Impacts of Fishing Low–Trophic Level Species on Marine Ecosystems

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 333; no. 6046; pp. 1147 - 1150
• Main Authors: Smith, Anthony D. M., Brown, Christopher J., Bulman, Catherine M., Fulton, Elizabeth A., Johnson, Penny, Kaplan, Isaac C., Lozano-Montes, Hector, Mackinson, Steven, Marzloff, Martin, Shannon, Lynne J., Shin, Yunne-Jai, Tam, Jorge
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 26-08-2011; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Anchovies; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic Organisms; Biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; Birds; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Ecological sustainability; Ecosystem; Ecosystem models; Ecosystems; Environmental degradation: ecosystems survey and restoration; Exploitation; Exploitation and management of natural biological resources (hunting, fishing and exploited populations survey, etc.); Fisheries; Fishes; Fishing; Food Chain; Foods; Forage; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Mammals; Marine; Marine ecology; Marine ecosystems; Marine mammals; Models, Biological; Oceans and Seas; Population Dynamics; Sardines; Security; Species; Marine environment; Trophic chain; Trophic level; Ecosystem; Environment impact; Fishing; Equilibrium
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1209395

Low—trophic level species account for more than 30% of global fisheries production and contribute substantially to global food security. We used a range of ecosystem models to explore the effects of fishing low—trophic level species on marine ecosystems, including marine mammals and seabirds, and on other commercially important species. In five well-studied ecosystems, we found that fishing these species at conventional maximum sustainable yield (MSY) levels can have large impacts on other parts of the ecosystem, particularly when they constitute a high proportion of the biomass in the ecosystem or are highly connected in the food web. Halving exploitation rates would result in much lower impacts on marine ecosystems while still achieving 80% of MSY.