What are Ecosystem-Based Approaches to Management?
Wilson’s storm petrels feeding on surface plankton, Platts Bank. Photo by Heather McRae.
Background and Rationale
The over-arching goals of the Gulf of Maine program are to: (1) increase knowledge of the patterns and roles of biodiversity in the Gulf of Maine area; and (2) construct a framework that enables ecosystem-based approaches to management (EAM).
The objective of EAM is to manage human activities in ways that conserve all the parts and functions of ecosystems, including humans. There are practical and ethical reasons for pursuing this objective. Practical reasons include the sustainable production and discovery of useful commodities such as food, medicine, and unique compounds, as well as the need to preserve the capacity of systems to adapt to change. Ethical reasons include protection of the Earth’s rich evolutionary inheritance and aesthetic values. Please see "Definitions" for more detail.
The challenge for science is to understand how ecosystem processes, including human interactions, influence patterns of diversity and, conversely, how patterns of diversity influence the way that ecosystems function. The societal challenge is to understand and value ocean ecosystems and support the creation of integrative policies that sustain both natural and human systems.
"Rock Garden", a rocky ridge 200 m below the surface in, Jordan Basin. Photo: Discovery Corridor
A successful framework for the implementation of EAM would include knowledge, theory, goals, research, monitoring and application (management) strategies so that they all contribute to improved understanding and practices. Creating an environment supportive of EAM requires participation by many, and the open exchange of information and ideas among scientists, managers and public stakeholders. It also requires enhanced databases and information systems to facilitate access to information and stimulate its use and integration for research, public discourse and management.
Because fisheries comprise, on the whole, the most widespread human impact on marine ecosystems, they have been a focus of early attempts to formulate EAM. Canada and the United States both are moving toward an ecosystem-based approach to managing fisheries and other human activities that affect the Gulf of Maine area. There are other highly-impacted areas that would benefit from the development and application of EAM. For example, in the near-shore environment, land use patterns and pollution have major impacts on biological diversity and production, and there are numerous conflicting goals covered by different regulations and different regulatory agencies. EAM could provide a unifying approach to resolving these conflicts. However, the metrics have not been established: how would we know if we are on target for conserving ecosystem function?.
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 1995 adopted a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries that calls for "protection of living aquatic resources and their environments and coastal areas" as well as "due respect for the ecosystem and biodiversity." Canada’s 1997 Oceans Act expanded the conservation objectives for the management of fisheries to include ecosystem features in addition to protection of the target species. The United States’ 1996 Sustainable Fisheries Act amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act required identification of "essential fish habitat" and measures to protect it. These are steps toward ecosystem-based management (EBM), but we have a long way to go.