Aggregated yield and fishing effort in multispecies fisheries: an empirical analysis

Many tropical fisheries are inherently of a multispecies nature, with any given type of fishing gear harvesting a wide range of species. Species-aggregated relationships between fishing effort and yield or catch per unit of effort (CPUE) provide important information for the management of such fisheries, as well as insights into ecosystem-level responses to fisheries exploitation. We used a model selection approach to study species-aggregated, yield-effort relationships in spatially replicated, multispecies inland fisheries. Of three alternative models considered, the data strongly supported a sigmoid functional form (Akaike weight 0.95) over the alternative, asymptotic exponential or quadratic (Schaefer) models (Akaike weights 0.03 and 0.02, respectively). The sigmoid form implies the occurrence of an inflexion point in the rising part of the yield-effort curve and no decline in aggregated yield even at the highest effort levels observed. Aggregated CPUE declines steeply near the origin of the effort scale before stabilizing or rising to a local maximum and then declining inversely with further increases in effort. This highly nonlinear response suggests that extreme caution is required when interpreting aggregated CPUE as an indicator of fishing impacts on exploited communities. Further research is required to identify the mechanisms generating the observed relationship.