Fisheries Research 64 (2003) 207209

Book review
Responsible Fisheries in the Marine Ecosystem
M. Sinclair, G. Valdimarsson (Eds.); FAO and CAB
International, Wallingford, 2003, 448 pages, hardback,
ISBN 0 85199 633 7 (CAB International), ISBN 925
104767 7 (FAO), US$ 140
In the debate on how to rescue marine fisheries, the
possibility of ecosystem-based management currently
tops the agenda, but like all concepts with succinctly
attractive titles, its meaning is far from clear, and the
way to its practical application even less so. In October 2001 a conference was held in Iceland which
focused on marine fisheries management, aiming in
particular to review relevant knowledge on ecosystems, discuss how such knowledge might be used, and
consider future challenges. A brief report on this was
published in Fisheries Research in 2002 (vol. 58,
no. 3), and the book now under review presents the
conference papers. While most of the 35 papers were
given by scientists, it is clear from the foreword, and
indeed from the books contents, that the conference
was aimed at politicians and administrators, although
representatives of the industry and NGOs were also
present. The volume is divided into four parts.
The first presents five introductory reviews. It begins with a global overview of marine fisheries, which
reiterates the now well known pessimistic assessment
of resources, recalls how we reached this position, and
notes that we must manage what we have got, since
no other fishing area or resource remains to be discovered. This is backed up by a chapter on the ecosystem
management approach which outlines relevant global,
regional and national activities. It is followed by contributions from the perspectives of the large-scale industry (which, we are told, is responsibly and conservatively managed, at least in the USA North Pacific)
and then from small-scale fisheries, which feel that
they have much to offer and deserve more recognition.
The final review brings in the environmentalists, and

reminds us that the NGOs are mostly recipients and

communicators of scientific information, rather than
generators of it, and that in recent years they have
tended to become much less adversarial, being more
willing to take a broader view. While these reviews
provide a useful introduction to the book, they say
nothing that is not already well known.
The five papers in the second part of the book focus on the dynamics of marine ecosystems. The first
offers an individual slant, arguing strongly that since
fisheries are limited not only by the effort deployed
but also by space, they, and the ecological process,
need to be documented in the form of maps, which are
seen as major heuristic devices. With the next paper
we are back to an overview, which refers to different types of energy flow: bottomup, topdown and
waspwaist, and with how ecosystems are driven by
changing combinations of these controls. The following two papers review food webs and the amount of
food marine organisms consume. The first provides
among other things, a case study from the eastern
Bering Sea, the second focuses on cetaceans, concluding there is probably direct competition between them
and commercial fisheries in the North Pacific and the
North Atlantic. This section ends with a discussion
of multi-species and ecosystem models and how they
have been and are being used in management. It notes
that functioning holistic models are not yet available,
and, not surprisingly, concludes that maintaining low
fishing pressure remains a prudent policy.
The six papers in the third section of the book turn
to the role of man in marine ecosystems, and review
the well known concerns. We are reminded of the multiple uses of the oceans, the impacts of fishing gear on
benthic habitats, the magnitude and impact of by-catch
mortality and the effects of fishing on biodiversity.
At the more general level, intensive fishing can alter
ecosystem structure and function, with, among other
things, a shift from larger fish-eating species to smaller

0165-7836/$ see front matter 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2003.08.002

208

Book review

plankton-eating fish. A warning is given that since it

is difficult to know how a system looked before exploitation, there is the risk of using a situation already
influenced by fishing as a baseline for evaluating further change. In this context, it is worth noting that the
Census of Marine Life programme has a major component, The History of Marine Animal Populations,
that aims to provide a picture of pristine ecosystems.
The last chapter in this section covers man-induced
changes other than fishing, and recognises two types,
those that affect ecosystem structure or population processes, and those that affect the quality of the fish
product. For the latter, although dioxins and endocrine
disrupters are causing concern, monitoring of contaminants in seafood now generally offers good public
health protection, but quantifying anthropogenic effects at the ecosystem level is seldom possible.
The fourth section finally gets down to the core
of the conferencethe possibilities of incorporating
ecosystem considerations into fisheries management,
and six chapters cover various aspects of this. The
effectiveness of management systems in conserving
marine fisheries and producing economic and social
benefits is discussed. The main conclusions of an
earlier OECD study are upheld, namely that individual fishing quotas can control exploitation, mitigate
the race for fish, and reduce over-capacity. While
that study suggested time and area closures had not
been effective, there has more recently been a growing interest in the establishment of various forms of
marine protected areas, which are advocated to serve
a variety of purposes. Also, several new approaches
on rights-based management appear promising, including community development quotas and fishery
cooperatives. However, a major challenge is always
the shortsightedness of elected representatives, who
are reluctant to take the long or even the medium
term view necessary to conserve stocks and ensure
economic benefits. One paper discusses the so-called
operational management procedure (OMP), which
is a structured system taking account of scientific uncertainties against the background of the precautionary approach. It is normally applied to single species
situations, and in asking if it could be extended to
ecosystem-based management, the paper offers at least
some hope. Turning to fishing operations, ecosystem
objectives can be advanced by the development of selective gear and the use of appropriate applications to

improve targeting and reduce environmental damage.

Such modifications as square mesh panels, sorting
grids and turtle excluder devices are discussed, and
also changes in the construction and operation of tuna
purse seines to reduce the mortality of dolphins, as
well as well as technical measures to reduce incidental catch of seabirds in long-line fisheries. Another
paper recognises the difficulties to management of
introducing ecosystem-related objectives, and discusses how these may be addressed. It suggests that
the whole management system, not just its individual
parts, should be evaluated; that a range of operational
indicators, reference points and performance indicators should be utilised to meet ecosystem objectives,
and that management tools such as MPAs should be
introduced. It is noted, however, that while MPAs may
offer local benefits, they are best seen as only part
of a collection of management tools. The penultimate
paper, perhaps the most apposite one in the book,
thoughtfully explores an ecosystem approach to governance for responsible fisheries. It helpfully proposes
criteria that should be met for a fishery to be considered responsible, and discusses the actions required
by the scientific community, the fishing industry, the
managers, the politicians and the public. The final
paper, contributed by the FAO, provides background
to the organisation of the conference, refers again to
the state of world fisheries and the marine environment in general, and considers the implementation
of EBFM. It would have been better placed as an
introduction.
The book ends with two short appendices. The first
summarises input from a panel of four industry representatives, from Canada, Iceland, New Zealand and
Germany. It is significant that this should be relegated
to less than four pages, in spite of all the talk throughout the conference of the need for industrial interaction. The second appendix sets out a declaration, put
to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg in 2002. After the usual formal paragraphs in declaration style (recalling, confirming, appreciating, emphasising, etc.) it essentially says . . .
in an effort to reinforce responsible and sustainable
fisheries in the marine ecosystem, we will individually and collectively work on incorporating ecosystem
considerations into that management to that aim. As
printed here, there are no signatories, but we presumably refers to the conference participants.

Book review

Since the conference aimed to review current

knowledge and perhaps to educate managers and
politicians, one would not expect new data, and
should be happy that in providing a comprehensive
and authoritative account of where we stand today,
the volume is without doubt a landmark publication.
In addition, the various assessments and suggestions
make a significant contribution to the advancement of
ecosystem-based fisheries management.

209

A.D. McIntyre
Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen
Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen
Scotland AB24 2TZ, UK
Tel.: +44-1224-645633; fax: +44-1224-620656
E-mail address: a.d.mcintyre@abdn.ac.uk
(A.D. McIntyre)
21 August 2003