Is fishing really worth more than

Transcription

1 Is fishing really worth more than biodiversity in the open ocean? $$ =? Summer Martin 1, Lisa T. Ballance 1,2, Theodore Groves 3 1 Scripps Institution of Oceanography 2 NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Fisheries Science Center 3 Center for Environmental Economics, University of California San Diego

2 Marine ecosystems under pressure No ocean area unaffected by human influence 40% heavily impacted Halpern et al Science

3 Marine ecosystems under pressure Threatened by Human Activities Land-based: coastal development agriculture pollution fossil-fuel emissions Ocean-based: fishing commercial shipping development (energy) Halpern et al Science

4 Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) A transition away from management based on single sectors / single species Place-based, holistic Incorporates human element Based on science Maintains ecosystem services Integrates disciplines Evaluates trade-offs McLeod et al Scientific Consensus Statement on Marine Ecosystem-Based Management.

5 EBM for the oceans has focused on coastal systems Paul Nicklen Octavio Aburto less emphasis on oceanic ecosystems

6 Research objective: apply concepts of EBM to an oceanic ecosystem

7 Case study: eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) Is fishing really worth more than biodiversity? Primary use = commercial fishing grounds Distinct oceanographic ecosystem unit 12 nations + oceanic commons Courtesy T. Gerrodette

8 Data: commercial fishing and biodiversity Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission Commercial Fisheries NOAA Fisheries Biodiversity

9 Ecosystem Service Economics Production Major services Location Quantity Variability Map, quantify Distribution Target countries, cities Types of products Method of transport Connect to humans on local, global scales Consumption Major user groups Groups invested in continued services Quantify minimum economic values

10 3 Major Ecosystem Services 1. Biodiversity 2. Commercial fisheries 3. Carbon sequestration

11 1. Biodiversity (marine animals in the ETP)

12 Megafaunal biodiversity in the ETP Cetaceans Pinnipeds Seabirds Global spp Turtles ETP spp. 30 (35%) 10 (28%) 123 (35%) 5 (71%) Critically Endangered 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 4 (3%) 2 (40%) 17% 30% 26% 80% Endangered 3 (10%) 2 (20%) 10 (8%) 2 (40%) Vulnerable 2 (7%) 1 (10%) 19 (15%) 1 (20%) Near Threatened 0 (0%) 2 (20%) 14 (11%) 0 (0%) Data Deficient 13 (43%) 0 (0%) 3 (2%) 0 (0%) Least Concern 12 (40%) 5 (50%) 73 (59%) 0 (0%) Compiled from IUCN Red List database.

13 Species Richness: Cetaceans, Seabirds Data collected from NOAA research vessels David Starr Jordan & McArthur (I & II) 10 years Calculate Species Richness Overlaid grid: 2x2 deg. lat/lon Counted # of species seen in each grid cell during each month 20 yr span: Aug Nov 2116 sea days

14 Cetacean Richness: (Aug-Nov) = temporal variability

15 Seabird Richness: (Aug-Nov)

16 Economic Value: Biodiversity Conservation investments By NGOs, governments, foreign aid, research groups, marine protected areas Tourism attributable to ETP species In protected areas (e.g. Ecuador, Costa Rica) 80,000 tourists to Galapagos, $140 million/yr Many enjoy marine species from ETP (e.g. seabirds) Charismatic species valuation literature Endangered species

17 2. Commercial Fisheries (primary human use)

18 ETP Commercial Fisheries Target species: Tunas (yellowfin, skipjack, bigeye, Pacific bluefin, albacore) Billfishes (swordfish, blue marlin, striped marlin) Gear types: purse-seine, longline, pole-and-line, troll, gillnet, harpoon Tuna Species Average Annual Catch Purse-Seine + Pole-and-Line (metric tons) Yellowfin 269,000 (range: 167, ,000) Skipjack 206,000 (range: 107, ,000) Bigeye 65,000 (range: 44,000 95,000) Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission 2012 Fishery Status Report No. 10

19 Metric tons caught Largest ETP Fishery: Purse-Seine Fishery for Yellowfin (YF) Tuna } Purse-seine fishery Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission 2012 Fishery Status Report No. 10

20 Yellowfin Tuna CPUE (catch per unit effort) (Aug-Nov) School Sets Data courtesy Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

21 Yellowfin Tuna CPUE (catch per unit effort) (Aug-Nov) Floating Object Sets Data courtesy Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

22 Yellowfin Tuna CPUE (catch per unit effort) (Aug-Nov) Dolphin Sets Huge fishery in large oceanic ecosystem 269,000 mt/yr (yellowfin) 540,000 mt/yr (yellowfin, skipjack, bigeye) Total catch across all species greater Overlaps with > 1/3 of world s marine mammal, seabird, and sea turtle species Data courtesy Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

23 Economic Value: Commercial Fisheries Easier to value than biodiversity Gross revenues to fishing industry less total costs Market values Example: Yellowfin Tuna in 2010 Total catch in ETP: 258,855 metric tons U.S. imports: 3,711 metric tons for $26,549,826 $7,154 per metric ton Applying price to total catch: $1.8 Billion per year Public data from NMFS and IATTC

24 3. Carbon Sequestration (massive-scale natural process facilitated by ecosystems, critical for climate control)

25 Global Ocean is a Carbon Sink Global ocean a major sink for anthropogenic carbon Absorbs 1/3 emissions from fossil-fuel use and tropical deforestation (Siegenthaler & Sarmiento 1993) Carbon transported from surface to deep sediments via biological pump (rapidly-sinking particles) phytoplankton, zooplankton molts/feces, fish fecal pellets (Eppley & Peterson 1979) Units: grams Carbon / meter 2 / year Measured with sediment traps Productive upwelling systems transport more carbon Fisheries + other human activities may disrupt ecosystems

26 Economic Value: Carbon Sequestration Apply Blue Carbon Concept to ETP Estimate carbon export, surface to deep Use published estimates oligotrophic vs. productive areas Determine proportion of each in ETP Estimate total carbon export in ETP Estimate potential value using carbon price

27 Economic Value: Carbon Sequestration Estimate Description 2.1 x m 2 Area of ETP 24 grams of C m -2 yr -1 Oligotrophic C export estimate* 5.0 x grams C yr -1 Conservative C export estimate for ETP 5.0 x 10 8 metric tons C yr -1 ETP estimate in metric tons per year 1.8 x 10 9 trade units CO 2 yr -1 CO 2 trade units (CO 2 = 27.29% C) $16 Billion yr -1 Annual value (using $8.76 price/mt) *Emerson et al Nature

28 Conclusions We are mapping and quantifying major ecosystem services of the oceanic ETP Biodiversity, commercial fisheries, carbon sequestration This process allows us to characterize the production of ecosystem services, including temporal/spatial variability Next steps will be to investigate the distribution and consumption of these services Connect humans to this oceanic ecosystem Quantify minimum economic value Toward ecosystem-based management for oceanic ecosystems Understand how the use of one ecosystem service affects the production and use of other ecosystem services

29 Is fishing really worth more than biodiversity? Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries Biodiversity Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission UCSD Foundation Tuna Industry Fellowship Fund in Marine Biology National Science Foundation IGERT Fishing Center for Marine Biodiversity & Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography