Svedäng, Henrik and Hornborg, Sara
(2014).
Selective fishing induces density-dependent growth.
Nature communications. 5
, 1-6
[Journal article]
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Abstract
Over the last decades, views on fisheries management have oscillated between alarm and trust in management progress. The predominant policy for remedying the world fishing crisis aims at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by adjusting gear selectivity and fishing effort. Here we report a case study on how striving for higher yields from the Eastern Baltic cod stock by increasing selectivity has become exceedingly detrimental for its productivity. Although there is a successive increase in numbers of undersized fish, growth potential is severely reduced, and fishing mortality in fishable size has increased. Once density-dependent growth is introduced, the process is self-enforcing as long as the recruitment remains stable. Our findings suggest that policies focusing on maximum yield while targeting greater sizes are risky and should instead prioritize catch rates over yield. Disregarding the underlying population structure may jeopardize stock productivity, with dire consequences for the fishing industry and ecosystem structure and function.
Authors/Creators: | Svedäng, Henrik and Hornborg, Sara | ||||||
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Title: | Selective fishing induces density-dependent growth | ||||||
Series Name/Journal: | Nature communications | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2014 | ||||||
Volume: | 5 | ||||||
Page range: | 1-6 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 6 | ||||||
Publisher: | Macmillan Publishers Limited | ||||||
ISSN: | 2041-1723 | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Journal article | ||||||
Refereed: | Yes | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Ecology (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 401 Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries > Fish and Aquacultural Science | ||||||
Keywords: | Fisheries management, Eastern Baltic cod | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-2211 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-2211 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 11635 | ||||||
Faculty: | NJ - Fakulteten för naturresurser och jordbruksvetenskap | ||||||
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Department of Aquatic Resources | ||||||
External funders: | FORMAS | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 13 Nov 2014 13:16 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 02 Dec 2014 11:09 |
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