Marine heatwave challenges solutions to human–wildlife conflict

Abstract

Despite the increasing frequency and magnitude of extreme climate events, little is known about how their impacts flow through social and ecological systems or whether management actions can dampen deleterious effects. We examined how the record 2014–2016 Northeast Pacific marine heatwave influenced trade-offs in managing conflict between conservation goals and human activities using a case study on large whale entanglements in the U.S. west coast's most lucrative fishery (the Dungeness crab fishery). We showed that this extreme climate event diminished the power of multiple management strategies to resolve trade-offs between entanglement risk and fishery revenue, transforming near win–win to clear win–lose outcomes (for whales and fishers, respectively). While some actions were more cost-effective than others, there was no silver-bullet strategy to reduce the severity of these trade-offs. Our study highlights how extreme climate events can exacerbate human–wildlife conflict, and emphasizes the need for innovative management and policy interventions that provide ecologically and socially sustainable solutions in an era of rapid environmental change.

Shifting phenology of an endangered apex predator mirrors changes in its favored prey

“…Similarly, application of a management measure focused at the wrong time can lead to unintended conservation chal-lenges. For example, delayed opening of the California Dungeness crab Metacarcinus magister fishery in 2016, in combination with changing ecosystem conditions that caused large whales to feed within crab fishing grounds over an unusually long period of time, led to an unanticipated and substantial increase in whale bycatch (Santora et al 2020, Samhouri et al 2021. Though recent shifts in the timing of biological events have been quantified in diverse species and ecosystems around the world (Polo czanska et al 2013), the potential for match−mismatch dynamics and the implications of phenological shifts remain poorly understood (Paton & Crouch 2002, Morellato et al 2016, Kharouba et al 2018).…”

Global seasonal forecasts of marine heatwaves

“…MHW forecasts could also portend changes in the availability of target and bycatch species to recreational and commercial fisheries, giving both fishing fleets and managers forewarning so as to maximize sustainable practices 11 , 30 – 32 . For example, proactive fishery closures may reduce both economic losses and ecological risk during events such as the 2014–16 MHW that led to increased baleen whale entanglements in the California Current System 5 , 33 . In other cases, MHW forecasts could inform the allocation of increased resources to monitor sensitive sites 34 , 35 or guide strategic planning to minimize aquaculture losses 36 .…”

Impact of the 2014–2016 marine heatwave on US and Canada West Coast fisheries: Surprises and lessons from key case studies

“…(2) continuing to refine entanglement prevention strategies that are co-developed with stakeholders and are proven to be effective, robust or adaptable to changing conditions, and minimally impactful on fishers (CDFW, 2015;Samhouri et al, 2021); (3) reforming the federal fisheries disaster program to provide fast, accurate, and equitable relief (Bellquist et al, 2021); and (4) easing access to alternative fisheries as a means of diversifying fishing opportunities (Oken et al, 2021) and potentially escaping the "gilded trap" presented by the lucrative, yet volatile, Dungeness crab fishery (Fisher et al, 2021).…”

“…This has been effective at reducing entanglements but at significant cost to fishers (Seary et al, 2022). Increasing the resilience of the Dungeness crab fishery could be advanced by: (1) expanding the spatial–temporal scale of biotoxin monitoring to enable surgical closures that protect public health with the least impacts on fishers (Free, Moore, et al, 2022); (2) continuing to refine entanglement prevention strategies that are co‐developed with stakeholders and are proven to be effective, robust or adaptable to changing conditions, and minimally impactful on fishers (CDFW, 2015; Samhouri et al, 2021); (3) reforming the federal fisheries disaster program to provide fast, accurate, and equitable relief (Bellquist et al, 2021); and (4) easing access to alternative fisheries as a means of diversifying fishing opportunities (Oken et al, 2021) and potentially escaping the “gilded trap” presented by the lucrative, yet volatile, Dungeness crab fishery (Fisher et al, 2021).…”