Scientists have joined forces in a groundbreaking assessment on the status of marine fisheries and ecosystems. The two-year study, based at UCSB’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, shows that steps taken to curb overfishing are beginning to succeed in five of the 10 large marine ecosystems that were examined. The paper, which appeared in a recent issue of the journal Science, provides new hope for rebuilding troubled fisheries.

Led by Boris Worm of Dalhousie University and Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington The study had two goals: to examine current trends in fish abundance and exploitation rates (the proportion of fish taken out of the sea) and to identify which tools managers have applied in their efforts to rebuild depleted fish stocks.

The work is a significant leap forward because it reveals that the rate of fishing has been reduced in several regions around the world, resulting in some stock recovery. Moreover, it bolsters the case that sound management can contribute to the rebuilding of fisheries elsewhere.

It’s good news for several regions in the U.S., Iceland, and New Zealand. “These highly managed ecosystems are improving,” says Hilborn. “Yet there is still a long way to go: of all fish stocks that we examined, sixty-three percent remained below target and still needed to be rebuilt.”

“Across all regions, we are still seeing a troubling trend of increasing stock collapse,” adds Worm. “But this paper shows that our oceans are not a lost cause. The encouraging result is that the exploitation rate –– the ultimate driver of depletion and collapse –– is decreasing in half of the 10 systems we examined in detail. This means that management in those areas is setting the stage for ecological and economic recovery. It’s only a start –– but it gives me hope that we have the ability to bring overfishing under control.”

The 19 co-authors, including Christopher Costello, an economist at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UCSB, caution that their analysis was mostly confined to intensively managed fisheries in developed countries, where scientific data on fish abundance is collected. They also point out that some excess fishing effort is simply displaced to countries with weaker laws and enforcement capacity.

While most of the fisheries that showed improvement are managed by a few wealthy nations, there are some notable exceptions. In Kenya, for example, scientists, managers, and local communities have teamed up to close some key areas to fishing and restrict certain types of fishing gear. This led to an increase in the size and amount of fish available, and a consequent increase in fishers’ incomes. “These successes are local –– but they are inspiring others to follow suit,” says Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Kenya.

The authors emphasize that a range of management solutions are available to help rebuild fish stocks. They found that a combination of approaches, such as catch quotas and community management coupled with strategically placed fishing closures, ocean zoning, selective fishing gear, and economic incentives, offer promise for restoring fisheries and ecosystems. However, “lessons from one spot need to be applied very carefully to a new area,” says co-author Beth Fulton of the CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship in Australia, since “there are no single silver bullet solutions. Management efforts must be customized to the place and the people.”

According to the authors’ analysis, Alaska and New Zealand have led the world in terms of management success by not waiting until drastic measures are needed to conserve, restore, and rebuild marine resources. Other regions recovering from overfishing include Iceland, the Northeast U.S. Shelf, and the California Current.