Influences of at-sea fishery monitoring on science, management, and fleet dynamics

Fisheries are complex systems comprised of scientific, management, fishing fleet, and ecological sub-systems. Although the composition, behavior, and functions of these sub-systems vary considerably, a review of case studies, research, and theory illustrates that one positive and pervasive influence across all can be at-sea monitoring of fishing activity and catch. At-sea monitoring provides reliable and high-resolution data on spatial and temporal patterns in effort and total catch, and the taxonomic and life stage composition of catch, thereby improving the science underlying management decisions. Those decisions can draw upon a wider range of approaches, such as rights-based management and finer scale spatial, temporal, and catch restrictions, that require the greater oversight facilitated by monitoring. Improved science and implementation can in turn increase confidence in management among the fishing fleet, bolstered by the knowledge that other fishers are equally accountable for their actions. This series of positive outcomes represent a self-reinforcing virtuous cycle in the fishery. Conversely, breakdowns in science, management, and fishing behavior can create an ‘accountability cascade’ of blame, distrust, and dysfunction. Therefore, effective at-sea monitoring, in combination with other reforms, can move fisheries away from overexploitation and toward sustainability. Critical to this transformation is a growing toolkit of technological innovations that increasingly make at-sea monitoring more feasible in fleets spanning diverse ecological, economic, political, and operational gradients.