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© FAO 2003
The present text is the final version of the report of the Expert Consultation on Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management, held in Reykjavik, Iceland, from 16 to 19 September 2002.
Distribution
Participants
Directors of Fisheries
FAO Fisheries
Department
FAO Regional and Subregional Fisheries Officers
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FAO. Report of the Expert Consultation on Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management. Reykjavik, Iceland, 16-19 September 2002. FAO Fisheries Report No. 690. Rome/Roma, FAO. 2003. 23p. An Expert Consultation on Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management was held in Reykjavik, Iceland, from 16 to 19 September 2002, in response to a request in the Reykjavik Declaration on Responsible Fisheries to develop technical guidelines for best practice with regard to introducing ecosystems considerations into fisheries management. The meeting was attended by 17 experts from 15 countries who drafted guidelines for an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) that will be published in the series of the FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries. The guidelines attempt to operationalize EAF by recognizing that it is an extension of current management practices, but broadens these to take into account the biotic, abiotic and human components of ecosystems in which fisheries operate. The guidelines provide an approach to translate the high level policy goals of the economic, social and ecological dimensions of sustainable development already agreed in a range of instruments and agreements into operational objectives, indicators and performance measures that can be implemented at a practical level to achieve EAF. |
1. The recent Reykjavik Conference on Responsible Fisheries in the Marine Ecosystem, (October 2001, hereafter referred to as the Reykjavik Conference) adopted the Reykjavik Declaration on Responsible Fisheries, which included a call for FAO to develop technical guidelines to facilitate implementation of an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF):
“We would encourage FAO to work with scientific and technical experts from all different regions to develop technical guidelines for best practices with regard to introducing ecosystem considerations into fisheries management. These technical guidelines should be presented at the next session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries.”
2. In response to this request, the FAO Fisheries Department organized an Expert Consultation on Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management to prepare the draft guidelines for presentation to the Twenty-fifth Session of COFI in February 2003. The draft guidelines are still in the process of finalization and translation. This information paper gives an extensive summary of the Consultation’s outcomes and outputs.
3. The Expert Consultation was held in Reykjavik, Iceland, from 16 to 19 September 2002, hosted by the Marine Research Institute, Iceland, with additional funding support provided by FAO and a number of donors[1]. The local organization was undertaken by the Marine Research Institute with the kind support of Dr Jóhann Sigurjonsson (Director-General, MRI) and his staff.
4. Preparation for the meeting was overseen by a Steering Committee comprising: K. Cochrane (FAO), S.M. Garcia (FAO), J. Rice (Canada), K. Sainsbury (Australia) and M. Sissenwine (USA). The meeting was attended by 17 experts from 15 countries, covering a range of disciplines and activities connected with the ecosystem approach to fisheries. Three of the invited participants, from East Africa, central-west Africa and the South Pacific Islands, could not attend the meeting. Four FAO staff members provided the secretariat for the meeting. The list of participants is attached as Appendix B.
5. As background material, FAO provided:
6. The meeting documents, as well as a large number of source documents were made available through the web-based UN Atlas of the Oceans (developed by FAO on behalf of a number of UN Agencies dealing with oceans). A “Virtual Office” was established in the Atlas to rapidly develop a dedicated web-site for access to (and interaction between) the participants.
7. Prior to the meeting, each participant was also asked to provide a document describing key issues on the implications of an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries in their area of expertise.
8. The meeting was chaired by Dr Keith Sainsbury and organized into a series of plenary sessions where consensus was developed and drafting group sessions for three drafting groups to write sections of the draft guidelines. The Agenda of the meeting is attached as Appendix A. The draft guidelines were adopted at the last plenary session. After the meeting, the FAO Secretariat prepared the report of the Consultation and finalized some sections and annexes of the guidelines upon instructions of the Consultation. The final version of the draft guidelines was cleared with the participants by email.
9. Taking into account the comments made in the Reykjavik Conference by some member countries and recognizing the need to characterize a broader range of activities, the Consultation decided to adopt the term “Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF)” instead of “Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM)”. It also adopted a purpose for, and working definition of EAF:
The purpose of an EAF is to plan, develop and manage fisheries in a manner that addresses the multiplicity of societal needs and desires, without jeopardizing the options for future generations to benefit from a full range of goods and services provided by marine ecosystems,
which lead to the definition:
An ecosystem approach to fisheries strives to balance diverse societal objectives, by taking into account the knowledge and uncertainties about biotic, abiotic and human components of ecosystems and their interactions and applying an integrated approach to fisheries within ecologically meaningful boundaries.
10. The purpose and definition recognizes that EAF is a means of implementing sustainable development concepts into fisheries. It recognizes the broader uses and users of the marine environment (including fishing) and the need to accommodate and reconcile the many objectives of these users so that future generations can also derive the full range of goods and services provided by the system. It also recognizes that man is a key component of the ecosystem in which fishing takes place and that fishing impacts the environment and that the environment impacts on fisheries. As the ecosystem is a functional unit comprised of a dynamic complex of plants, animals, micro-organisms and the non-living environment, EAF acknowledges that these ecosystems occur on a range of scales, often defined on the basis of the question being asked. However for ecosystems to be a functional management unit they need to be geographically based to align with ecologically meaningful boundaries. Most importantly, EAF focuses on the interactions within the system and attempts to deal with issues in a holistic way, a feature often lacking in current fishery management practices that usually focus on individual species or species groups.
11. EAF is not inconsistent with, or a replacement for current fisheries management approaches (e.g. as described in the FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries No. 4 on Fisheries Management (FM Guidelines)) and is likely to be adopted as an incremental extension of current fisheries management. In drafting the guidelines, due consideration was given to the work already undertaken by a number of national agencies, NGOs and academics. Considerable emphasis was also placed on the many common and agreed policy goals that have resulted from a range of international conferences, international agreements and instruments, in particular the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.
12. It was agreed that, because there is little prior experience in implementing EAF, the purpose of the guidelines was to facilitate implementation of the approach by describing a process that would allow translation of the higher level sustainable development economic, social and ecological policy goals into operational goals, able to be directly influenced by management measures. This is a major challenge in areas where the higher level goals relate to concepts such as ecosystem integrity, ecosystem health and biodiversity. The EAF guidelines stress, however, for these higher level goals to be achieved, fisheries-related operational objectives[3] must be developed. It also stresses that although there is lack of knowledge concerning ecosystem functioning and structure, this uncertainty should not prevent the development of operational objectives based on the best available knowledge.
13. To ensure continuity between conventional fisheries management and EAF, the EAF Guidelines used the the FM guidelines as a template and reinforced those sections most pertinent to EAF, and added to them as appropriate to ensure that they gave due attention to the extra dimensions required by EAF.
14. The structure of the EAF Guidelines therefore follows that of the FM guidelines and is divided into the following major sections:
15. EAF requires a further broadening of current fisheries data collection and research. It was noted that the availability of relevant information will vary widely among countries but stressed that considerable information is available, often outside of the conventional fisheries area and often held by the harvesters of the resource, especially in developing countries where traditional knowledge of ecosystems and the fishery should be captured and utilized.
16. Many of the measures available to managers to implement EAF will be based on those currently used but broadened to include a greater use of economic incentives and ecosystem manipulations. Even the current measures such as effort controls, catch controls and technical gear and area-based controls will have to be broadened to address a wider range of goals and objectives as well as the management of the target species of the fishery.
17. A large part of the Consultation was spent discussing how the current management process would change under EAF. It was agreed that the management process is essentially the same, but that it would need to consult with a broader range of stakeholders, be even more rigorous in setting operational objectives, decision rules and evaluation of management performance. The approach described in the EAF guidelines is one of participation of all relevant stakeholders where the high level policy goals are translated into day-to-day management activities and where conflicting goals and aspirations can be debated and a consensus reached. Without this practical operational approach, EAF will remain just another important but non-implemented concept. The process is the same, whether applied in data poor fisheries, with low scientific and management capacity fisheries or in fisheries rich in data and capacity.
18. In examining the legal and institutional aspects it was concluded that, although the basic guiding principles and concepts are largely contained in already agreed international instruments, the detailed requirements of an operational EAF are not well covered in binding international fisheries law at present. They are mainly reflected in voluntary instruments such as the Code of Conduct. As a result, few regional fisheries bodies and arrangements make explicit recognition of EAF in their conventions. Similarly, EAF is frequently not an integral part of national fisheries policy and legislation. For EAF to be implemented, existing legislation will need to be reviewed and improved as appropriate. EAF may require more complex sets of rules or regulations that recognize and cater for the impact of fisheries on other sectors and the impact of those sectors on fisheries.
19. EAF requires adherence to the same principles of transparent and participatory management as conducted under many current management practices and, given the broader stakeholder base under EAF, there will frequently be a need for institutions to coordinate consultation, cooperation and joint decision-making between fisheries operating in the same geographical area and between the fisheries and other sectors that interact with them. For example, where one fishery targets one or more prey species of a predator fished by another fishery, there will need to be an institution or arrangement to coordinate the management actions of both fisheries, including the reconciliation of the different objectives of the two fisheries. This recognizes the true nature and extent of access and allocation of resources within an ecosystem, frequently neglected or ignored under current fisheries management practices.
20. A transition to EAF will be greatly facilitated if adequate attention is given to education and training of all those involved, including fishers, the management agency officials and staff, and other stakeholders. The administrative structures and functions, including monitoring, control and surveillance, will also have to be adapted, as necessary.
21. A start should be made now in the implementation of EAF, where it has not already been done, on the basis of existing knowledge. However, its implementation and effectiveness will undoubtedly benefit from reducing key uncertainties, and further research is needed for this purpose. A number of key areas for further research were identified, including:
22. Several major threats to a smooth implementation of EAF were also identified. While EAF will generate important benefits, a lack of investment in the process will certainly slow down progress and could mean failure in the end. It will take considerable resources to reconcile the conflicting objectives of the different stakeholders, possibly aggravated by the difficulties of ensuring effective participation of all stakeholders in the development and implementation of EAF. Insufficient biological and ecological knowledge will continue to be a constraint as will insufficient education and awareness that will impact on the ability of all stakeholders to exercise their responsibilities, including the fishery management agencies. Equity issues will always be difficult to resolve in relation to responsibility for ecosystem degradation, between fisheries and other economic activities such as agriculture (including forestry), chemical industries, urban and coastal development, energy and tourism.
23. These threats will need to be addressed and with more practical experience solutions incorporated into future editions of the EAF Guidelines.
24. The meeting captured many of the above outcomes by generating:
25. Because of the limited practical experience available at this stage, it was agreed that the Technical Guidelines would be “preliminary” and should be revised regularly and in any case as soon as a sufficient amount of practical experience becomes available.
26. It was agreed that:
An Expert Consultation on Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management was held in Reykjavik, Iceland, from 16 to 19 September 2002, in response to a request in the Reykjavik Declaration on Responsible Fisheries to develop technical guidelines for best practice with regard to introducing ecosystems considerations into fisheries management. The meeting was attended by 17 experts from 15 countries who drafted guidelines for an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) that will be published in the series of the FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries. The guidelines attempt to operationalize EAF by recognizing that it is an extension of current management practices, but broadens these to take into account the biotic, abiotic and human components of ecosystems in which fisheries operate. The guidelines provide an approach to translate the high level policy goals of the economic, social and ecological dimensions of sustainable development already agreed in a range of instruments and agreements into operational objectives, indicators and performance measures that can be implemented at a practical level to achieve EAF.
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[1] Assistance was provided
from Australia, Canada, European Community, Iceland, New Zealand, the Nordic
Council of Ministers and the USA to supplement FAO regular funds. [2] The review will be published as an FAO Fisheries Technical Paper. [3] A specific purpose that can be achieved by applying management measures. |
