Road Map to Effective Area-Based Management of Blue Water Fisheries
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Road Map to Effective Area-Based Management of Blue Water Fisheries Including Workshop Proceedings January 5, 2021 Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400 Honolulu, HI 96813 PHONE: (808) 522-8220 FAX: (808) 522-8226 www.wpcouncil.org Cover Image: A report of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council 1164 Bishop Street, Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813 Prepared by Mark Fitchett1, Ray Hilborn2, Eric Gilman3, Craig Severance4, Milani Chaloupka5, 6 7 8 Michel Kaiser , David Itano , and Kurt Schaefer 1Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, Honolulu, Hawaii 2School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 3Pelagic Ecosystems Research Group, Honolulu, Hawaii 4 Emeritus: University of Hawaii, Hilo 5Ecological Modelling Services Pty Ltd & Marine Spatial Ecology Lab, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 6Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom 7 Opah Consulting, Honolulu, Hawaii 8Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission Edited by Thomas Remington, Contractor, Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council © Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council 2021. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. ISBN# 978-1-944827-78-6 CONCEPT NOTE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON AREA- BASED MANAGEMENT OF BLUE WATER ECOSYSTEMS June 15-17, 2020, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Background and Rationale As global demand for fisheries resources beyond continental shelves continues to increase, so does the need to effectively manage the blue water ecosystems that produce these valued resources. Blue water ecosystems span from the edge of continental shelves, often within States’ exclusive economic zones, to high seas waters beyond national jurisdiction. Unlike nearshore ecosystems, where fisheries resources are usually more static in distribution, regulatory enforcement is more tenable, and fishing effort is less distributed, blue water ecosystems pose a broader and more diverse array of challenges and scientific needs. Fishery resources in blue water ecosystems are often highly mobile and traverse jurisdictional boundaries, concentrate dynamically relative to ecosystem features, such as fronts, and have time-varying spatial vulnerabilities to multiple fisheries. As international competition and fishing capacities among distant water fishing fleets increase across jurisdictional boundaries, the desire to implement area-based management measures in blue water ecosystems has become a leading topic in fisheries management. Area-based management includes, but is not limited to, the use of marine protected areas, time-area closures, selective area-based fishery/gear closures, and adaptive/real- time management. International negotiations are underway to incorporate area-based management tools in blue water ecosystems, including closing areas to fishing, to improve the governance of natural resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The negotiations are a result of perceived pressures on the sustainability of natural resources in these areas, including from fisheries. At present, science-based guidelines to plan, evaluate, identify unintended consequences, and monitor area-based management implementation discussed in these negotiations are lacking. Such guidelines and decision-making tools are imperative for regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements (RFMO/As) to evaluate and weigh objectives, identify performance metrics, and develop plans to address consequences of spatial management. In order to elucidate appropriate employment of area-based management measures in blue water ecosystems, the first several sections of this report, “Road Map to Effective Area- Based Management in Blue Water Ecosystems”, was written by a team of experts and followed by a Workshop of global leaders on the subject matter. Objectives The Workshop and its “road map” document primarily focused on three basic management objectives to expand upon: (1) sustainably managing targeted fishery resources, (2) decreasing interactions with bycatch or non-targeted species, and (3) protecting specific critical habitat. The overarching objective of the Workshop was to develop science-based decision guidelines for managers to identify objectives as well as practical and effective approaches to employ area- based management measures as part of governance frameworks for natural resources in blue water ecosystems. These guidelines will help managers assess ecological, social, and economic responses in addition to the performance of static and dynamic area-based management measures to make informed decisions. Additional objectives of the Workshop included determining Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council – wpcouncil.org iii feasible performance metrics for area-based management, defining sufficient historical and continual data streams, identifying appropriate methods of evaluating management measures, evaluating enforcement and compliance monitoring capacity, and weighing costs/benefits of management objectives. Outcomes The Workshop acted as a forum for (1) identifying suitable objectives and pairing them with tenable area-based management measures, (2) developing a road map of a priori criteria for implementing effective area-based management and area-based management tools, (3) creating a compendium of the “state of knowledge” of area-based management tools with respect to three focused management objectives (expanded at the workshop), and (4) selecting appropriate means of evaluating the effects of area-based management measures. Workshop outcomes are also to be promulgated through future relevant RFMO and international meetings. Workshop Topics The following topics related to area-based management of activities in blue water ecosystems were included at the Workshop: • Identifying Conservation, Economic, and Social Objectives of Area-based Management • Identifying Feasible Performance Metrics • Weighing Management Objectives • Pragmatism of Area-based Management with Respect to Enforcement Capacity • Data Needs for Robust Evaluations on Effects of Area-based Management Measures • Counterfactual/Potential Outcomes Analyses • Social Implications • Adaptive-Dynamic Real Time Area-based Management Workshop Hosts, Participants, and Audience of Output The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management hosted the Workshop. There were twenty- five participants with expertise in research disciplines of relevance to the Workshop themes invited to participate in the invitation-only Workshop, reflecting an attempt to achieve balance by region, gender, and stakeholder groups. Working Language The meeting was held in English only. Timing and Duration The Workshop took place over three days from June 15 to 17, 2020. Venue The meeting venue was the conference room at the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, 1164 Bishop Street, Suite #1400, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. iv Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council – wpcouncil.org TABLE OF CONTENTS Concept Note for the International Workshop on Area-Based Management of Blue Water Ecosystems ..................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................ vii Table of Tables ............................................................................................................................. vii List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................................................................. ix Road map to Effective Area-Based Management in Blue Water Ecosystems ............................... 1 Chapter 1. Introduction and Summary ............................................................................................ 1 Area-Based Management in Blue Water Fisheries ..................................................................... 1 International Ocean Governance and Implementation of Area-Based Management Tools ....... 2 ABMT by Regional Fisheries Management Organizations .................................................... 2 International Governance in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction ......................................... 4 Chapter 2. Objectives and Performance Metrics for Spatial Management ..................................... 7 Purpose ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 7 Performance Metrics ................................................................................................................. 11 Summary Table ......................................................................................................................... 12 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 13 Chapter 3. Designs of Spatio-Temporal Management Measures for Blue Water Fisheries ......... 15 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................