Fisheries sustainability is recognized to have four pillars: ecological, economic, social (including cultural) and institutional (or governance). Although international agreements, and legislation in many jurisdictions, call for implementation of all four pillars of sustainability, the social, economic and institutional aspects (i.e., the “human dimensions”) have not been comprehensively and collectively addressed to date. This study describes a framework for comprehensive fisheries evaluation developed by the Canadian Fisheries Research Network (CFRN) that articulates the full spectrum of ecological, economic, social and institutional objectives required under international agreements, together with candidate performance indicators for sustainable fisheries. The CFRN framework is aimed at practical fisheries evaluation and management and has a relatively balanced distribution of elements across the four pillars of sustainability relative to 10 alternative management decision support tools and indicator scorecards, which are heavily focused on ecological and economic aspects. The CFRN framework has five immediate uses: (a) It can serve as a logic frame for defining management objectives; (b) it can be used to define alternate management options to achieve given objectives; (c) it can serve as a tool for comparing management scenarios/options in decision support frameworks; (d) it can be employed to create a report card for comprehensive fisheries management evaluation; and (e) it is a tool for practical implementation of an integrated social–ecological system approach.

Invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) have spread widely across the western Atlantic and are recognized as a major threat to native marine biodiversity. Although lionfish inhabit both shallow reefs and mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs; reefs from 30 to 150 m depth), the primary management response implemented by many countries has been diver-led culling limited to reefs less than 30 m. However, many reef fish undergo ontogenetic migrations, with the largest and therefore most fecund individuals found at greatest depths. Here, we study lionfish density, body size, maturity and dietary patterns across the depth gradient from the surface down to 85 m on heavily culled reefs around Utila, Honduras. We found lionfish at increased densities, body size and weight on MCEs compared with shallow reefs, with MCEs also containing the greatest proportion of actively spawning females, while shallow reefs contained the greatest proportion of immature lionfish. We then compared lionfish behaviour in response to divers on shallow culled and mesophotic unculled Utilan reefs, and on shallow unculled reefs in Tela Bay, on the Honduran mainland. We found that mesophotic lionfish exhibited high alert distances, consistent with individuals previously exposed to culling despite being below the depth limits of removal. In addition, when examining stomach content, we found that fish were the major component of lionfish diets across the depth gradient. Importantly, our results suggest that despite adjacent shallow culling, MCEs retain substantial lionfish populations that may be disproportionately contributing towards continued lionfish recruitment onto the shallow reefs of Utila, potentially undermining current culling-based management.

It is increasingly recognized that sustainability is composed of four key components: environmental, economic, social (including cultural), and institutional (or governance). Fisheries and coastal management systems, however, are heavily weighted toward biophysical and ecological aspects, thus leaving the "human dimension," i.e., social, economic, and institutional, relatively neglected. Full-spectrum sustainability (FSS) is an approach to resource management that aims to address this imbalance. Management plans are beginning to include elements of FSS, yet there are very few practical examples of successfully implemented FSS strategies. We examined and compared the potential application of two proposed FSS frameworks in the Bay of Fundy, one based on the Southwest New Brunswick Marine Advisory Committee Community Values Criteria, and the other on the Framework for Comprehensive Evaluation from the Canadian Fisheries Research Network. These were compared in structure and in their practical application to evaluation of plans for herring (Clupea harengus) management and the recovery of the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalena glacialis) in the Maritime region of Canada. Although the two frameworks differ in specific structure, both frameworks are useful in demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of current management plans. This evaluation demonstrates that the management plans are strong in attention to ecological objectives but have gaps in the spectrum of considerations in current management planning, especially in relation to social, economic, and governance considerations. We propose that FSS frameworks can provide and should be used routinely as the basis for analysis of policies and management plans, engagement and discussion among stakeholders in participatory governance, comparison of alternative management scenarios, and the generation of advice. Use of FSS frameworks will allow better decisions on coastal activities within the context of "balanced" FSS.

No abstract