Understanding long-term trends in highly migratory pelagic stocks in the Pacific Ocean is extremely important as fishing in the Western and Central Pacific is vital to both local economies and the global food supply, accounting for 14% of global seafood. The Pacific is considered “data poor” due to a lack of substantive data, poor quality data, and little fishery-independent assessment. Fishing vessels are nearly exclusively foreign-flagged with virtually all landings exported to Asia and Europe, whereas the GDPs of these island nations are wholly supported by sale of licensures to these fleets. The first chapter examines the validity of using best-available data for ecologically important reconstruction, as well as an overview of approaches used to overcome the encumbrances of such data: self-reporting and profit-maximization. We also examine current methods for handling data-poor situations in marine environments, which provide unique challenges to surveying, patrolling, and enforcement. We applied two modeling approaches to investigate the population dynamics and sustainability of seven species of large predators in the families Xiphiidae, Istiophoridae, and Scombridae comprising the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Aggregated Catch/Effort database from 1950-present. The entire management region was examined, with the Exclusive Economic Zone of Kiribati explored in detail. This collection of islands and seamounts covers 3.5 million square kilometers including several areas of conservation interest and variable bathymetry. The first, a “traditional” autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model, revealed shifts in effort, Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE), catch, abundance, and morphology in all populations, regions, and management area. Second, Catch-MSY identified the Maximum Sustainable Yield (a common metric for fisheries management) for each species by region and the basin. This approach is unique, depending completely on non-reliable self-reported landings data to construct population models useful for management in the absence of costly surveys; often the best available data outside of North America and the EU. This body of work provides the foundation for cost-effective sustainable management of key high-profit open-ocean market species. It identified greatly reduced CPUE of targeted species, increasing CPUE of likely bycatch. Finally, we established catch limits for every reported species in the basin and subregion.

In this study, we consider the mechanism design problem for the optimal allocation of fishing quotas at different total allowable catch (TAC) levels. An age-structured fish population model is employed. Fishing technologies are embedded in the economic model as a key determinant. As a result, we showed that the quota allocation mechanism is important to minimize the impact of fishing on total fish biomass or achieve maximum sustainable yield (MSY). Moreover, we indicated technology-based optimality conditions for allocation of quotas at different TAC levels, which minimize the impact of fishing on total fish biomass or enable us to achieve MSY. Under the consideration that the fishermen fulfill their remaining quotas through capturing untargeted (less revenue-generating) fish after the targeted fish population is fully caught, the fix ratio of the catch of targeted fish to untargeted fish is not valid anymore. Concordantly, we indicated technology-based optimal quota levels, including the interior solutions. In the EU, TACs are distributed among states according to the principle of &lsquo / relative stability&rsquo / which prescribes that the fishing quotas should be allocated based on historical catches of the EU states. In this context, rather than allocating the quotas based on historical catches, our main suggestion is that the structure of the fishing industry should be considered for allocation of quotas to provide the sustainability of EU fisheries and achieve responsible and effective management of the fishing industry in the EU.

The European Commission manages fish stocks by applying a fishing mortality based on the maximum sustainable yield concept. So far most Baltic Sea fishing maximum sustainable yieldmodels have focused on one species at a time. The few existing multi-species models have assumed that a species’ maturity and growth is dependent on the availability of food. Our two-species models make it possible to investigate if there is a conflict between fishing maximum sustainable yield for cod and herring in the Baltic Sea. This two-species model of cod, as a predator and herring as prey, takes into account environmental drivers on cod and herring recruitment. Reproductive volume together with year-growth, (a year specific effect on growth of external variables like food availability) and predation by grey seals was included in the cod model. The herring model was dependent on cod spawning stock biomass and year-growth. The result shows that the reproductive volume is the main factor that affects the maximum sustainable yield for cod. The spawning stock biomass at maximum sustainable yield is more sensitive to reproductive volume than year-growth. When predation from seals is added in mortality and high environmental factors occurs the spawning stock biomass would be 50% compared to the spawning stock biomass at high environmental effects without seal predation. Four simulations of high cod spawning stock biomass were devastating for the herring population that was eradicated with high predation pressure. The herring maximum sustainable yield depends on the amount of cod spawning stack biomass i.e. the effect of high or low reproductive volume. Two analyses were made on a current environmental state for both species. The first analysis had a natural mortality of 0.2 for cod, which gave an fishing mortality of 0.20 and maximum sustainable yield of 410 000 tons. The herring had a fishing mortality of 0.03 and maximum sustainable yield of 11 000 tons. The second simulation included seal predation in cod mortality which decreased the cod maximum sustainable yield by 98% at a fishing mortality of 0.02, which gave a fishing mortality of 0.19 and maximum sustainable yield of 275 000 tons for herring. This gives a 25 times increase of herring maximum sustainable yield compared to the result without predation on cod. The cod population dynamics is vulnerable to environmental changes and to secure a healthy and productive cod population the target fishing mortality should be kept in phase with current reproductive volume. / Europeiska kommissionen förvaltar fiskbestånden genom att tillämpa fiskekvoter baserat på konceptet maximalt hållbart uttag. Hittills har de flesta maximalt hållbara fiske-fångst modeller för Östersjön fokuserat på en art i taget. De få befintliga fler-arts-modeller har antagit att en arts mognad och tillväxt är beroende av tillgången på föda. Vår två-arts-modell gör det möjligt att undersöka om det finns en konflikt mellan maximal hållbar fiske-fångst på torsk och sill i Östersjön. Denna två-arts-modell med torsk som ett rovdjur och sill som byte, tar hänsyn till miljön som drivkraft på deras rekrytering. I torskmodellen ingick reproduktiv volym tillsammans med årlig tillväxt (ett års specifika effekt på tillväxten beroende av externa variabler som tillgången till föda) och predation av gråsäl. Sill-modellen var beroende av årlig tillväxt och lekbeståndets biomassa hos torsk. Resultaten visar att den viktigaste faktorn som påverkar maximalt hållbart uttag för torsk är reproduktiv volym. Lekbeståndets biomassa vid maximalt hållbart uttag är mer känsligt för förändringar i reproduktiv volym än årlig tillväxt. När predation från säl tillsätts och höga gynnsamma miljöfaktorer råder är lekbeståndets biomassa 50 % jämfört med lekbeståndets biomassa vid höga gynnsamma miljöeffekter utan säl predation. Fyra simuleringar gav hög lekbestånds biomassa för torsk vilket var förödande för sillpopulationen som utrotades pga. högt predationstryck. Sillens maximala hållbara uttag beror på mängden lekbestånds biomassa hos torsk, d.v.s. effekten av hög eller låg reproduktiv volym. Två analyser gjordes på nuvarande miljömässiga nivåer för båda arterna. Den första analysen hade en naturlig dödlighet på 0,2 för torsk, vilket gav en fiske-mortalitet på 0,20 och maximalt hållbart uttag på 410 000 ton. Sillen hade en fiske-mortalitet på 0,03 och maximalt hållbart uttag på 11 000 ton. I den andra simuleringen ingår sälpredation på torsk vilket minskade torskens maximala hållbara uttag med 98 % vid en fiske-mortalitet på 0,02, vilket gav en fiske-mortalitet på 0,19 och maximalt hållbart uttag på 275 000 ton för sill. Detta ger en ökning av maximalt hållbart uttag för sill 25 gånger jämfört med resultatet utan predation på torsk. Torskens populationsdynamik är sårbar för miljöförändringar och för att säkra ett sunt och produktivt torskbestånd bör fiskemortaliteten hållas i fas med nuvarande reproduktiva volym.

The relationship between spawning stock biomass (SSB) and 3 spatial distribution metrics (SDMs), measuring range, concentration, and density, using fisheries independent survey data for 10 demersal Northwest Atlantic fish populations (9 species), show metrics of density offer the best correlate of SSB. The concave, positive relationship between high density area (HDA) and SSB indicates that a decline in HDAs beyond a spatial threshold is associated with disproportionately large SSB declines in 6 populations. HDAs might indicate highly productive areas and/or positive fitness consequences, enhancing the ability of individuals to successfully spawn, locate prey, and evade predators. HDAs can help to assess the status of a population’s spatial structure and serve as a spatial reference point. By comparing spatial reference point locations relative to existing biomass reference points (based on MSY), scenarios are described wherein spatial reference points contribute to biomass reference points and to a precautionary approach to fisheries management.