Ecosystem Approaches for Fisheries Management 387 Alaska Sea Grant College Program • AK-SG-99-01, 1999 Canadian Marine Fisheries in a Changing and Uncertain World Randall M. Peterman (Fisheries Panel co-chair) Simon Fraser University, School of Resource and Environmental Management, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada Brad deYoung (Fisheries Panel co-chair) Memorial University, Department of Physics, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada A. Rod Dobell University of Victoria, School of Public Administration, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Evelyn Pinkerton Simon Fraser University, School of Resource and Environmental Management, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada Yvan Breton Université Laval, Department of Anthropology, Laval, Quebec, Canada Anthony T. Charles Saint Mary’s University, Department of Finance and Management Science, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Michael J. Fogarty University of Maryland, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, Maryland Gordon R. Munro University of British Columbia, Department of Economics, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Christopher Taggart Dalhousie University, Department of Oceanography, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 388 Peterman et al. — Canadian Marine Fisheries Extended Abstract In recent years, people have become increasingly aware of the dynamic nature of fishery systems. These systems include not only the fish and their environment, but also people and their associated social and eco- nomic institutions and communities. As a result of the challenges created by ever-changing fisheries, the Canadian Global Change Program of the Royal Society of Canada formed a Fisheries Panel of nine people in 1996. The mandate of the panel was to write an authoritative and comprehen- sive review of the implications of physical, biological, economic, and sociopolitical changes for Canadian marine fisheries and to present op- tions for how to deal with those changes. The resulting report, “Canadian Marine Fisheries in a Changing and Uncertain World” (deYoung et al. 1999), outlines a vision for future sus- tainable fisheries for Canada that is applicable to many fisheries else- where. This brief extended abstract summarizes the report, which is written for a broad audience, including fisheries scientists and managers, har- vesters of fish resources, and residents of fish-dependent communities that rely on renewable aquatic resources. The focus is on capture fisher- ies, not aquaculture. The report emphasizes the challenges to biological, economic, and social sustainability of fishery systems: complexity, change, variability, and measurement error. These characteristics lead to uncertainties, which in turn create risks—biological risks for aquatic ecosystems, economic risks for industry, and social risks for coastal communities. The report develops several guiding principles, which can help attain the overall goals of a biologically productive aquatic system, economi- cally viable fishing industries, and sustainable fishing-dependent com- munities. These principles, which are intended to be followed by everyone involved in fisheries systems, not just those in management agencies, evolved from current research in the natural and social sciences and expe- rience not only in Canada but also in fisheries elsewhere in the world. The principles are as follows: 1. Incorporate into decision-making an analysis of structural and dy- namic complexities of fisheries systems. 2. Incorporate into decision-making an analysis of change, uncertainty, and risk in all fishery activities. 3. Promote and conserve biological, economic, and social diversity to hedge against variability and uncertainty. 4. Collect, analyze, and openly communicate data and information. 5. Estimate, document, and incorporate into decision-making the social and ecological consequences of decisions and actions. Ecosystem Approaches for Fisheries Management 389 6. Clearly define the roles, rights, and responsibilities of all fishery par- ticipants to align their interests with the overall objectives of sustain- ability. Finally, the report identifies strategies for applying these principles: 1. Implement a precautionary approach. 2. Extend risk assessment and risk management procedures. 3. Promote diversity and ecosystem-based management. 4. Ensure adequate collection and communication of information. 5. Inform social decisions through full-cost pricing, accounting, report- ing, and charging. 6. Implement institutional reform and incentives to promote compliance. Within these general strategies, the report makes specific recommen- dations for how management agencies, industry, fishermen, and coastal fishing-dependent communities should plan and act in order to achieve the goals of biological, economic, and social sustainability in the presence of change and uncertainty. The report also notes that some of these strat- egies are already being implemented in Canada but that they are not being widely or uniformly applied. The report is expected to be available from the National Research Coun- cil Press, Ottawa, Ontario, in the summer of 1999. Reference deYoung, B., R.M. Peterman, A.R. Dobell, E. Pinkerton, Y. Breton, A.T. Charles, M.J. Fogarty, G.R. Munro, and C. Taggart. 1999. Canadian marine fisheries in a chang- ing and uncertain world. Can. Spec. Publ. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 129. In press. Ecosystem Approaches for Fisheries Management 391 Alaska Sea Grant College Program • AK-SG-99-01, 1999 A Report on Historical, Human-Induced Changes in Newfoundland’s Fisheries Ecosystem Melanie D. Power and Nathaniel Newlands University of British Columbia, Fisheries Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Abstract The groundfish collapse off Canada’s East Coast earlier this decade led to a change in the species that are commercially targeted. This recent change is just the latest in a series of shifts within the Atlantic fisheries, which have resulted in a decrease in the mean trophic level at which the fisher- ies operate. Our study investigates subsequent changes in the mean trophic level, calculated from historical catch statistics, and the changing man- agement priorities of the Newfoundland fishery in the twentieth century. This report reviews the fishery from 1900 through 1995, with an empha- sis on the period since Newfoundland joined the Canadian Confederation in 1949. We discuss the changing mean trophic level of fisheries catches in Newfoundland. Annual shifts in mean trophic level are reviewed in the context of social, economic, and political spheres in an effort to deter- mine the management and regulatory decisions that may have contrib- uted to the decline of trophic levels. This analysis aims to provide a direction for fisheries ecosystem management, and considers nonlinear, multispecies interactions encompassing the indirect effects on marine life other than identifiable targeted species in the ecosystem. An awareness of the trophic level impact of management decisions, based on historical trends, can indicate possible future implications of current policy deci- sions. This work constitutes a component of a comparative examination of Canadian management trends in Atlantic and Pacific fisheries. Introduction The Newfoundland fishery has been prosecuted for nearly five centuries, and the cod fishery was a primary reason for the settlement of the island 392 Power & Newlands — Human-Induced Changes in Newfoundland (Felt and Locke 1995). The cod fishery, which created and sustained New- foundland society, was the main focus of the fishery until the early 1990s, at which point the well-known and well-documented collapse of the fish- ery occurred, resulting in a moratorium on fishing. Despite the centrality of the cod to the Newfoundland fishery, other species have attracted inter- est in the commercial fishery, particularly in the last few decades. In this paper, we examine how changes in the fishery contributed to the decline of mean trophic level of the Newfoundland fishery catch. Fol- lowing Pauly et al. (1998), we chart the trend in mean trophic level from 1900 through 1995. We then describe and discuss various factors—social, political, economic—which are likely to have contributed to these trends. In doing so, we aim to highlight important implications of this trend and how ecosystem considerations may prevent such future declines. The Newfoundland fishery has been selected because of its local and global historical significance. The northern cod fishery, a resource that was long considered impossible to deplete, continues to be closed under a fishing moratorium following its collapse in the early 1990s. In the time since the moratorium was first imposed, the trends of targeting alterna- tive “underutilized” species have become more apparent and pronounced. This study encompasses catch data from 1900 through 1995, with an emphasis on the period from 1949 onward. It was in 1949 that Newfound- land became the tenth province of Canada and, as will be seen below, the fishery in the second half of the twentieth century was particularly complex. The last century has witnessed countless changes to the fishery: changes in technology and methods, and changes regarding which spe- cies are fished. Furthermore, it was during this period that Newfoundland’s political reality was most dramatically altered. A study of this period, from the early 1900s through to the collapse of the cod fishery and to the present, helps to explain the current devastation the fishery now exhibits. Results Catch data for Newfoundland for 1900 through 1995 was compiled from catch