A seascape-scale habitat model to support management of fishing impacts on benthic ecosystems
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Abstract
Minimizing fishing impacts on seafloor ecosystems is a growing focus of ocean management; however, few quantitative tools exist to guide seascape-scale habitat management. To meet these needs, we developed a model to assess benthic ecosystem impacts from fishing gear contact. The habitat impacts model is cast in discrete time and can accommodate overlapping fisheries as well as incorporate gear-specific contact dynamics. We implemented the model in the North Pacific using fishing data from 2003 to 2017, estimating that habitat in 3.1% of the 1.2 million km2 study area was disturbed at the end of the simulation period. A marked decline in habitat disturbance was evident since 2010, attributable to a single regulatory gear change that lifted trawl gear components off the seafloor. Running scenarios without these gear modifications showed these policies might have contributed to a 24% reduction in habitat disturbance since their implementation. Ultimately, model outputs provide direct estimates of the spatial and temporal trends of habitat effects from fishing — a key component of regulatory policies for many of the world’s fisheries.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | A seascape-scale habitat model to support management of fishing impacts on benthic ecosystems |
| Series title | Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
| DOI | 10.1139/cjfas-2018-0243 |
| Volume | 76 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Year Published | 2019 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Canadian Science Publishing |
| Contributing office(s) | Coop Res Unit Leetown |
| Description | 9 p. |
| First page | 1836 |
| Last page | 1844 |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |