State of global fisheries – management policies

Global fisheries landings have stagnated and are associated with many negative environmental impacts, affecting the economy and food security in many countries around the world. Although many different management policies trying to incorporate a more sustainable and resilient scope have been developed over the years to improve this current fisheries crisis, we are still in the early stages of adopting more adaptive and corrective fisheries management globally, as well as enforcing it, due to the inherent difficulties of managing uncertain natural resources Upon analysis of different management strategies, using Peru and the European Union as case studies, three major recommendations were made for developing more sustainable and resilient management policies: decentralisation of the management system, ecosystem-based fisheries management and reallocation of subsidies. Finally, possible management strategies for different scenarios predicting the future of fisheries were described. In the current fisheries crisis situation, developing and implementing sustainable and resilient fisheries management strategies should be seen as a long-term investment in the profitability of the industry, as well as an opportunity to decrease social tensions and improve food security.