Promoting Ecosystem-based Approaches to Fisheries Conservation and LMEs

At present more then 70 countries are involved in the implementation of the GEF/LME’s projects all other the world. The present project will strengthen the capacities of the countries participating in the GEF/LME’s projects by providing necessary training and building scientific capacity in ecosystem-based fisheries assessment and management. Several participants from the countries involved in the development and implementation of the GEF/LME’s projects will be attending the 4th World Fisheries Congress and will be actively involved in the Congress courses, workshops, and training sessions. They will also be actively involved in the follow-on electronic networking and in-country workshops. These workshops will focus on modeling methods that consider the importance of the food-web and the ecosystem’s carrying capacity for marine fish stocks in relation to the emerging critical inputs of excessive nutrient loadings, resulting in the increasing eutrophication of coastal waters. The application of ECOSIM/ECOPATH models provides a fisheries independent assessment of the ecosystem’s carrying capacity, thereby providing an alternative estimate of allowable fishing effort for the participating countries where fishery-landing statistics are questionable.