Which community indicators can measure the impact of fishing? A review and proposals

Abstract

Population and community descriptors that might be used as indicators of the impact of fishing are reviewed. The criteria used for the evaluation of these indicators are meaning, expected effect of fishing, exclusiveness to fishing effects, and measurability. Population indicators such as total mortality rate, exploitation rate, or average length are the most operational indicators because their meaning is clear and the expected effect of fishing on them is well understood so that reference points can be set. On the other hand, indicators based on the composition of species assemblages such as diversity indices and ordination of species abundances are difficult to interpret, and the effect of fishing on them is not easily predicted. Robust indicators describing the community functions of interest (production and transfer of biomass to large fish), such as size spectra descriptors or the proportion of piscivorous fish in the community, are more promising but are not yet well developed. New candidate indicators are proposed: the change in fishing mortality required to reverse population growth rate, the proportion of noncommercial species in the community, and the average length and weight in the community.