Cedo Intercultural - Ecosystem-Based Management

Ecosystem-Based Management

PANGAS

PANGAS is an ecosystem-based research and management project on coastal fisheries of the Northern Gulf of California. The word "pangas" is Spanish for small fishing boat, while the acronym PANGAS stands for “Pesca Artesanal en el Norte del Golfo de California: Ambiente y Sociedad,” meaning “Artisanal Fishing in the Northern Gulf of California: Environment and Society." The PANGAS project is coordinated by the University of Arizona with participation from the University of California - Santa Cruz, the Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Estudios Superiores de Ensenada (CICESE), Comunidad y Biodiversidad, A.C. (COBI) and CEDO.

The goal of the project is to study the biophysical and socio-economic processes of the Northern Gulf’s coastal fisheries. By understanding the connections between these factors we hope to develop an integrated management approach for coastal fisheries. The project combines field studies in social, physical and biological sciences with the latest technology and laboratory studies.

During the last two years over 1,100 interviews have been conducted with fishermen in 20 communities in the Northern Gulf. These interviews contain information from fishermen on:
- Spatial-temporal patterns of fishing
- Key seasons and sites for reproduction of targeted species
- Existing social networks
- Fishermen’s opinions on the principal fisheries problems and possible solutions
- Other information that characterizes the fisheries

Biological samples (metrics, tissue and otoliths) of fish and invertebrates have also been collected from throughout the study area.

In the summer of 2007, we conducted subtidal censuses in 14 sites in the Northern Gulf documenting fish, invertebrate and algal populations. We used the same protocols used in subtidal monitoring along the western Pacific Coast with the PISCO project . This information will be used to corroborate what was learned from fishermen and to monitor non-commercial marine resources.

Information from this project will serve as a foundation for answering the following key questions:
- What is the structure and connectivity between populations of target species?
- Which are the critical habitats that maintain fisheries populations?
- What are the oceanographic processes that affect retention and dispersal of larvae?
- What are the principal social processes that control small scale fisheries?
- What are the feedbacks between biophysical and social systems that are important to small scale fisheries?

For more information visit the PANGAS website.

Atlantis Model

Atlantis is a spatial model being developed as a decision-making tool for ecosystem-based management of fisheries in the Northern Gulf of California and elsewhere. The project is coordinated by researchers from the Northwest Fisheries Service of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). CEDO helps collect data from the literature and the field. The model will integrate oceanographic, bio-geochemical, ecological, and fisheries dynamics in a three-dimensional domain. The Atlantis framework gives decision makers a tool to visualize and evaluate management actions against a backdrop of environmental change.

The projects seeks to:
- Evaluate the impacts of human activities on marine ecosystems.
- Identify key processes that drive ecosystems.
- Evaluate the effects of management actions on ecosystems.
- Identify tradeoffs between species, fishers, and management goals.

Data collected from the PANGAS project will also be incorporated into this model. The Atlantis approach will be adapted to respond to the management needs of coastal fisheries identified by the PANGAS project and local communities.

The primary outcomes of the project will be:
- Increased stakeholder awareness of alternative management options.
- Identification of management options that may improve the economy and ecology of the Northern Gulf.

Whether through formal federal policy or through actions adopted by local fishing cooperatives, our hope is that the results will improve fisheries management.

TIDE BITS: Ecosystem-Based Management

Can you imagine a physician making a health diagnosis based on a patient’s blood pressure alone? How about a patient’s body temperature? Suppose that the prescription is made without taking into consideration possible side effects. Surely such a diagnosis has a low chance of being accurate, and even if the prescription works, it will likely be by chance. The reason for this is that the human body is a complex system and a rise in blood pressure or temperature can be due to an illness in one or many of its components. Therefore, a diagnosis should be made based on the measurement of several health indicators and medicine prescribed with consideration of possible side effects.

The complexity of processes in a human body is analogous to those of ecosystems. Though marine ecosystems are complex systems, the field of fisheries science and management has traditionally made diagnoses and recommendations based only on the maximum sustainable catch of a single target species, often ignoring habitat, predators, and prey of the targeted species, not to mention other ecosystem components and interactions. In contrast, the Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) that PANGAS supports is an integrated approach that considers the complexities of ecosystem dynamics, the social and economic needs of human communities, and the long-term maintenance of diverse, functioning and healthy ecosystems.