Journal
MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES
Volume 484, Issue -, Pages 155-+Publisher
INTER-RESEARCH
DOI: 10.3354/meps10305
Keywords
Ecosystem approach to fisheries management; Food-web; Resilience; Dynamic model; Fisheries indicators; Extinction; Species richness
Categories
Funding
- Beaufort Marine Research Award
- Marine Institute
- Marine Research Sub-Programme of the Irish National Development Plan
- European Community [289257]
- UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [M1228]
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A dynamic food-web model of more than 1000 species was used to quantify the recovery trajectory of marine community size-structure under different hypothetical fishing regimes, using the Northeast Atlantic as an example. Size-structure was summarised by 4 indicators: the Large Fish Indicator (LFI), the Large Species Indicator (LSI), the biomass-weighted mean maximum length of fish species ((L) over bar (max)) and the biomass-weighted mean maturation length of fish species ((L) over bar (mat)). Time-series of these indicators recorded recovery following release from fishing with various size-selectivities, intensities and durations. In model simulations, fishing-induced trophic cascades were observed to distort fish community size-structure, but these did not have a large influence on recovery level or duration as measured by the 4 indicators. However, simulations showed that local extinctions of large fish species increased in number with both fishing intensity and duration, and could strongly limit the recovery level. Recovery of fish community size-structure to near equilibrium frequently took multiple decades in simulations; these long transient periods suggest that management interventions for size-structure recovery may require much longer than previously thought. Our results demonstrate the need for community-level modelling to set realistic targets for management of community size-structure.
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