Fish stocks

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Fish stock (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Stockfish.
FAO
1974-2015

Fish stocks are subpopulations of a particular species of fish, for which intrinsic parameters (growth, recruitment, mortality and fishing mortality) are traditionally regarded as the significant factors determining the stock's population dynamics, while extrinsic factors (immigration and emigration) are traditionally ignored. Stocks fished within biologically sustainable levels decreased from 90% in 1974 to 62.3% in 2021.[1]

Concepts

The stock concept

All species have geographic limits to their distribution, which are determined by their

tolerance to environmental conditions, and their ability to compete successfully with other species. In marine environments this may be less evident than on land because there are fewer topographical
boundaries, however, discontinuities still exist, produced for example by mesoscale and sub-mesoscale circulations that minimize long-distance dispersal of fish larvae.

For fish, it is rare for an individual to reproduce randomly with all other individuals of that species within its biological range. There is a tendency to form a structured series of discrete populations which have a degree of reproductive isolation from each other in space, in time, or in both. This isolation is reflected in the development between sub-populations of

parasitic
species. Sub-populations also respond to fishing in such a way that fishing on one population appears to have no effect on the population dynamics of a neighbouring population.

The currently accepted definition of a stock in fisheries science, is that of Begg et al. (1999), “…[a “stock”] describes characteristics of semi-discrete groups of fish with some definable attributes which are of interest to fishery managers.”

School of carp struggling to the surface

Stock identification is a field of fisheries science which aims to identify these subpopulations, based on a number of techniques.This concept is applied in sustainable development goal 14 where target 14.4 is measured a fish stock sustainability indicator 14.4.1.[2]

Straddling stock

high seas
, or international waters, are highlighted in blue.
See also:
Highly migratory species

The

coordinating the management
of that stock.

Straddling stocks are usually

Faeroes in the east.[4]

Straddling stock can be compared with

EEZ as well as in the high seas. Transboundary stock range in the EEZs of at least two countries. A stock can be both transboundary and straddling.[5]

Assessments

Fish stocks indicators, which is normalized as a 0–100 proximity-to-target score, with 100 representing "at target" and 0 being furthest from the target.
See also: Stock assessment

In fisheries science and ecology, stock assessment is an important tool in fisheries management.

In particular, to ensure continued, healthy, fish stocks, measurements of the Spawning Stock Biomass (the stock population capable of reproducing) allows sensible conservation strategies to be developed and maintained through the application of sustainable fishing quotas.[6]

The

World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London jointly issued their "Living Blue Planet Report" on 16 September 2015 which states that there was a dramatic fall of 74% in world-wide stocks of the important scombridae fish such as mackerel, tuna and bonitos between 1970 and 2010, and the global overall "population sizes of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish fell by half on average in just 40 years."[7] It is hoped that global efforts like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 meets its targets aimed at reversing these trends.[8]

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization found that stocks fished within biologically sustainable levels decreased from 90% in 1974 to 62.3% in 2021..[9]

Fluctuations

Two dead swordfish hanging from their tails

The stocks for individual marine species can "boom and bust" in linked and compensatory ways. For example, in billfish longline fisheries, the Atlantic catch of blue marlin declined in the 1960s. This was accompanied by an increase in sailfish catch. The sailfish catch then declined from the end of the 1970s to the end of the 1980s, compensated by an increase in swordfish catch. As a result, the overall billfish catch remained fairly stable. At Georges Bank, a decline in cod during the 1960s was accompanied by a rise in flatfish, and more recently, with the collapse of the predatory Atlantic cod, lobster catches in Maine have boomed.[10]

See also

  • List of harvested aquatic animals by weight
  • Overfishing

Sources

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (license statement/permission). Text taken from In brief, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2018​, FAO, FAO.

References

  1. ISBN 978-92-5-138763-4
    .
  2. ^ "sustainable development goals".
  3. ^ Straddling stocks Archived 2015-06-03 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Pelagic and straddling stocks[dead link‍]
  5. FAO (2007) Report of the FAO workshop on vulnerable ecosystems and destructive fishing in deep sea fisheries[permanent dead link
    ‍]     Rome, Fisheries Report No. 829.
  6. ^ International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) website Archived 2011-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Living Blue Planet Report wwf.org.au September 2015 Archived 2015-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Goal 14 targets". UNDP. Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  9. ISBN 978-92-5-138763-4
    .
  10. ^ Duffy, J. Emmett (2008) Marine biodiversity and food security Encyclopedia of Earth. Updated 25 July 2008.

Further reading

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