title: Impacts of fishing low-trophic level species on marine ecosystems.
abstract: Low-trophic level species account for more than 30% of global fisheries production and contribute substantially to global food security. We used a range of ecosystem models to explore the effects of fishing low-trophic level species on marine ecosystems, including marine mammals and seabirds, and on other commercially important species. In five well-studied ecosystems, we found that fishing these species at conventional maximum sustainable yield (MSY) levels can have large impacts on other parts of the ecosystem, particularly when they constitute a high proportion of the biomass in the ecosystem or are highly connected in the food web. Halving exploitation rates would result in much lower impacts on marine ecosystems while still achieving 80% of MSY.
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Wealth from Oceans Flagship, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia. tony.d.smith@csiro.edu
authors.forename: Anthony D M
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bulman
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Fulton
authors.forename: Penny
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Isaac C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Hector
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lozano-Montes
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mackinson
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marzloff
authors.forename: Lynne J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Shannon
authors.forename: Yunne-Jai
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tam
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D044822:Biodiversity; D018533:Biomass; D001717:Birds; D017753:Ecosystem; D005398:Fisheries; D005399:Fishes; D020387:Food Chain; D008322:Mammals; D008954:Models, Biological; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011157:Population Dynamics