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Impacts of fishing low-trophic level species on marine ecosystems

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 10:40 authored by Smith, ADM, Brown, CJ, Bulman, CM, Elizabeth FultonElizabeth Fulton, Johnson, P, Kaplan, IC, Lozano-Montes, H, Mackinson, S, Marzloff, M, Shannon, LJ, Shin, YJ, Tam, J
Low–trophic level species account for more than 30% of global fisheries production and contribute substantially to global food security. We used a range of ecosystem models to explore the effects of fishing low–trophic level species on marine ecosystems, including marine mammals and seabirds, and on other commercially important species. In five well-studied ecosystems, we found that fishing these species at conventional maximum sustainable yield (MSY) levels can have large impacts on other parts of the ecosystem, particularly when they constitute a high proportion of the biomass in the ecosystem or are highly connected in the food web. Halving exploitation rates would result in much lower impacts on marine ecosystems while still achieving 80% of MSY.

History

Publication title

Science

Volume

333

Issue

6046

Pagination

1147-1150

ISSN

0036-8075

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Amer Assoc Advancement Science

Place of publication

1200 New York Ave, Nw, Washington, USA, Dc, 20005

Rights statement

Copyright American Association for the Advancement of Science

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems

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