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Publication
Management for sustainable cephalopod fisheries in Europe: review and recommendations
| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.29 MB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Although cephalopod fisheries are of world-wide importance, in Europe catching cephalopods is managed
only in small-scale fisheries, at national level, and few stocks are formally assessed. Because cephalopods
are not quota species under the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, there is currently no requirement for
assessment or management at European level. Given increasing interest in targeting cephalopods in
Europe, there is a risk that they will be fished unsustainably. Although there have been recent review
papers on progress in stock assessment and fishery forecasting for commercially fished cephalopods there
has been no recent review of cephalopod fishery management. We aim to fill this gap, with a particular
focus on European cephalopod fisheries.We review potential barriers to sustainable fishing and reasons
why management of cephalopod fisheries differs from that for finfish fisheries, e.g. due to the high
inherent volatility and the possibly cyclic nature of year-to-year variation in cephalopod abundance,
reflecting their short lifespan, rapid growth and high sensitivity to environmental conditions. We review
fishery management approaches in important cephalopod fisheries worldwide (e.g. in the USA, Japan,
Falklands, South Africa, Australia and Russia) and current management of small-scale cephalopod
fisheries in Europe. We identify knowledge gaps and limitations to current monitoring programmes and
stock assessments and discuss the options available for cephalopod fishery management in Europe,
considering the suitability or otherwise of catch and effort limits, use of closed areas and seasons,
restrictions on sizes caught and types of fishing gear, and the ole of market-based sustainability pathways.