Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring Patterns of Seafood Provision Revealed in the Global Ocean Health Index

  • Published:
AMBIO Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sustainable provision of seafood from wild-capture fisheries and mariculture is a fundamental component of healthy marine ecosystems and a major component of the Ocean Health Index. Here we critically review the food provision model of the Ocean Health Index, and explore the implications of knowledge gaps, scale of analysis, choice of reference points, measures of sustainability, and quality of input data. Global patterns for fisheries are positively related to human development and latitude, whereas patterns for mariculture are most closely associated with economic importance of seafood. Sensitivity analyses show that scores are robust to several model assumptions, but highly sensitive to choice of reference points and, for fisheries, extent of time series available to estimate landings. We show how results for sustainable seafood may be interpreted and used, and we evaluate which modifications show the greatest potential for improvements.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bostock, J., B. McAndrew, R. Richards, K. Jauncey, T. Telfer, K. Lorenzen, D. Little, L. Ross, et al. 2010. Aquaculture: Global status and trends. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 365: 2897–2912.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Branch, T.A., D.J. Hively, and R. Hilborn. 2013. Is the ocean food provision index biased? Nature 495: E5–E6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byron, C., J. Link, B. Costa-Pierce, and D. Bengtson. 2011. Calculating ecological carrying capacity of shellfish aquaculture using mass-balance modeling: Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Ecological Modelling 222: 1743–1755.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charles, A.T., R.F. Agbayani, E.C. Agbayani, M. Agüero, E.T. Belleza, E. González, B. Stomal, and J.-Y. Weigel. 1997. Aquaculture economics in developing countries: Regional assessments and an annotated bibliography. FAO Fisheries Circular No 932, Rome, Italy, FAO, 401 pp.

  • CIESIN. 2012. National aggregates of geospatial data collection: Population, landscape, and climate estimates, Version 3 (PLACE III). NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), Palisades, NY

  • Coll, M., S. Libralato, S. Tudela, I. Palomera, and F. Pranovi. 2008. Ecosystem overfishing in the ocean. PLoS ONE 3: e3881.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costello, C., D. Ovando, R. Hilborn, S.D. Gaines, O. Deschenes, and S.E. Lester. 2012. Status and solutions for the world’s unassessed fisheries. Science 338: 517–520.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dyck, A.J., and R. Sumaila. 2010. Economic impact of ocean fish populations in the global fishery. Journal of Bioeconomics 12: 227–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, P. 1997. Sustainable food production through aquaculture. Aquaculture Asia 2: 4–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO. 2012. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. Rome, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 197 pp.

  • Halpern, B.S., S. Walbridge, K.A. Selkoe, C.V. Kappel, F. Micheli, C. D’Agrosa, J.F. Bruno, K.S. Casey, et al. 2008. A global map of human impact on marine ecosystems. Science 319: 948–952.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Halpern, B.S., C. Longo, D. Hardy, K.L. McLeod, J.F. Samhouri, S.K. Katona, K. Kleisner, S.E. Lester, et al. 2012. An index to assess the health and benefits of the global ocean. Nature 488: 615–620.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleisner, K., D. Zeller, R. Froese, and D. Pauly. 2013. Using global catch data for inferences on the world’s marine fisheries. Fish and Fisheries 14: 293–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Link, J.S., S. Gaichas, T.J. Miller, T. Essington, A. Bundy, J. Boldt, K.F. Drinkwater, and E. Moksness. 2012. Synthesizing lessons learned from comparing fisheries production in 13 northern hemisphere ecosystems: Emergent fundamental features. Marine Ecology-Progress Series 459: 293–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martell, S., and R. Froese. 2012. A simple method for estimating MSY from catch and resilience. Fish and Fisheries. doi:10.1111/j.1467-2979.2012.00485.x.

  • Mora, C., R.A. Myers, M. Coll, S. Libralato, T.J. Pitcher, R.U. Sumaila, D. Zeller, R. Watson, et al. 2009. Management effectiveness of the world’s marine fisheries. PLoS Biology 7: e1000131.

  • Pauly, D., D. Belhabib, R. Blomeyer, W.W.L. Cheung, A.M. Cisneros-Montemayor, D. Copeland, S. Harper, V.W.Y. Lam, et al. 2013a. China’s distant-water fisheries in the 21st century. Fish and Fisheries. doi:10.1111/faf.12032.

  • Pauly, D., R. Hilborn, and T.A. Branch. 2013b. Does catch reflect abundance? Nature 494: 303–306.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Samhouri, J.F., S.E. Lester, E.R. Selig, B.S. Halpern, M.J. Fogarty, C. Longo, and K.L. McLeod. 2012. Sea sick? Setting targets to assess ocean health and ecosystem services. Ecosphere 3: 41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M.D., C.A. Roheim, L.B. Crowder, B.S. Halpern, M. Turnipseed, J.L. Anderson, F. Asche, L. Bourillon, et al. 2010. Sustainability and global seafood. Science 327: 784–786.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sumaila, U., W. Cheung, A. Dyck, K. Gueye, L. Huang, V. Lam, D. Pauly, T. Srinivasan, et al. 2012. Benefits of rebuilding global marine fisheries outweigh costs. PLoS ONE 7: 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorson, J.T., T.A. Branch, and O.P. Jensen. 2012. Using model-based inference to evaluate global fisheries status from landings, location, and life history data. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 69: 645–655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trujillo, P. 2008. Using a mariculture sustainability index to rank countries’ performances. In A comparative assessment of biodiversity, fisheries, and aquaculture in 53 countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones Fisheries Centre Research Reports 16(7), ed. J. Alder, and D. Pauly. Vancouver: University of British Columbia.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNDP. 2011. Human Development Report 2011, sustainability and equity: A better future for all, 178 pp. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

  • Villasante, S., D. Rodríguez, M. Antelo, M. Quaas, and H. Österblom. 2012. The Global Seafood Market Performance Index: A theoretical proposal and potential empirical applications. Marine Policy 36: 142–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, R., A. Kitchingman, A. Gelchu, and D. Pauly. 2004. Mapping global fisheries: Sharpening our focus. Fish and Fisheries 5: 168–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeller, D., and D. Pauly (eds.). 2007. Reconstruction of marine fisheries catches for key countries and regions (1950–2005). Fisheries Centre Research Reports 15(2): 163.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Beau and Heather Wrigley provided the founding grant for the original Ocean Health Index work. Additional financial and in-kind support was provided by the Pacific Life Foundation, the Thomas W. Haas Fund, the Oak Foundation, the Akiko Shiraki Dynner Fund, Darden Restaurants Inc. Foundation, Conservation International, New England Aquarium, National Geographic, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). This is a contribution from the NCEAS Ecosystem Health Working Group and the Sea Around Us project, a collaboration between The University of British Columbia and The Pew Charitable Trusts. We thank A. Tavakolie for assistance with some of the indices. MC was supported by a Marie-Curie CIG Fellowships and a research contract of the Ramon y Cajal program of the Spanish Government.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Kristin M. Kleisner, Frédéric Le Manach, Daniel Pauly, U. Rashid Sumaila & Dirk Zeller

  2. National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), 735 State Street, Suite 300, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101, USA

    Catherine Longo & Courtney Scarborough

  3. Department of Marine Renewal Resources, Institute of Marine Science, Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta, n° 37-49.08003, Barcelona, Spain

    Marta Coll

  4. Digital Library Systems & Services, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Darren Hardy

  5. Conservation International, Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Science and Oceans, 2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 500, Arlington, VA, 22202, USA

    Steven K. Katona

  6. Center for Science and Democracy, Union of Concerned Scientists, 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Andrew A. Rosenberg

  7. Conservation Biology Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2725 Montlake Blvd E, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA

    Jameal F. Samhouri

  8. IMAS, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 49, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Reg Watson

  9. Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, 552 University Rd., Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Ben S. Halpern

  10. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR212 Ecosystèmes Marins Exploités, Avenue Jean Monnet, BP 171, Sète cedex, 34203, France

    Frédéric Le Manach

Authors
  1. Kristin M. Kleisner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Catherine Longo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marta Coll
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ben S. Halpern
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Darren Hardy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Steven K. Katona
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Frédéric Le Manach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Daniel Pauly
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Andrew A. Rosenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Jameal F. Samhouri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Courtney Scarborough
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. U. Rashid Sumaila
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Reg Watson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Dirk Zeller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristin M. Kleisner.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 27978 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kleisner, K.M., Longo, C., Coll, M. et al. Exploring Patterns of Seafood Provision Revealed in the Global Ocean Health Index. AMBIO 42, 910–922 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0447-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0447-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation