Forage Fish Workshop

April 11, 2013, Raleigh, North Carolina 

Background

Understanding the roles that forage species play within ecosystems has emerged in the scientific literature as a key element in the development of an ecosystem approach to fishery management. Forage species provide an important link between primary productivity and upper trophic levels within marine ecosystems. At the same time, forage species often support economically valuable fisheries through direct harvest. Recent scientific findings suggest that forage stocks may warrant special management consideration, especially with respect to achieving ecosystem level management goals and objectives. In addition, current National Standard 1 (NS1) guidelines recommend that consideration should be given to managing forage stocks for higher biomass than traditional MSY based reference points (Bmsy) to enhance and protect the marine ecosystem.

Purpose

The purpose of this workshop was to discuss the key issues relevant to forage fish assessment and management under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. A panel of experts discussed the role of forage species within ecosystems and best practices with respect to the harvest of forage species, taking their role(s) within ecosystems into account.  The Council expects to use the workshop as a starting point for development of a forage exploitation policy as part of its ecosystem approach to fisheries management guidance document.

Documents

• Outline/Agenda

• Forage workshop minutes

For presentations 1 & 2:

• Lenfest Report

• Future directions in EBFM - Hilbourne Viewpoint

• National Standard 1 Guidelines

• Fisheries for small pelagic species - Patterson

• The global contribution of forage fish - Pikitch et al

• The Risks of Overfishing - Pikitch

• Impacts of Fishing Low-Trophic Level Species - Smith et al

For presentations 3 & 4:

• NEFSC's Ecosystem Modeling Enterprise Overview - Link et al

• Ecosystem Status Report for Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem

• Importance of including predation in fish population models-Tyrell et al

• Using food web model results - Gaichas et al

• Assembly rules for aggregate-species production models - Gaichas et al

• Using an aggregate production simulation model - Gamble and Link

• Reading List for Presentation 4

Panel Members and Bios

• Dr. John Boreman

• Dr. Ellen Pikitch

• Dr. Edward Houde

• Dr. Robert Latour - College of William & Mary

• Dr. Sarah Gaichas

Presentations

• Forage Workshop Opening

• Visioning Project- Stakeholder Input on Forage Issues

• Forage Workshop Trigger Questions

• Presentation 1, Dr. Ellen Pikitch: Little Fish, Big Impact: Managing a Crucial Link in Ocean Food Webs

• Presentation 2, Dr. E.D. Houde: Managing Lower Trophic Level Species in the Mid-Atlantic Region

• Presentation 3, Dr. Robert J. Latour: Potential Approaches for Assessment and Management of Forage Stocks

• Presentation 4, Dr. Sarah Gaichas: Current State of Information and Modeling Tools Available to Support an Ecosystem Approach to Management

Recordings (Audio and Presentations)

• Forage Fish Workshop (Pikitch & Houde Presentations)

• Forage Fish Workshop (Questions Pikitch & Houde Presentations)

• Forage Fish Workshop (Trigger Questions Set 1)

• Forage Fish Workshop (Latour Presentation)

• Forage Fish Workshop (Questions Latour Presentation)

• Forage Fish Workshop (Gaichas Presentation/Panel Discussion/Trigger Questions)

• Forage Fish Workshop (Visioning & Public Trigger Questions)

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