Abstract

Implementing ecosystem-based fisheries management requires a comprehensive examination of fisheries ecosystem components. Determining the relative prominence among these components is warranted given the many issues facing marine ecosystems. We characterized U.S. marine fishery ecosystems by compiling a multidisciplinary view of coupled socioecological system (SES) indicators for each ecosystem. From these we ascertained the determinants for successful Living Marine Resource (LMR) management. We found that biological productivity was a major driver determining the level of fisheries biomass, landings, and LMR economic value for a given region, but human interventions can offset this basal production. We observed that good governance could overcome certain ecosystem limitations, and vice-versa, especially as tradeoffs across sectors intensify. We also found that U.S. regions perform well in terms of certain aspects of LMR management, with unique successes and challenges observed in all regions, including the northern Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Caribbean. While attributes differ, transferrable commonalities for successful management across regions include having: stock status identified; stable but attentive management interventions; tracking broader ecosystem considerations; landings/biomass exploitation rates typically <0.1; areal landings typically <1 t km2y- 1; ratios of landings/primary production typically <0.001; and explicit consideration of socioeconomic factors in management. Here we emphasize cross-regional comparisons among SES indicators, with a focus on U.S. temperate, subtropical, and tropical ecosystems.

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