2026/04/01 by Eric Gilman, Nathan Taylor, Milani Chaloupka · 1 voice
Environmental Science · #Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Marine and fisheries research
paper · doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsag055
openalex publication_date 2026/04/01 · openalex created_date 2026/04/18 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Abstract Fisheries are a main driver of change and loss in marine biodiversity. Maintaining marine ecosystems near targeted states and safely above limit thresholds requires monitoring a suite of ecosystem state indicators that are sensitive to fishing pressures. We synthesized evidence of apparent effects of fishing and whaling on the structure and dynamics of blue-water ecosystems. We assessed the relative strength of evidence of the responses of ecosystem state indicators to fishing and whaling pressures by measuring their prevalence, study approaches, and time series durations. Most indicators with strong evidence were for effects on ecosystem dynamics, including prey and competitive release, reduced trophic transfer efficiency, and rarity of trophic cascades. The latter might be due to thresholds that trigger detectable effects to trophic levels below mesopredators having not been exceeded due to relatively low blue-water fishing pressure and strong compensatory mechanisms. Regime shifts were detected only in marginal seas, which are subject to a broader range of pressures and experience more abrupt shifts relative to unconfined, open ocean systems. Other indicators with strong evidence included: reduced species richness, reduced upper trophic level biomass, and altered size structure of the catch. Several indicators that are potentially informative for blue-water ecosystems were underrepresented, including ecosystem effects of fisheries- and whaling-induced evolution and of habitat alteration. Ecosystem-level consequences of the increased density and altered distributions of floating objects due to the proliferation of fish aggregating devices remain unclear. We identified probable underlying mechanisms for observed responses of blue-water ecosystem state indicators to fishing and whaling pressures. Our findings support fisheries management bodies’ selection of comprehensive suites of informative ecosystem state indicators that span the broad range of ecological responses across blue-water fishery pressures, a core element of robust ecosystem-based harvest strategies.