This expedition has a total of about 80 minutes of audio and video segment
In the previous expeditions we discussed
the conditions that have led to the decline in many marine fisheries worldwide. Next we examined some of the methods of science that are being used to better understand fish stock and the impacts of fishing practices and selective fisheries management, for better or worse.
The reading assignments associated with expeditions 2 and 3 describe how scientists are trying to improve the accuracy of fish stock assessments, using virtual population analysis, research surveying, catch per unit effort and the application of chaos theory, but it is a difficult problem.
Objective of this expedition:
Students will learn about the connection between stock assessment and fisheries management through the concept of maximum sustainable yield. The fishing pressure is then regulated by placing limits, or quotas, for example, on the commercial catch of cod in the northeast, to prevent overfishing, followed by a complete cessation of fishing, called a moratorium. A parallel situation, and management practice, happened a few years ago along California when a moratorium was placed on commercial rockfish harvesting, once again as an attempt to prevent overfishing and to stimulate a recovery in rockfish stocks.
The traditional methods of stock management have met with mixed results, o no experiment are being conducted in setting aside marine protected areas (MPAs), in which fishing has been permanently halted, which we will also learn about in this expedition.
Last, we will examine some new methods of management that may provide hope for the future.
However, each of us, as consumers, have a role to play by making informed decisions at the market or a in a restaurant on the foods we buy and meals we eat.
