Tools to support EBFM in Australia
Tony Smith, Beth Fulton, Alistair Hobday et al
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Background
 EBFM adopted as a national policy goal in early
2000s
 Strong environmental legislation requires
assessment of ecological impacts of fishing
 3-5 yearly audit of all fisheries – impacts on species,
habitats and communities
 Strong drive for practical approach to implementation
 Research focus on tools to support EBFM (and their
rapid application)
 [More on management response from Nick Rayns
later]
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Outline of this presentation
 A framework to think about tool development
 Examples
– Ecological risk assessment – ERAEF
– Whole of fishery MSE – Atlantis
 Lessons learned and work still to be done
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Tools in support of decision making
The adaptive management cycle
Impact
Monitoring
Ecosystem
MSE
Assessment
Fishery
Regulation
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Decision rule
Management
strategy
A framework for tool development
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Example – stock assessment

Atlantis – What, How, Why
Ecological Risk Assessment
 ERA is a key tool in support of EBFM
 Analogue of stock assessment
 Requirement to assess impacts of fishing on all
components of ecological systems, including
species, habitats and communities
 CSIRO and AFMA joint project to develop and apply
ERA methods for fisheries
 Developed ERAEF (ERA for effects of fishing)
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Criteria for ERA design
 Comprehensive
 Scientifically defensible
 Make use of existing data and information
 Precautionary given uncertainty
 Cost effective
 Flexible (apply to all types of fisheries)
 Transparent
 Understandable to stakeholders
 Help inform management response
 No such method exists!
Atlantis – What, How, Why
ERAEF hierarchical structure
Time & $$
Uncertain
Scoping
Scoping
Qualitative
Level 1
L
H
Level 2
Focused
More certain
Time & $$
L
Quantitative
Level 3
L
Atlantis – What, How, Why
H
H
Risk Management Response
Comprehensive
ERAEF – Level 2 - PSA
HIGH
LOW
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Species attributes
 Productivity attributes
 Susceptibility attributes
 Maximum age
 Availability
 Age at maturity
– Overlap with fishery
 Size at maturity
– Global distribution
 Annual fecundity
 Encounterability
 Maximum size
– Water column position
 Reproductive strategy
– Depth range overlap
 Trophic level
– Adult Habitat
 Selectivity
– Size at Maturity
 Post-capture mortality
– Fate on discarding
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Example bycatch PSA
Have conducted PSA analyses for over 1800 species to date
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Habitats
Boulders supporting
crinoids; coarse sediments
supporting octocorals
(5 types)
Sediments, variously
current/ wave rippled/
bioturbated supporting large
epifauna (sponges,
octocorals, crinoids) (19
types)
Atlantis – What, How, Why
SGF classification based on
photographic images (sediment,
geomorphology, fauna)
Sediments, various
morphology/
supporting small/
encrusting/ mobile
epifauna
(58 types)
Inner shelf sediments
supporting small/
encrusting epifauna
(5 types)
Communities – bioregions x depth
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Overall Risk Value Distribution
PSA for bycatch
8
7
Frequency
6
Purse seine
5
4
3
2
1
0
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3.0
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4.0
4.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4.0
4.2
Euclidean Overall Risk Value
Overall Risk Value Distribution
120
Trawl
100
Frequency
Example:
Trawl
Species Risk
Distributions
Across Fisheries
80
60
40
20
0
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3.0
3.2
Euclidean Overall Risk Value
Pelagic longlineLongline
Atlantis – What, How, Why
ERAEF overview
Level 2
Level 3
e.g. stock
assessment
H
H
S
S
S
L
L
P
H
12
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
10
8
6
4
2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Consequence score
Target
P
1
2
3
4
5
Consequence score
Bycatch
6
H
14
12
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Consequence score
TEP
L
P
16
20
18
16
Fishing Activities
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L
X
L
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
20
18
16
14
Frequency
X
L
16
Scoping
e.g. Ecosim
H
H
Level 1
e.g. PVA
10
8
6
4
2
0
1
2
3
4
5
Consequence score
Habitats
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
Consequence score
Communities
ERAEF application
 Applied to all Federally managed fisheries in
Australia (over 20 fisheries or sub-fisheries)
 Over 2000 species assessed using PSA
 Several hundred habitat types assessed
 Community PSA still under development
 Currently developing and applying “rapid level 3”
methods for species (estimate F and reference
points from basic distribution and life history data)
 International applications expanding (WCP, ICCAT,
NZ, Galapagos, MSC)
Atlantis – What, How, Why

Atlantis – What, How, Why
Whole of fishery MSE
 Explore policy space for EBFM/EBM
– whole of system understanding
 fisheries
 management systems
 social and economic behaviour
– formal MSE approach
Atlantis – What, How, Why
SE fishery AMS study
 3.7 million km2 (tropical – subantarctic, inshore – oceanic)
 Multiple ecosystems
 Highly species diverse
 Multiple gears
EEZ
Claimable shelf
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Alternative Management Strategies
(AMS project)
 Rethink management arrangements for SESSF
 Strategic approach – bring stakeholders along
 Two phases
 qualitative (expert judgement)
 quantitative (Atlantis model)
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Qualitative phase
 Expert “team” (150+ years collective experience)
 Stakeholders got to help design strategies – no
holds barred
 Formal MSE structure (alternative strategies,
multiple objectives and performance measures,
predict consequences, evaluate tradeoffs)
 Rapid results and major catalyst for change in the
fishery
 “Blue skies” option has since become “business as
usual”
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Quantitative phase – Atlantis SE
Design &
Analysis
Define
Objectives
Performance
Measures
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Simulation Cycle
Atlantis SE - Physical
0 Pelagic
50
150
250
750+
flows
upwelling (to surface or at depth)
Epibenthic
Sediment
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Atlantis SE - Geophysical
 Bottom types (rough, flat, soft)
 Canyons
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Atlantis SE - Bluelink
 Currents
– horizontal
– vertical
 Temperature
 Salinity
 Eddies
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Atlantis SE - Ecological
 Multiple options for major processes (e.g. feeding, movement,
reproduction)
 “Polish” – Environmental forcing, multiple stocks
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Atlantis SE - Fleets
 Dive
 Fin-fish auto-longline
 SESSF dynamic
 Fin-fish drop line
(rest forced)
 Fin-fish mesh net
 Fin-fish trap
 Tuna purse seine
 Inshore line
 Trawl
 Pots
– state, SET, GABT splits
 Recreational
– Cephalopod trawl
 Scallop dredge
– Crustacean trawl
 Shark net
– Prawn trawl
 Shark longline
– Fin-fish midwater trawl
 Small pelagic state fisheries
– Squid midwater trawl
 Small pelagic Commonwealth fishery
– Danish seine
 Small pelagic purse seine
– General demersal (slope) trawl
 Squid jig
– Shelf demersal trawl
 Tuna longline
– Orange roughy trawl
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Atlantis SE - Socioeconomics
 Effort allocation (by subfleet)
– Economic drivers
– Social drivers
 Behavioural uncertainty (usually ignored)
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Atlantis SE - Fishing Decisions
 Tiered planning and effort allocation
 Quota trading
 Markets
 Multiple cost sources (fixed, variable, crew, gear, fuel)
 Investment and disinvestment
 Social and economic indicators
 Costs of management (across compliance, research,
infrastructure, monitoring)
– recovered costs
– per sector
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Atlantis SE – Management Levers







Gear (size, selectivity, access to habitat types)
Swept area (or soak time)
Spatial zoning (per sector through to closures, rolling)
Seasons
Discarding rules (BRD, size, per species, per area, limits)
Bag limits
Quotas (overall, stock-based, regional, basket, companion,
bi-monthly)
 Trip limits
 Effort limits (days-at-sea)
 Compliance
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Atlantis SE – Decision Rules
 Lobbying
 Political process (with delays)
 Trigger points
 Harvest strategies (current + more potentially)
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Scenarios
Status quo (quota management & not that effective)
Quotas on everything of value
Integrated management (zoning; gear restrictions; quotas)
Conservation driven (open paddocks, closed world)
Pragmatic reality
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Competing Objectives
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Qualitative vs quantitative MSE
 Same formal MSE structure – different methods for
prediction
 80% plus agreement on trends
 Same ranking of options
 Qualitative predictions missed a few key aspects
e.g. some behavioural responses to regulations
Atlantis – What, How, Why

Atlantis – What, How, Why
Overall lessons for science from EBFM
implementation and where to now
 Need range of tools – fit for purpose
 Data access and management a major hindrance
 Pretty good uptake but still a way to go with truly
accepting precaution in management
 Lack economic and social impact assessment tools
 Building in precaution to assessments?
 Scientific advice on ecological objectives?
 How to predict human behavioural responses?
 What management systems are robust to
uncertainty?
 What tradeoffs are inevitable?
Atlantis – What, How, Why
Acknowledgements
CSIRO
David Smith
Penny Johnson
Alan Williams
Keith Sainsbury
Ross Daley
Helen Webb
Cathy Bulman
Di Furlani
Andre Punt
NMFS
Jason Link
Robert Gamble
Isaac Kaplan
Chris Harvey
Phil Levin
Cameron Aimsworth
Margot Sachse
Ian Knuckey
Jeremy Prince
Terry Walker
Gerry Geen
Atlantis – What, How, Why