A study in which researchers analyzed decision-making processes for setting fish-catching quotas and estimated biomass, catch, and profit for 109 fisheries through 2050 found that current methods fail to rebuild many fish stocks, achieving a 55% recovery rate on average, whereas methods borrowed from robotics achieved 85% global fish stock recovery by 2050 and increased economic returns; the results suggest that current approaches to rebuild fisheries based on maximizing harvest and stock size are insufficient, and more rigorous and computationally intensive approaches could facilitate conservation planning and resource management.
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Article #19-02657: "Rebuilding global fisheries under uncertainty," by Milad Memarzadeh, Gregory L. Britten, Boris Worm, and Carl Boettiger.
MEDIA CONTACT: Milad Memarzadeh, University of California, Berkeley, CA; email: memarzadeh.milad@gmail.com
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences