Description
The fisheries management plan (FMP) for sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in English and Welsh waters is designed to achieve sustainable exploitation of the stock in the context of ecosystem approaches to fisheries management. The FMP outlines management goals to meet specific objectives of the bass fisheries and sets out short- and medium to long-term actions plans to monitor and evaluate progress toward meeting these goals. One of the goals is “sustainable harvesting of the bass stock in line with scientific advice” (Goal 6). To achieve this goal, several alternative management objectives have been proposed through consultation with stakeholders.This report first reviews the literature on a wide range of fisheries management objectives, and indicators/reference points and data needs to implement management measures to achieve the objectives. This is followed by identification of data gaps in applying alternative management objectives to UK bass fisheries and data collection recommendations to address these gaps.
Fisheries management objectives can be grouped into four general categories: 1) biological, 2) social/cultural, 3) economic, and 4) ecological/environmental. While knowledge and data to inform fisheries management have grown in recent decades, many fisheries around the world are still managed on single species stock assessments to achieve biological (stock conservation) objectives. Unlike stock conservation goals, the social and cultural objectives are poorly defined with no measurable targets in many fisheries, posing challenges in evaluating and achieving them.
To scope how different types of management objectives are implemented in practice, the FMPs of three well-managed fisheries from major fishing nations: 1) groundfish fisheries in the Pacific Region in Canada, 2) groundfish fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska, USA, and 3) deepwater and middle-depth fisheries in New Zealand, are reviewed in depth. Although their management systems have in general adopted multidimensional management objectives that account for biological, social/cultural, economic, and ecological/environmental dimensions of the fisheries, insufficient data and knowledge gaps, especially in social/cultural objectives, still exist, impeding a routine integration of these objectives.
UK bass fisheries are currently subject to various management measures to achieve a stock size that produces maximum sustainable yield. This management strategy, however, does not explicitly account for social/cultural, economic, and ecological/environmental dimensions, and thus may fail to meet the multidimensional objectives identified in the FMP as required in the Joint Fisheries Statement 2022 and the Fisheries Act 2020. Still, like many other fisheries, insufficient data availability would pose challenges in adopting alternative management objectives for bass fisheries. Data gaps especially in recreational fisheries and their social/cultural contributions to coastal communities, climate change effects on biology, distribution, and abundance, and bycatch rates of both bass and non-target species would impede achieving the social/cultural and ecological objectives. Recommendations for data collection methods are provided to address these gaps.
| Period | Apr 2025 → Jun 2025 |
|---|---|
| Work for | Welsh Government, United Kingdom |
| Degree of Recognition | National |