Publication Date:
2021-05-19
Description:
Coastal areas of Cuba harbor rich
biodiversity that provide a variety of important ecosystem
services, including fisheries production. High-value
invertebrate fisheries in Cuba are managed on the basis of
scientific assessments, but comparable data and analyses
are lacking for the much larger number of exploited finfish
species. However, dramatic declines in finfish catch despite
minimal management restrictions suggests resource
depletion, and the need for scientific and management
attention. To prioritize finfish for such attention, we
conducted productivity-susceptibility analyses (PSA) for 34
species within each of Cuba’s four fishery management zones.
The resulting 136 estimates of vulnerability to overfishing
revealed few differences in species-specific scores among
zones, despite ecological and socioeconomic heterogeneity
along the Cuban coast. Vulnerability scores were generally
low, although this relative metric does not necessarily mean
that overfishing has not occurred. Spatial differences in catch
composition relative to the vulnerability scores underscore
potential differences in socioeconomic vulnerability of
fishing communities based upon their reliance on different
species. Therefore, our PSA results should be used to
prioritize research, monitoring, and stock assessment efforts,
as well as management actions, within each fishing zone to
conserve locally important resources, recover those that are
depleted, sustainably develop those that are underutilized,
and promote ecological and socioeconomic stability across
Cuba as it confronts the challenges of a changing world.
Description:
Published
Repository Name:
AquaDocs
Type:
Journal Contribution
,
Refereed
Format:
pp. 377-392
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