Science News from COMPASS

A landmark study on salmon, fisheries, and ecosystem science is the cover of today's issue of Nature. Titled, "Population diversity and the portfolio effect in an exploited species," this story from Bristol Bay, Alaska has broad implications for protecting and restoring fisheries in the US, Canada, and around the world. It underscores the importance of having a diversified portfolio of fish stocks to keep an economy afloat.

A groundbreaking assessment of marine fisheries and ecosystems reveals that overfishing has been reduced in several regions around the world, resulting in some stock recovery. Importantly, the work bolsters the case that sound management can contribute to the rebuilding of fisheries elsewhere. For more information, please visit fmap.ca/rebuilding_fisheries The study was a collaboration of 21 coauthors: Boris Worm, Ray Hilborn, Trevor Branch, Jeremy Collie, Christopher Costello, Michael Fogarty, Elizabeth Fulton, Jeffrey Hutchings, Heike Lotze, Pamela Mace, Tim McClanahan, Stephen Palumbi, Ana Parma, Daniel Ricard, Andrew Rosenberg, Reg Watson, and Dirk Zeller. It was based at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), funded by the National Science Foundation and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

A study published in the September 19 issue of Science shows that an innovative yet contentious management strategy called “catch shares” can prevent and even reverse fisheries collapse. Listen to authors Christopher Costello and Steven Gaines explain why this is so important.