To evaluate whether current marine-capture fisheries are sustainable, to determine to what degree marine ecosystems are affected by fishing, and to assess whether an ecosystem approach to fishery management can help achieve sustainability, the National Research Council's Ocean Studies Board established the Committee on Ecosystem Management for Sustainable Marine Fisheries. The committee was directed to "assess the current state of fisheries resources; the basis for success and failure in marine fisheries management (including the role of science); and the implications of fishery activities to ecosystem structure and function. Each activity [was to] be considered relative to sustaining populations of fish and other marine resources" (Statement of Task). This report was produced by the Committee on Ecosystem Management for Sustainable Marine Fisheries with the Ocean Studies Board, the Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, and the National Research Council. Published by National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. 1999
E-Mail Topic link
