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CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Past Seminars

Seminar Abstract

Marine fish, people, and the ecosystems they share

The question is often asked, “How did we get to the current (generally poor) situation that we find for marine fisheries and their associated ecosystems?” Moreover, as scientists working in the field of living marine resource management, what steps can be taken to deal with this global situation?

This talk will start by noting two different backgrounds, both personal and a general history of global fisheries. The latter will serve as a backdrop for the contemporary, widespread concerns seen in marine fishery ecosystems. Given this context, the particular experience observed in the past 300 years from the Northeast US continental shelf large marine ecosystem (renowned places like Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine which have experienced persistently high levels of exploitation) will be presented. From these observations and examples, a reiteration of common scientific laws and maxims for the discipline of fisheries science will be given.

Yet given these laws, it is recognized that the critical issue of how to account for broader, ecological and more holistic considerations remains a major challenge. Thus, an exploration of why Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) has become a prominent theme internationally and how fisheries science as a discipline might actually begin to implement EBFM in a simple, “3-pillar” approach, will be discussed. Methodologies and examples will be presented, but the emphasis will be on the conceptual basis for the overall approach rather than on a high degree of quantitative detail. The talk will conclude by asserting that EBFM in concept is as simple as pie, but attendance is required to fully find out what exactly that statement means.

*National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

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CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
Peter Oke, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine Research (03) 6232 5387
Piers Dunstan, (Biological seminars) CSIRO Marine Research (03) 6232 5382
Katrina Nitschke, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 2265 & IASOS, University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2509