Fisheries and Ecosystem Ecology Lab

Fisheries Management

Creating a virtual ecosystem inside a computer allows us to test ecosystem-based fisheries management strategies before they are implemented.  Atlantis supports Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) (Kaplan et al. 2021, Sainsbury et al. 2000). 

Atlantis includes a management strategy evaluation (MSE) routine (Kaplan et al. 2021). The performance of State and Federal monitoring, assessment, and management tools can be put to the test in an MSE, with Atlantis serving as a stand-in for the actual ecosystem (i.e., the operating model).

Atlantis includes a management strategy evaluation (MSE) routine (Kaplan et al. 2021). The performance of State and Federal monitoring, assessment, and management tools can be put to the test in an MSE, with Atlantis serving as a stand-in for the actual ecosystem (i.e., the operating model).

The MSE routine is a ‘closed-loop’ policy analysis procedure built into the software which allows us to evaluate the entire management regime as a whole.  We may consider harvest control rules, enforcement and compliance, information sharing, data quality, environment and climate, economic motivators, and other realistic constraints on fishing policy performance. 

Because of the spatial nature of Atlantis, we may investigate efficacy of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) under realistic spatial processes such as migration and larval dispersal.  Representation of the physical environment is an important part of this capability.  Through our work we hope to provide the Gulf of Mexico new management options to ensure sustainable fisheries, protect biodiversity and reduce conflict between marine-use sectors.

Harvest control rules (HCRs) represent fishing limits agreed upon by management and fishery stakeholders wherein the target fishing mortality is a function of current biomass (Masi et al. 2018).

Harvest control rules (HCRs) represent fishing limits agreed upon by management and fishery stakeholders wherein the target fishing mortality is a function of current biomass (Masi et al. 2018).

Further reading

Masi, M., Ainsworth, C.H., Kaplan, I.K., Schirripa, M.J. 2018. Inter-specific interactions may influence reef fish management strategies in the Gulf of Mexico.  Marine and Coastal Fisheries, 10(1): 24-39. DOI: 10.1002/mcf2.10001

Fulton, E.A., Link, J.S., Kaplan, I., Savina-Rolland, M., Johnson, P., Ainsworth, C.H., Horne, P., Gorton, R., Gamble, R.J., Smith, A.D.M. and Smith, D.C. (2011).  Lessons in Modelling and Management of Marine Ecosystems: The Atlantis Experience.  Fish and Fisheries, 12(2): 171-188.

Grüss, A., Rose, K.A., Simons, J., Ainsworth, C.H., Babcock, E.A., Chagaris, D.D., de Mutsert, K., Froeschke, J., Himchak, P., Kaplan, I.C., O’Farrell, H. and. Zetina Rejon, M.J. 2017. Recommendations on the use of ecosystem modeling for informing ecosystem-based fisheries management and restoration outcomes in the Gulf of Mexico.  Marine and Coastal Fisheries, 9: 291-295.

Kaplan, I.C., Gaichas, S.K., Stawitz, C.C., Lynch, P.D., Marshall, K.N., Deroba, J.J., Masi, M., Brodziak, J.K.T., Aydin, K.Y., Holsman, K., Townsend, H., Tommasi, D., Smith, J.A., Koenigstein, S., Meijerman, Link, J., 2021. Management Strategy Evaluation: Allowing the Light on the Hill to Illuminate More Than One Species. Frontiers in Marine Science, 22 June 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.624355.

Sainsbury, K. J., Punt, A. E., and Smith, A. D. M. (2000). Design of operational management strategies for achieving fishery ecosystem objectives. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 57, 731–741. doi: 10.1006/jmsc.2000.0737