Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 333, Issue 6046, Pages 1147-1150Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1209395
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Funding
- Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (Australia)
- National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (USA)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (France)
- Instituto del Mar del Peru (Peru)
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation
- European Union (EU) [244966]
- Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs [M1202]
- South African Research Chair Initiative
- South African Department of Science and Technology
- EU [212085]
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [M1202] Funding Source: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
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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.
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