Ecosystem approach and ocean management - Ocean Sustainability in the 21st Century - page 206

An ecosystem approach to fisheries strives to balance diverse societal objectives,
by taking into account the knowledge and uncertainties about biotic, abiotic and
human components of ecosystems and their interactions and applying an
integrated approach to fisheries within ecologically meaningful boundaries.

A primary implication is the need to cater for both human and ecosystem well-being. This
implies conservation of ecosystem structures, processes, and interactions through sustain-
able use. Inevitably this will require consideration of a range of frequently conflicting ob-
jectives, where the needed consensus may not be readily attained without equitable dis-
tribution of benefits. In general, the tools and techniques of EAF will remain the same as
those used in traditional fisheries management, but they will need to be applied in a man-
ner that addresses the wider interactions between fisheries and the whole ecosystem. For
example, catch and effort quotas, or gear design and restrictions, will be based not just on
sustainable use of the target resources, but on their impacts on and implications for the
whole ecosystem.
Similarly to the CBD ecosystem approach, the EAF is guided by a set of principles,
andthereisgenerallygoodconsistencybetweentheCBDecosystemapproachandtheEAF
(Vierros et al ., 2006 ) . In the case of EAF, these principles are concepts that have been ex-
pressed in various instruments and conventions and, in particular, in the Code of Conduct
for Responsible Fisheries. Accordingly, fisheries management should respect the following
principles:

· Fisheries should be managed to limit their impact on the ecosystem to the extent

possible.

· Ecological relationships between harvested, dependent, and associated species

should be maintained.

· Management measures should be compatible across the entire distribution of the

resource (across jurisdictions and management plans).

·