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319 ≋ nition. The rationale is: “The purpose of an ecosystem approach to fisheries is to plan, develop, and manage fisheries in a manner that addresses the multiplicity of societal needs and desires, without jeopardizing the options of future generations to benefit from the full range of goods and services provided by the marine ecosystem.” The definition is: “An ecosystem approach to fisheries to balance diverse societal objectives by taking account of the knowledge and uncertainties about biotic, abiotic and human components and applying an integrated approach to fisheries within ecological meaningful boundaries.” As recognized by Cochrane et al. (2004), the implementation of the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) is likely to be slow, and many countries, agencies, and individuals are still in the process of understanding and interpreting just what is intended by the term EAF. Feasibility of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries in the Southern Gulf of Mexico Some of the main issues we foresee in applying the ecosystem approach to fisheries in the southern Gulf of Mexico are (Seijo 2007a, 2008): • Changes in management measures to implement the EAF are likely to lead to conflicts with stakeholders , and this should be considered and permitted in the process of developing an EAF for specific fisheries. All fishing nations are under international pressure to implement an ecosystem approach in their domestic fisheries and in any international fishery in which they participate . The importance of the ecosystem approach to fisheries was recognized in 1991 by 47 countries participating in the Reykjavik Conference on Responsible Fisheries in the Marine Ecosystem. The signing parties declared “that in an effort to reinforce responsible and sustainable fisheries in the marine ecosystem, we will individually and collectively work in incorporating ecosystem considerations into that management” (FAO 2001, p. 106). The ideal of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management is summarized by Chapter 17 of Agenda 21: “The marine environment—including oceans and all seas and adjacent coastal areas—forms an integrated whole that is an essential component of the global life-support system and a positive asset that presents opportunities for sustainable development. International law . . . sets forth rights and obligations of States and provides the international basis upon which to pursue the protection and sustainable development of the marine and coastal environment and its resources.” A number of attempts have been made to translate this ideal into a practical and feasible approach (Ward et al. 2002; Cochrane et al. 2004) including those of the US National Research Council (1999), the Convention of Biological Diversity, and the World Wide Fund for Nature. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO 2003) developed an interpretation of these and other efforts in the form of a rationale and a defi18 Considerations for an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management in the Southern Gulf of Mexico Juan C. Seijo, John F. Caddy, William W. Arzápalo, and Alfonso J. Cuevas 320 ~ Seijo, Caddy, Arzápalo, and Cuevas the corresponding management response. In contrast to the obligatory fitting of a model of the ecosystem (which of course is not precluded), this empirical approach does not require that the mechanisms underlying the negative change in an ecosystem be fully understood before action is mandatory—a perception implicit in the United Nations Fish Stock Agreement negotiated in 1995. Of course, negative changes could be due to environmental changes beyond human control, but to the extent possible, human actions should not exacerbate a situation where there is serious risk of a loss in biodiversity. Fishery indicators should provide information for assessing the biologic, economic, and social performance of the southern Gulf of Mexico fisheries. As an element of the management plan, they should become an input for establishing new reference points over time and corresponding management strategies to avoid the LRPs so specified. Indicators can be simple in conception, multidisciplinary , and based on semi-quantitative or qualitative information. They should not be regarded as falling fully within the research sector, but they should be available to stakeholders and managers in an updated and real-time fashion. They have to be integrated fully into the management system, and they may need to be fine-tuned in response to events. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES 2001) provides a list of desirable properties of indicators: • Relatively easy to understand by nonscientists and those who will decide on their use • Sensitive to manageable human activity • Relatively tightly linked in time to that activity • Easily and accurately measured • Responsive primarily to human activity, with...

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