Turning Aspiration to Action: Challenges of Making the Ecosystem Approach Operational in Fisheries

Fisheries are a major impactor on the marine system and also a major provider of wealth, security, identity, and food to humanity. At its core, the ecosystem approach acknowledges that these two axes (impact and services) need to be reconciled. This should be done through informed management that ex­ plores the space between these axes in an equitable manner following what have been described as ‘fuzzy’ principles.1 The ecosystem approach to fisheries management is an accepted societal objective.2 Many around the world are working to make this aspiration a reality through iterative steps; an evolution of ideas, processes, and structures. These steps have highlighted challenges and some of these are explored here. Many natural scientists see ecosystem based management as a rationale to demand more resources for their science. The idea that more knowledge automatically means better management is prevalent, ‘we just need to know more to manage better’. In the fisheries realm this seems to be about know­ ing more about energy flow and trophic interactions. The problem is that an understanding of the entire fisheries system is an afterthought. Policy develop­ ment, institutional change, and reconciling economic and social objectives in an equitable manner all require something different than just more knowl­ edge of whom eats whom. This is clear from the principles of the ecosystem approach described by the Convention on Biological Diversity and the advice on operational implementation in fisheries by the Fisheries and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.