FAO Fisheries Report No. 291, Volume 1FIRM/R291 Vol. 1 (En)

Cover
REPORTS OF THE EXPERT CONSULTATION
TO EXAMINE CHANGES IN ABUNDANCE AND SPECIES
COMPOSITION OF NERITIC FISH RESOURCES
TABLE OF CONTENTS

San José, Costa Rica
18–29 April 1983


Edited by


J. Csirke and G.D. Sharp
Fisheries Department


A preparatory meeting for the FAO World Conference on
Fisheries Management and Development


The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

M-43

ISBN 92-5-102097-3

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PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT

This volume consists of the Reports of the Expert Consultation to Examine Changes in Abundance and Species Composition of Neritic Fish Resources held in San José, Costa Rica, 18–29 April 1983. The Proceedings, containing the technical contributions produced for, and presented and discussed at, the Expert Consultation are published in Volumes 2 and 3 of this FAO Fisheries Report No. 291.

This volume contains a brief account of the Expert Consultation, followed by the reports of the four working groups which met during the consultation and were responsible for extracting the main results, conclusions and recommendations of the meeting. Collectively these constitute the Report of the Expert Consultation. Each working group produced a draft report during the consultation which, together with comments and suggestions made at the plenary session on the last day, were the basis on which the chairman of each working group prepared the final versions presented here.

This document was reviewed and edited by Drs. J. Csirke and G.D. Sharp*, Technical Secretaries of the Expert Consultation. Ms. D. Dearing was responsible for the bulk of the typing and preparation of this volume, assisted by Mrs. Y. Corsetti.

This Expert Consultation was one of the preparatory meetings for the FAO World Conference on Fisheries Management and Development. The consultation was organised by FAO with the support of IOC, CPPS, DANIDA, ICLARM, ICSEAF, IDB, SELA, Unesco and WMO.

* Present address of G.D. Sharp is P.O. Box 12294, Gainesville, Florida 32604, U.S.A.

Distribution:For bibliographic purposes this document should be cited as follows:
FAO Fisheries Department
FAO Regional Fisheries Officers
Directors of Fisheries
Selector SM
Participants
Csirke, J. and G.D. Sharp (eds), 1984 Reports of  the Expert Consultation to examine changes in abundance and species composition of neritic fish resources. San José, Costa Rica, 18–29 April 1983. A preparatory meeting for the FAO World Conference on fisheries management and development. FAO Fish.Rep., (291) Vol.1: 102 p.

ABSTRACT
There is a high degree of uncertainty in dealing with varying neritic fish resources. It is difficult to establish national development policies based on contributions from an unstable fishing sector and long-term objectives can hardly be achieved unless a management strategy can be developed to cope with this variability. More flexibility needs to be introduced in the fishery sector to allow its adaptation to resource changes, and these and the causal environmental processes need to be properly monitored. Some of the problems and alternatives associated with exploitation, research and management of fluctuating fisheries are discussed.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome 1984
© FAO

Hyperlinks to non-FAO Internet sites do not imply any official endorsement of or responsibility for the opinions, ideas, data or products presented at these locations, or guarantee the validity of the information provided. The sole purpose of links to non-FAO sites is to indicate further information available on related topics.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I - THE EXPERT CONSULTATION

1. Opening of the sessions

2. Background of the Expert Consultation

3. Objectives of the consultation

4. Organization

5. Summary review of technical presentation

6. Working group sessions

7. References

PART II - REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON RESOURCES STUDY AND MONITORING (by A.D. MacCall)

1. Introduction

1.1 Working criteria
1.2 A note on terminology

2. A perspective of variability

3. Causes of changes in fish abundance

4. Symptoms of adverse changes in resource status

5. Fishery information and monitoring

5.1 Operations
5.2 Sampling
5.3 Biological studies

6. Abundance estimation

7. Recruitment forecasts

8. Ecosystem considerations

8.1 Habitats and fishery characteristics
8.2 Interaction between pelagic plantivores and their physical environment
8.3 Diet overlap of anchovies and sardines
8.4 Species interaction modelling in fisheries

9. Equipment and facilities

9.1 Equipment
9.2 Research vessels
9.3 Fishing gears

10. Bias in fishery science

10.1 Estimated change in abundance
10.2 Fishery information
10.3 Models and statistical procedures
10.4 Wishful thinking
10.5 A prescription

11. Summary

12. References

PART III - REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND MONITORING (by A. Bakun)

1. Introduction

1.1 Fishery-oceanographic research topics

2. System evaluation and development of scientific rationale

3. Primary variables

4. Processes altering primary variables

4.1 Primary productivity
4.2 Pattern formation and destruction
4.3 Transport
4.4 Large-scale anomalies

5. Observations of environmental variability

6. Biological sampling

6.1 Broad-scale plankton surveys
6.2 Fine-scale sampling
6.3 Egg and larval surveys

7. Data integration

8. Experimental efforts

9. Comparative studies

10. Stock and recruitment

11. Conclusions

12. References

PART IV - REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS OF VARYING FISHERY RESOURCES (by M.H. Glantz)

1. Introduction

2. Fluctuations in fish catches

3. Sharp declines in fish catches

4. Development of a typical neritic fishery

5. Fisheries scientists in the decision-making process

5.1 Some problems fisheries scientists face in the national decision-making process
5.2 Suggested remedies for dealing with such problems
5.3 Some sources of problems related to fisheries management

6. Recommendations

7. References

PART V - REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON FISHERIES MANAGEMENT, IMPLICATIONS AND INTERACTIONS (by J. Csirke)

1. Introduction

1.1 Highly variable resources
1.2 Objectives of fishery management

2. Components of management systems

2.1 Physical component
2.2 Biological component
2.3 Human component

3. Resource users and their objectives

3.1 Direct users
3.2 Indirect users
3.3 Conflicts among users

4. Management strategies

4.1 Fluctuation patterns
4.2 Phases in the development of a fishery
4.3 Prescriptive vs reactive management
4.4 Fishing strategies
4.5 Regulation of effort and catch

5. Concluding remarks

6. References

APPENDIX 1 - List of participants

APPENDIX 2 - Agenda and timetable

APPENDIX 3 - List of documents