A Management Strategy Evaluation of a Swordfish Fishery
March 19, 2021
We created a management strategy evaluation to compare static and dynamic closures in a simulated fishery, aimed at reducing bycatch of leatherback turtles.
Time-area closures are a valuable tool for mitigating fisheries bycatch.
There is increasing recognition that dynamic closures, which have boundaries that vary across space and time, can be more effective than static closures at protecting mobile species in dynamic environments.
We created a management strategy evaluation to compare static and dynamic closures in a simulated fishery based on the California drift gillnet swordfish fishery, with closures aimed at reducing bycatch of leatherback turtles.
We recommend future research explores methods for considering model uncertainty in the spatial and temporal resolution of dynamic closures.
Smith JA, Tommasi D, Welch H, Hazen EL, Sweeney J, Brodie S, Muhling B, Stohs SM, Jacox MG. 2021. Comparing Dynamic and Static Time-Area Closures for Bycatch Mitigation: A Management Strategy Evaluation of a Swordfish Fishery. Frontiers in Marine Science. 8:272. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.630607.