Ecosystem-based Fishery Management (EBFM): Background, Progress and Plans

166th Caribbean Fishery Management Council Regular Meeting

August 20-21, 2019 St. Croix, USVI

Outline

NOAA/NMFS EBFM Policy

Background: U.S. Caribbean EBFM Roadmap Implementation Plan

The Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP)

Applying Risk Assessment to Guide Management

Plans: CM Output Applications

Next Steps

The Conceptual Model (CM)-Foundation of the FEP

Progress: Developing Multiple CMs

“Stacking” CMs to Identify Common Components

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) strongly supports implementation of Ecosystem-Based

Fisheries Management (EBFM) to better inform and enable better decisions regarding trade-offs among and between

fisheries (commercial, recreational, and subsistence), aquaculture, protected species, biodiversity, and habitats. Recognizing the interconnectedness of these ecosystem components will help maintain resilient and productive

ecosystems (including the human communities on which they depend), even as they respond to climate, habitat, ecological,

and other environmental changes.

NOAA/NMFS EBFM POLICY STATEMENT

Structure/Process of FEPs

1  

EBFM Informal Working Team

•  J.J. Cruz-Motta • Meaghan Faletti •  Sarah Stephenson • Graciela García-Moliner • María Lopez • Kevin McCarthy • Alida Ortíz •  Tauna Rankin •  Bill Arnold •  Tarsila Seara  

• Orian Tzadik •  Stacey Williams • Alejandro Acosta •  John Christensen •  Jennifer Lee • Marcos Hanke • Mandy Karnauskas • Adyan Rios • Miguel Rolón

(Yellow – Core team; White – Full team)

BUILDING EFFECTIVE FISHERY ECOSYSTEM PLANS: A REPORT FROM THE LENFEST FISHERY ECOSYSTEM

TASK FORCE

FISHERY ECOSYSTEM PLANS: A STAGE UPON WHICH FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLANS ACT

•  FEPs provide a structured process for translating goals and principles into action.

•  FEPs provide a coordinated way to simultaneously consider ecological, economical, and social goals.

•  FEPs create a process of identifying and transparently addressing trade-offs.

•  FEPs provide a framework to consider cumulative impacts.

FEPs Help Operationalize EBFM EBFM FEPs

Implement ecosystem-level planning Setting and prioritizing overarching goals for the fishery system based on a transparent, stakeholder-driven process

Advance our understanding of ecosystem processes Selecting and calculating indicators; inventorying threats and data needs

Prioritize vulnerabilities and risks of ecosystems and their components

Analyzing risks to meeting strategic objectives

Explore and address trade-offs within an ecosystem Setting performance measures, considering a wide range of alternative actions, and explicitly confronting the trade-offs inherent in selecting an alternative

Incorporating ecosystem considerations into management advice

Specifying an internally consistent set of policies that achieve fishery system goals across multiple fisheries

Maintain resilient ecosystems Adopting adaptive management - making decisions under uncertainty and systematically adjusting course based on new information

Coral Reef Ecosystem Conceptual Model Puerto Rico District Advisory Panel (Early Draft)

DAP

SSC

Other

Coastal Development

Invasive Species

Fish Stocks Climate Tourism ‘Indicator’

Stacking CMs, Identifying Common Features

Fish Stocks

Coastal Development

Identifying Inputs To and Outputs From ‘Indicators’

Coastal Development

”Policy” level, in that effectively addressing these issues requires participation by a broad range of agencies; the Council alone cannot address.

STT/STJ DAP is presently working at this level, as discussed during their presentation.

Application: “Stacked” model output, including contributions from other regulatory agencies,

allows mutual identification of focal issues to which combined effort can be applied.

Fish Stocks

Council level: Combined DAP/SSC development of a sub-model for fisheries, including semi-quantitative estimates of the strength of the relationship between any two components of the CM.

A Risk Assessment then can be conducted to determine the “risk” of failing to manage each relationship.

Application: Sub-model outputs guide Council planning and prioritization. The Council operates at the

sub-model level, using relationships (and their strengths) identified in the sub-model along with the estimate of the risk of failing to manage, to focus their management efforts.

Fishery Sub-Model Draft Developed by STT/STJ DAP

Next Steps August 2019: EBFM, DAP, SSC presentations; Council guidance Fall 2019: Establish EBFM AP? Combined DAP/SSC/ AP Meeting: STT/STJ

DAP meeting with identified agencies (date not yet chosen); STT/STJ DAP meeting to refine Ecosystem CM and assign scores, based on outcome from agency meeting; Joint DAP/SSC/AP meeting to initiate development of respective Fishery CMs

Council convenes additional groups to develop Ecosystem CMs;

Lenfest proposal work begins (PIs = JJ, Stacey, Tarsila) in concert with data acquisition/analysis/visualization efforts of Council liaison Meaghan Faletti

December 2019: Update of outcomes from Fall activities; Council guidance;

Establish FEP writing team (Interdisciplinary Plan Team)

Next Steps (Cont.)

Winter 2020: DAPs “finalize” Fishery CMs; SSC initiates risk assessment process for each Fishery CM

AP analyzes Ecosystem CM stacks; IPT develops outline for FEP; NMFS HQ EBFM meeting

April 2020: Updates to Council; Council review of FEP outline; Council direction Summer 2020: Initiate preparation of FEP; SSC completes Fishery CM sub-model

risk assessments August 2020: Council updates, including presentation on risk assessment outcomes;

Council direction