Title:

Fisheries yields, climate change, and ecosystem-based management of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem

Publication Year:
2020
Abstract:

Fisheries resources of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) are critically important to the socio-economic well-being of the people of Angola, Namibia and South Africa. Their high degree of environmental vulnerability underscores the importance of maintaining a healthy ecosystem by increasing its resilience to the impacts of anthropogenic and natural forcing. Conflicting objectives in fisheries management processes between the biological sustainability of the stocks and socio-economic gains of the fishers and the economy in general, are some of the challenges facing the BCLME. In this paper, an overview and description of the fisheries yields from major resources of the BCLME is provided, using time series catch data, with discussions on how these are affected by climate variability and/or change. Data were sourced from previous syntheses, reports on the state of fisheries resources, and various national databases. Results indicate that, although major fisheries yields in the BCLME are currently much lower than their historical past, catches have in general been stable during the past two decades. Currently, there appears to be no clear evidence of the impacts of climate change on the fisheries resources in the BCLME, although some changes have been observed, but such impacts may be masked by highly variable and complex nature of this LME. However, through the Benguela Current Convention (BCC), the three coastal states are focused on ensuring that the shared commercially important fish stocks are jointly monitored, assessed and managed, through the implementation of adaptive fisheries management plans for priority shared fish resources based on ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) principles. Keywords: BCLME, Upwelling, EAF-Management, Fisheries yields, Sustainable fisheries.

Publication Title:

Environmental Development

Item Type:
Journal Article
Language:
en