Marine Fisheries - Causes for Decline and Impacts

General Lecture Outline

I.  Introduction – Why study marine fisheries?

II.  Characterize the resource

III.  Status of the resource

(ITEMS I, II, and III above are covered in the companion module: Marine Fisheries - Introduction and Status)

IV.  Causes for fishery declines

  • Overfishing
  • Highly efficient technology
  • Bycatch
  • Overcapacity
  • Climate change and ocean acidification
  • Recreational fishing

V.  Community and ecosystem-level impacts of fishery declines

  • Fishing down the food web
  • Habitat degradation
  • Trophic cascades
  • Changes in life history traits

VI.  Why are fishery declines allowed to occur?

  • Economics of overfishing/Government subsidies
  • Growing human populations and increasing demand
  • Shifting baselines
  • Lack of adequate fisheries data

(ITEMS VII, VIII, IX, and X are covered in the companion module: Marine Fisheries - Management and Proposed Solutions)

VII.  Traditional fisheries management

VIII.  Market-based solutions

IX.  Ecosystem-based fishery management

X.  The future of marine fisheries

Module Description

Module Objectives

Sample PowerPoint Slide with notes

Module download or request a hard copy (13 MB)

Return to NCSR Marine Fisheries Series Description

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Updated January 2008.

Copyright 2007 Northwest Center for Sustainable Resources,Salem,Oregon.