The economic tradeoffs and ecological impacts associated with a potential mesopelagic fishery in the California Current.

ABSTRACT: The ocean's mesopelagic zone (200-1000 m) remains one of the most understudied parts of the ocean despite knowledge that mesopelagic fishes are highly abundant. Apex predators from the surface waters are known to consume these fishes, constituting an important ecological interaction. Some countries have begun exploring the potential harvest of mesopelagic fishes to supply fishmeal and fish oil markets due to the high fish abundance in the mesopelagic zone compared with overfished surface waters. This study explored the economic and ecological implications of a moratorium on the harvest of mesopelagic fishes such as lanternfish off the US West Coast, one of the few areas where such resources are managed. We adapted a bioeconomic decision model to examine the tradeoffs between the values gai

SUBMITTER: Dowd S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9285904 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature