Open AccessIntegration of Indicator Alarm Signals for Ecosystem‐Based Fishery Management
Author(s) -
Duggan Deirdre E.,
Farnsworth Keith D.,
Kraak Sarah B. M.,
Reid David G.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
conservation letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.153
H-Index - 79
ISSN - 1755-263X
DOI - 10.1111/conl.12177
Subject(s) - weighting , scope (computer science) , fisheries management , stakeholder , environmental resource management , negotiation , marine strategy framework directive , natural resource management , overfishing , ecosystem , fishery , ecosystem based management , natural resource , computer science , environmental science , fishing , ecology , economics , biology , political science , medicine , management , law , radiology , programming language
Abstract We consider the problem of regulating the rate of harvesting a natural resource, taking account of the wider system represented by a set of ecological and economic indicators, given differing stakeholder priorities. This requires objective and transparent decision making to show how indicators impinge on the resulting regulation decision. We offer a new scheme for combining indicators, derived from assessing the suitability of lowering versus not lowering the harvest rate based on indicator values relative to their predefined reference levels. Using the practical example of fisheries management under an “ecosystem approach,” we demonstrate how different stakeholder views can be quantitatively represented by weighting sets applied to these comparisons. Using the scheme in an analysis of historical data from the Celtic Sea fisheries, we find great scope for negotiating agreement among disparate stakeholders.