This is a collection of reports and papers that were used to develop the Framework for Integrated and Habitat Evaluation (FISHE), as well as a selection of supporting materials that can be used during the eleven steps of the data-limited framework. Use the search function below to search for specific resources.
- 71.
Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) has emerged during the past five years as an alternative approach to single-species fishery management. To date, policy development has generally outstripped application and implementation. The EBFM approach has been broadly adopted at a policy level within Australia through a variety of instruments including fisheries legislation, environmental legislation, and a national policy on integrated oceans management. The speed of policy adoption has necessitated equally rapid development of scientific and management tools to support practical implementation. We discuss some of the scientific tools that have been developed to meet this need.
- 72.
As one of their WorkPackages for Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), INCOFISH provides materials to aid in the use of simple size indicators (see Froese 2004) to ensure the sustainability of a catch. Depending on the regulations present in a given fishery, these indicators may be set as lower limits (i.e. a length/ age below which it's assumed the fish has not had a chance to spawn yet, and should not be caught) or upper limits (i.e. a length/ age above which fish are assumed to be "megaspawners", and should not be caught). Among these resources, they provide worksheets to calculate maturity indicators from length-frequency data and length at maturity (Lm), a set of downloadable rulers for consumers and fishers to use to measure a given species of fish against scientifically defined lengths that indicate age/ maturity, and worksheets for calculating the global costs of overfishing.
- 73.
Original commission report presenting the newly developed "Schaefer" surplus population (biomass dynamics) stock assessment model.
- 74.
Evaluating the status of data-poor fish stocks is often limited by incomplete knowledge of the basic life history parameters: the natural mortality rate (M), the von Bertalanffy growth parameters (L∞ and k), and the length at maturity (Lm). A common approach to estimate these individual parameters has been to use the Beverton–Holt life history invariants, the ratios M/k and Lm/L∞, especially for estimating M. In this study, we assumed no knowledge of the individual parameters, and explored how the information on life history strategy contained in these ratios can be applied to assessing data-poor stocks.
- 75.
Excel worksheet, with example data, to facilitate the application of the Surplus Production assessment method. This method estimates stock biomass and fishing mortality using catch, effort, and any available indices of relative abundance without the inclusion of stock age or length structure.
- 76.
Several data-poor techniques, including Length-Based methods (Froese Sustainability Indicators) and SPR, are applied to perform an assessment of the Gulf corvina (Cynoscion othonopterus) fishery in the Gulf of California from 1997 to 2012 and to investigate the effects of gear selectivity and age-dependent variation in spawning frequency on estimates of sustainability in spawning aggregation fisheries. This paper provides an excellent example of the application of the Data Limited Assessment and Management Framework to a real-world fishery, and shows how the use of local knowledge about a system is critical for effective interpretation of assessment results. The authors also explore what outcomes would be if the assumption of equilibrium was violated, which may be the case in some fisheries.
- 77.
The US Northeast Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA), developed by scientists at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Climate vulnerability assessments provide a framework for evaluating climate impacts over a broad range of species with existing information, thus making them more accessible in data-limited settings. These methods combine the exposure of a species to climate change and decadal variability and the sensitivity of species to these stressors. These two components are then combined to estimate an overall vulnerability for each species in the assessment. Quantitative data are used when available, but qualitative information and expert opinion are used when quantitative data is lacking.
- 78.
The Productivity and Susceptibility Analysis (PSA) is used to assess the risk, or vulnerability, of a stock to fishing pressure based on both biological productivity and stock susceptibility to fishing. The only data inputs are life history parameters such as age at first maturity, maximum age, fecundity, natural mortality, and behavior – easily available from local fishermen, literature, and online databases such as FishBase – and information on the fishery available from fishermen and managers. No catch records, effort information, or fishery-independent surveys are necessary.