Citizens’ views and preferences for ecosystem-based fisheries management

Abstract

In Europe there are many regulations that directly or indirectly apply to fisheries. These include the Common Fisheries Policy, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Habitats and Birds Directives, the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive and the Nature Restoration Regulation. All these regulations promote an ecosystem-based management approach. Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) shifts management practices from traditional single-species management to approaches that encompasses multi-species interactions, environmental forcing, habitat status and human activities. EBFM manages fish stocks to ensure that they produce maximum yield (e.g. through fishing capacity regulations and quotas), while ensuring that enough fish stay in the system to feed the rest of the ecosystem. However, in practice, most fish stock management decisions in Europe are still based on single-species assessments and true implementation of EBFM is lacking.