This book provides a comprehensive attempt to adopt an 'integrated' interdisciplinary approach to the study of fisheries. Fisheries are discussed as holistic 'systems', with emphasis on their structure, operation and dynamics. The book's interdisciplinary approach is applied to an analysis of problems faced in pursuing 'sustainable fisheries', with emphasis on six dominant themes: sustainability, uncertainty, complexity, conflict, fishing rights and the nature of management. Within this discussion, several major directions in current fishery thinking are explored, notably the precautionary approach, the ecosystem approach, co-management, and robust management for resilient fisheries.

In the last decades, the human harvesting of marine resources became more efficient as the understanding of the habits and behaviours of the various species available in the sea gradually increased. Technologies naturally developed over time and fishing systems became more sophisticated and increasingly adapted to catch the most desirable species and sizes. This evolution is still in progress and technological development goes on especially in the Mediterranean area, where small and relatively old fishing vessels are traditionally used. These technical advances in fishing gears have generally led to more efficient fishing operations and improved access to resources and fishing grounds. On the other hand, general awareness on the environmental problems due to the exploitation of fisheries resources has also increased. Therefore, in order to preserve fishery resources and marine environments, fishing gears and their impacts need to be further investigated and less impacting techniques should be developed. In this regard, fishing technologists are responsible to provide fishery managers as well as fishermen and stakeholders, with useful advice and technical solutions for mitigating adverse impacts of fishing gears. By taking these problems into account, the book contents are based on the requirements of ecosystem-approach to fisheries management. The Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries of the FAO (1995) encouraged the use of selective, environmentally safe and cost effective gear and techniques. Thus the book aims at providing information on sustainable fishing technologies, and transfers the expertise on fishing technology to Mediterranean fisheries scientists and end-users such as fisheries managers, administrators, controllers etc. This book is structured to provide information on fishing gear technology, selectivity, bycatch-impact reduction and fishing vessel technology, with particular attention to the Mediterranean context. The information included might be used to learn how to assess the impacts and selectivity of different fishing gears and find technical solutions to mitigate these impacts and to address scientific studies. Furthermore, advices on the properties of fishing vessels affecting energy efficiency have been also considered in order to address possible technical changes to the currents boats. Finally the contents of this book might be considered as a useful tool when preparing management measures as well as for the establishment, enforcement or improvement of fishing rules.

Sustainable Fish Production and Processing is a unique resource that bridges the gap between academia and industry by analyzing new, state-of-the-art fish production, processing and waste management. The book explores general valorization methods, focusing on the extraction of high added-value compounds and their reutilization in different fields of the food and nutraceuticals industry. Sections take a comprehensive approach to understanding the most recent advances in the field, while also analyzing the potentiality and sustainability of already commercialized processes and products. This resource could be utilized as a handbook for anyone dealing with sustainability issues within the fish industry.Emphasis of fish production is given to food security issues, large marine ecosystems, aquaculture genomics, epigenetics and breeding, proteomics for quality and safety in fishery products, post-harvest practices in small scale fisheries, and lifecycle impact of industrial aquaculture systems. Emphasis of fish processing and by-products is given to industrial thawing of fish blocks, sources and functional properties of fish protein hydrolysates, recovery technologies and applications, potential biomedical applications, ready-to-eat products, fish waste for bacterial protease production, fish waste for feeding as well as lipid extraction from fish processing for biofuels. - Covers recent advances in the field of fish production and processing over the last decade, following sustainability principles - Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of relevant processes from various perspectives to improve sustainability - Offers practical success stories and solutions to ensure the sustainable management of fish processing by-products

This book explores how we can solve the urgent problem of optimizing the use of variable, uncertain but finite fisheries resources while maintaining sustainability from a marine-ecosystem conservation perspective. It offers readers a broad understanding of the current methods and theory for sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources, and introduces recent findings and technological developments. The book is divided into three parts: Part I discusses fish stock dynamics, and illustrates how ecological processes affecting life cycles and biological interactions in marine environments lead to fish stock variability in space and time in major fish groups; small pelagic fish, demersal fish and large predatory fish. These insights shed light on the mechanisms underlying the variability in fish stocks and form the essential biological basis for fisheries management. Part II addresses the technologies and systems that monitor changes in fisheries resources and marine ecosystems using two approaches: fishery-dependent and fishery-independent data. It also describes acoustic surveys and biological sampling, as well as stock assessment methods. Part III examines management models for effectively assessing the natural variability in fisheries resources. The authors explore ways of determining the allowable catch in response to changes in stock abundance and how to incorporate ecological processes and monitoring procedures into management models. This book offers readers a broad understanding of sustainable exploitation as well as insights into fisheries management for the next generation.

Harvest of Fish and Wildlife: New Paradigms for Sustainable Management unites experts in wildlife and fishery sciences for an interdisciplinary overview of harvest management. This book presents unique insights for embracing the complete social-ecological system to ensure a sustainable future. It educates users on evolutionary and population dynamics; social and political influences; hunter and angler behavior; decision processes; impacts of regulations; and stakeholder involvement. Features: Written by twenty-four teams of leading scientists and managers. Promotes transparent justification for fishing and hunting regulations. Provides examples for integrating decision making into management. Emphasizes creativity in management by integrating art and science. This book appeals to population biologists, evolutionary biologists and social scientists. It is a key resource for on-the-ground managers and research scientists developing harvesting applications. As the book’s contributors explain: “Making decisions that are robust to uncertainty...is a paradigm shift with a lot of potential to improve outcomes for fish and wildlife populations.” –Andrew Tyre and Brigitte Tenhumberg “Temporal shifts in system states...must somehow be anticipated and dealt with to derive harvest policies that remain optimal in the long term.” –Michael Conroy “Proactive, effective management of sportspersons...will be essential in the new paradigm of harvest management.” –Matthew Gruntorad and Christopher Chizinski

Summarizes a growing body of information on applications of geographic information systems (GIS) in fisheries research and management.

Aquaculture is a rapidly growing, successful approach to improving diets by providing more high quality fish and shellfish protein. It is also an industry with major unresolved issues because of its negative impact on the environment. This book is a pioneering effort in the development of environmentally benign aquaculture methods.

Reviews the concept of maximum sustainable yield (MSV) in fisheries policy.

Responsible fisheries management is of increasing interest to the scientific community, resource managers, policy makers, stakeholders and the general public. Focusing solely on managing one species of fish stock at a time has become less of a viable option in addressing the problem. Incorporating more holistic considerations into fisheries management by addressing the trade-offs among the range of issues involved, such as ecological principles, legal mandates and the interests of stakeholders, will hopefully challenge and shift the perception that doing ecosystem-based fisheries management is unfeasible. Demonstrating that EBFM is in fact feasible will have widespread impact, both in US and international waters. Using case studies, underlying philosophies and analytical approaches, this book brings together a range of interdisciplinary topics surrounding EBFM and considers these simultaneously, with an aim to provide tools for successful implementation and to further the debate on EBFM, ultimately hoping to foster enhanced living marine resource management.