groundfish. Perhaps a self-enhancing feedback loop, involving predation by herring on the early life stages of their groundfish predators, might result in regime shifts that could not be easily reversed. A plausible outcome of these ideas is a dichotomy in management choice between (i) promoting an ecosystem dominated by valuable groundfish resources and (ii) promoting the current ecosystem that features a large herring resource associated with abundant and energy-rich forage for marine mammals, seabirds, and continued high productivity of valuable shellfish resources.

Keywords: bycatch, endangered species, feedback loop, foodweb, midwater trawling, regime shift, stock collapse

Received 7 September 2008; accepted 23 December 2008.


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