EAFM & Risk AssessmentPrioritizing Assessments

Prof. Dr. Sahar MehannaHead of Fish Population Dynamics Lab

Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM)

Fisheries management is increasingly concerned with impacts on fish resources AND their ecosystems

Major management issue is fishing impacts on habitats, bycatch species, TEPS

This has resulted in a new approach - EAFM. This requires consideration of the above non-target interactions.

However, EAFM cannot address all interactions in detail – need to prioritize

Putting EAFM into practiceRisk assessment has always been a part of stock

assessment - but at a single species level (risk of overfishing)

EAFM merely extends this approach to ecological interactions

ERA undertaken at 3 levels:Level 1 – scale intensity consequence analysis

(SICA) Level 2 – productivity susceptibility analysis

(PSA)Level 3 – Full quantitative assessment

HIERARCHY OF RISK ASSESSMENT

THEREFORE…..If risks are identified at Level 1, these are

further analyzed at Level 2If a level 2 RA identifies risks then a full

quantitative analysis is carried outThe decision to analyze risks at each higher

levels in the ERAEF depends on (i) estimated risk at the current level, (ii) availability of data to proceed to the next level, and (iii) management response to risks identified at the current level

ERAEFFurther refinement of ERAEcological risk assessment for effects of

fishing (ERAEF) is a procedure for identifying and prioritizing risks posed to marine ecosystems by commercial fisheries.

Available scientific resources can then be focused on the most pressing ecological problems

Also focuses on the most urgent needs for information

LEVEL 1 ANALYSIS (SICA)QUALITATIVE - Level 1 aims to identify which

hazards lead to a significant impact on any species, habitat or community.

Analysis at Level 1 is for whole components (target; bycatch and byproduct; TEP species; habitat; and communities), not individual sub-components.

Since Level 1 is used mainly as a rapid screening tool, a “worst case” approach is used to ensure that elements screened out as low risk (either activities or components) are genuinely low risk.

HOW TO DO A SIMPLE SICA ANALYSIS

1. Define ECOSYSTEM COMPONENTS to be analyzedSPECIES

Target speciesOther retained speciesDiscarded speciesSpecies impacted by the gear but not caughtTEP species

HABITATSHabitats impacted by the gear

COMMUNITIESEcological communities, e.g. pelagic, demersal, epibenthic and

benthic (on and within the seafloor, respectively), planktonic, birds, reptiles, and mammals

HOW TO DO A SICA ANALYSISOperational objectives (OO) clarified for each

component and attribute2. What’s at risk? Identify effects of ‘activities’ on each

component. Activities can be ,for example, commercial fishing &

retaining species, commercial fishing and discarding species, recreational fishing, environmental degradation, anchoring, gear loss etc

3. Set up a ‘hazard matrix’ that identifies what components and attributes are impacted by what activities – qualitative

4. Risk Screening of identified hazards by SICA scoring

S = SCALEScale is both

spatial and temporal (time) – score

C=CONSEQUENCES, SCORING

I=IntensityWhat is the

intensity of the activity on the ecological component & attributes? More frequent activities are scored highly on ‘intensity’

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVELAssessment of SICA results should indicate:which risks can be ignored, which can be mitigated quickly by

management of the fishery, and which should be subjected to further risk

assessment. Also, this is a good time to check whether

ALL ecological components and activities have been identified and included

EXAMPLE PF SICA

LINK BETWEEN SICA AND PSA

Level 2 PSA - PRODUCTIVITYProductivity Attributes FOR SPECIES:

Average age at maturityAverage maximum ageFecundityAverage maximum sizeAverage size at maturityReproductive strategyTrophic level – based on 5 levels from level 1 (algae

and plants) to apex predators (level 5). www.fishbase.org has info

Scoring Productivity AttributesScored on a 1-3 scale for each attribute

with 3 high riskFor example, Attribute of age at maturity

is scored 3 (high risk) if greater than 15 years, 2 if 5-15 years and 1 if less than 5 years

A full scoring system is included in handout

SCORING PRODUCTIVITY ATTRIBUTES

Level 2 PSA - SUSCEPTIBILITYSusceptibility Attributes:Availability - overlap of fishing effort with a species

distribution and takes into account species specific behaviors

Encounterability - the likelihood that a species will encounter fishing gear that is deployed within the geographic range of that species

Selectivity - the potential of the gear to capture or retain species

Post capture mortality - the condition and subsequent survival of a species that is captured and released (or discarded)

Scoring Susceptibility AttributesScored on a 1-3 scale for each attribute

with 3 high riskFor example, availability is scored 1 (low

risk) if the stock is globally distributed, 2 if restricted to the same ocean as the fishery and 3 if restricted to the same country as the fishery

The full scoring system will be included with the handout re productivity

SCORING SUSCEPTABILITY

Plot P against S = PSA Plot

EXAMPLE OF PSA ANALYSIS