Sustainability reference systems and indicators for responsible marine capture fisheries: a review of concepts and elements for a set of guidelines

This review was prepared as a background document for the Consultation on Sustainable Indicators for Capture Fisheries held in Sydney, Australia, 18-22 January 1998. It aims to facilitate the development and implementation of indicators and to serve as a basis for the development of part of the series of Technical Guidelines in Support of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The paper reviews the concept of sustainable development ('sustainability'). Five sustainability frameworks are suggested for developing and grouping indicators. A discussion of the criteria that could be used to measure and monitor progress towards sustainability includes the types of possible indicators, their use within the sustainability concept, use of reference points on which to compare indicators and their relation to planning and management. Sustainable Development Reference Systems are introduced as a tool for grouping indicators and representing the interrelationships among them. Visual methods of portraying the human and environmental dimensions of sustainability and their indicators can be broadened to permit temporal and spatial comparisons. These, combined with systems to scale the different dimensions to reflect different societal values of their importance, can assist policy makers, fisheries managers, industries, non-governmental organizations and the general public in understanding and assessing progress towards sustainable development of capture fisheries.