Prevalence of effective fisheries management in a developed nation and its link to stock sustainability

Effective fisheries management is instrumental in reducing fishing pressure and facilitating the sustainable harvest of stocks. However, few administrations assess the quality of management in place for stocks when determining performance. Here, Australia was used as a case study to detail the quality of fisheries management in place for a developed nation. As it is difficult to assess management effectiveness, management intensity was used as a proxy across three attributes: stock assessment, harvest strategies, and catch/effort restrictions. Information for each of these three attributes was scored ranging from one for simple attributes (e.g. catch-only stock assessment) to four for robust attributes (e.g. integrated stock assessment) for 601 stocks across eight jurisdictions in 2018. Although the majority of Australia's stocks are considered sustainable, most stocks are not intensively managed across the three attributes explored. Further, no clear link was apparent between stock status and management intensity which was largely focused towards high value target species and those stocks considered overfished to avoid further depletion. This highlights the need to assess both stock status and management when determining performance. With the prevalence of overfished stocks increasing globally, implementation of improved management should be a key priority for fisheries administrations. However, this analysis reveals that even in a developed nation such as Australia, management at the stock level remains limited. This comprehensive, national level assessment of stock management highlights the benefits of incorporating a management axis into future stock status reports.