Implementing the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management

Formal principles underlying the utilization of marine resources have been under scrutiny and development for several decades. After centuries of largely uncontrolled fishing, methods for ascertaining population dynamics were developed and implemented through stock assessments. The principal international legal instrument of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provided guidance. In addition, international organizations were set up to provide consistent advice on the utilization of fish stocks and shellfish (Marashi, 1996). For many nations, the development of national rules and regulations also increased. Initially, the development mostly pertained to the sustainable harvesting of individual fish stocks, but later also increasingly around general rules for responsible behavior with regard to resource utilization. For example, discarding of unwanted catch was an obvious issue that needed addressing, as well as damage to the benthic ecosystem caused by certain fishing techniques.