Abstract
This chapter describes a new multivariate, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary rapid appraisal technique that can be used to classify world fisheries and diagnose their problems. For ecological, technological, economic and social categories, we chose 15–25 attributes that (a) are easily and objectively scored on a ranked scale using readily available data, (b) are likely to discriminate among fisheries, and (c) may be easily related to sustainability. A multivariate ordination using multidimensional scaling (MDS) is performed within each disciplinary set of attributes. The ordination scores are then brought together into an overall interdisciplinary analysis, also using MDS. Reference points for evaluating the relative status of fisheries are provided by constructing hypothetical fisheries that are assigned ‘good’, ‘bad’ or ‘random’ scores, defined in terms of sustain-ability for each discipline, or that have a random assignment of attribute values.
A pilot analysis of a diverse set of 26 world fisheries from commercial, subsistence, artisanal, and industrial sectors suggests that the technique may be useful in an objective comparison of the ‘health’ of fisheries. The new technique may provide helpful diagnostics that do not rely on conventional stock assessments; however, the selection of attributes is important because they should remain fixed if future analyses are to be comparable.
Extracting useful information for an interdisciplinary overview entails delving into a range of disciplines, each of which has evolved its own rules and unstated assumptions. Ordination within each category represents these disciplines. This may be approximate, as here, using a simple ranking scale for many attributes, or, after careful surveys have been carried out, made more precise. The hierarchical technique introduced here is designed to withstand robust disciplinary review at this first level of analysis, while re-ordinating the fisheries in interdisciplinary multivariate space at the second stage. This rapid appraisal technique could be useful in diagnosing the scope and nature of problems of a fishery, in providing early warning of impending dangers, or in a triage of fisheries to determine where limited management resources might be focused to greatest effect.
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Pitcher, T.J., Bundy, A., Preikshot, D., Hutton, T., Pauly, D. (1998). Measuring the unmeasurable: a multivariate and interdisciplinary method for rapid appraisal of the health of fisheries. In: Pitcher, T.J., Pauly, D., Hart, P.J.B. (eds) Reinventing Fisheries Management. Fish & Fisheries Series, vol 23. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4433-9_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4433-9_3
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