Report of the Study Group on “Ecosystem-Based Management Science and its application to the North Pacific”

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL EBM HISTORY References CANADA Overview Activities to date Integrated Management implementation in Canada Objectives, indicators and reference points Assessment approaches Research directions for the future Management directions for the future References JAPAN Overview Conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources Harvest control by TAC system Stock Recovery Plan and effort regulation system Stock enhancement by hatchery-produced juvenile release Conservation and sustainable develop-ment on coastal waters The implementation of ecosystem-based management PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Overview Current actions Output control Input control Summer fishing ban Enhance ecosystem health REPUBLIC OF KOREA Initiatives and actions of ecosystem-based management in Korea Current ecosystem-based management initiatives in Korea Precautionary TAC-based fishery management Closed fishing season/areas Fish size- and sex-controls Fishing gear design restrictions Marine protected areas (MPA) RUSSIA Existing and anticipated ecosystem-based management initiatives Issues related to the implementation of ecosystem-based management UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Definitions and approaches to ecosystem-based fishery management in the United States Present U.S. legislative mandates relating to ecosystem-based fishery management Target species Bycatch species Threatened or endangered species Habitats Food webs Ecosystems Integration of legislative mandates into an ecosystem approach Scientific issues in implementing ecosystem-based approaches References DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS APPENDICES Appendix 10.1 Study group membership and participants Appendix 10.2 Terminology definitions Appendix 10.3 Present state of implementing ecosystem-based fishery management in Alaska: Alaska groundfish fisheries Appendix 10.4 Present state of implementing ecosystem-based fishery management off the West Coast of the United States: Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries Appendix 10.5 Descriptions of multi-species and ecosystem models developed or under development in the U.S. North Pacific region that might be used to predict effects of fishing on ecosystems Appendix 10.6 A potential standard reporting format (developed by Australia, and currently being used by the U.S.A in their contribution to this report) (83 page document)

Integrating climate change impacts to improve understanding of coastal climate change: heavy rains, strong winds, and high seas in coastal Hawaii, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest

Coastal storms, and the strong winds, heavy rains, and high seas that accompany them pose a serious threat to the lives and livelihoods of the peoples of the Pacific basin, from the tropics to the high latitudes. To reduce their vulnerability to the economic, social, and environmental risks associated with these phenomena (and correspondingly enhance their resiliency), decision-makers in coastal communities require timely access to accurate information that affords them an opportunity to plan and respond accordingly. This includes information about the potential for coastal flooding, inundation and erosion at time scales ranging from hours to years, as well as the longterm climatological context of this information. The Pacific Storms Climatology Project (PSCP) was formed in 2006 with the intent of improving scientific understanding of patterns and trends of storm frequency and intensity - “storminess”- and related impacts of these extreme events. The project is currently developing a suite of integrated information products that can be used by emergency managers, mitigation planners, government agencies and decision-makers in key sectors, including: water and natural resource management, agriculture and fisheries, transportation and communication, and recreation and tourism. The PSCP is exploring how the climate-related processes that govern extreme storm events are expressed within and between three primary thematic areas: heavy rains, strong winds, and high seas. To address these thematic areas, PSCP has focused on developing analyses of historical climate records collected throughout the Pacific region, and the integration of these climatological analyses with near-real time observations to put recent weather and climate events into a longer-term perspective.(PDF contains 4 pages)