Ecosystem-based fisheries management forestalls climate-driven collapse

Climate change is impacting fisheries worldwide. Using management strategy evaluations for key US fisheries in the eastern Bering Sea, this study finds that Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) measures forestall future declines under climate change compared to non-EBFM approaches. However, benefits are species-specific and decrease after 2050. Under high-baseline carbon emission scenarios (RCP 8.5), end-of-century pollock and Pacific cod fisheries collapse in >70% and >35% of simulations, respectively. A summer bottom temperature of 2.1–2.3 °C is identified as a tipping point for rapid decline. EBFM ameliorates near-term impacts but long-term benefits are limited by the magnitude of anticipated change.

K. K. Holsman, A. C. Haynie, A. B. Hollowed, J. C. P. Reum, K. Aydin, A. J. Hermann, W. Cheng, A. Faig, J. N. Ianelli, K. A. Kearney, A. E. Punt