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GLOSSARY______________________________________ Allocation - Distribution of the opportunity to fish among user groups or individuals. The share a user goup gets in sometimes based on historic harvist amounts. Allowablea Biolgical Catch (ABC) is a bioloically based estimate of the amount of fish that may be harvested from the fishery each year without jeopaardizing the resource. It is a seasonally determeined catch that may differ from MSY for bioligical reasons. It may not be higher then MSY. The ABC may be modified to incorporate biological safety factors and risk assessment due to uncertainty. Lacking other biological justification, the ABC is defined as the MSY exploitation rate multiplied by the explotable biomass for the relevant time period. Anthropogenic - Refers to the effects of human activities. Benthic - Fertaining to the bottom of an ocean, lake or river. Also refers to sessile and crawling animals which reside on or in the bottom. Biomass - The total mass of living tissues (wet or dried) of an organism or collection or organisms of a species or trophic level, from a defined area or volume. Bycatch - Any species or species complex that was not intentionally targeted but was captured as a result of fishing. Catch - The total number or poundage of fish captured from an area over some period of time, n7is includes fish that are caught but released or discarded instead of being landed. The catch may take place in an area different than where the fish are landed. Commercial Fishery - A term related to the whole process of catching and marketing fish and shellfish for sale. It refers to and includes fisheries resources, fishermen, and related businesses directly or indirectly involved in harvesting, processing, or sales. Continental Shelf- The submerged continental land mass, not usually deeper than 200 m. The shelf may extend from a few miles off the coastline to several hundred miles. Continental Slope - The steeply sloping seabed that connects the continental shelf and continental rise. Council - Indicates a regional fishery management group. The Fishery Conservation and ManagementAct of 1976 as amended created the regionalcouncils. For example, the Pacific Fishery Management Council develops fishery policies designed to manage those species most often found in the Exclusive Economic Zone off California, Oregon, and Washington. Demersal - Refers to swimming animals that lire near the bottom of an ocean;;iver, or lake. Density dependence is the degree to which recruitment declines as spawning biomass declines. Typically we assume that a Beverton-Holt form is appropriate and that the level of density-dependence is such that the recruitment only declines by 10% when the spawning biomass declines by 50%. Dispersal - The spreading of individuals throughout suitable habitat within or outside the population range. in a more restricted sense, the movement of young animals away from their point of origin to locations where they will live at maturity Distribution - (1) A species distribution is the spatial pattern of its population or populations over its geographic range. (2) A population age distribution is the proportions of individuals in Various age classes. (3) Within a population, individuals may be distributed evenly, randomly, or in groups throughout suitable habitat. Effort - The amount of time and fishing power used to harvest fish. Fishing power includes gear size, boat sire, and horsepower. El Nino Current - An intermittent warm water current from the tropics that overrides the opposing cold current along the Pacific coasts of North and South America. This raises near-surface temperatures, depresses the thermocline, and often suppresses upwelling, resulting in drastic frops in primary productivity and reduced recruitment of marine animals. This is most pronounced on the coasts of Feru. Effects are not as severe in North America, but northward shifts in distributions of southern species are common in El Nine years. Estuary - A semi-enclosed body of water with an open connection to the sea. Typically there is a mixing of sea and fresh water, and the influx of nutrients from bith sources results in high productivity. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)-AII waters from the seaward boundary of coastal states out to 200 natural miles. This was formally called the Fishery ConServation Zone. Exploitable biomass is the biomass that is available to a unit of fishing effort. Defined as the sum of the population biomass at age (calculated as the mean within the fishing year) multiplied by the age-specific availability to the fishery Exploitable biomass is equivalent to the catch biomass divided by the instantaneous fishing mortality rate. Ex-vessel - Refers to activities that occur when a commercial fishing boat lands or unloads a catch. For example, the price received by a captain for the catch is an ex-vessel price. Fecundity - The potential of an organism to produce offspring, measured in the number of gametes produced. Fishery Management Plan - A plan to achieve specified management goals for a fishery. It includes data, analyses, and management measures for a fishery. Fishing Mortality (F) - A measurement of the rate of removal of fish from a population by fishing. Fishing mortality can be reported as either annual or instantaneous. Annual mortality is the percentage of fish dying in one year instantaneous is that percentage of fish dying at any one time. The acceptable rates of fishing mortality may vary from species to species. FMSY is the fishing mortality rate that maximizes catch biomass in the long term. FOF is the rate of fishing mortality defined as overfishing. Fx% is the rate of fislung mortality that will reduce female spawnmg biomass per recruit to x% of its unfished level. F100% is zero, and F40% is a reasonable proxy for FMSY. Gamete - A reproductive cell. Groundfish - Fish species that live on or near the bottom, often called bottomfish. Habitat - The particular type a place where an organism lives within a more extensive area or range. The habitat is characterized by its biological components and/or physical features. Juvenile - A young fish or other animal that has not yet reached sexual maturity. Larvae - An early developmental stage of an organism that is morphologically different from the juvenile or adult form. Limited Entry - A program that changes a common property resource like fish into private property for individual fishermen. I.icense limitation and the individual transferable quota (ITQ) are two forms of limited entry. Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) is an estimate of the
largest average annual catch or yield that can be taken over
a signiticant period of time from each stock under prevailing
ecological and environmental conditions. It may be presented
as a range of values. One MSY may be specified for a group of
species in a mixed-species fishery. Since MSY is a long-term
average, it need not be specified annually, but may be reassessed
periodically based on the best scientific information available. Migration - Movement by a popuation or subpopulation from one location to another; often periodic or seasonal, and over long distances. Vertical migrations in the water column may be daily or seasonal within the same area. Migrations between deep and shallow areas are usually seasonal and related to reporduction. Mortality - Death rate expressed as a proportion of a population or community of organisms. mortality is caused by a veriety of sources including predation, desease, environmental conditons, etc. National Standard Guidelines - The Magnuson-Stevens Act contains 10 national standards for fishery conservation and management, with which all FMPis and amendments by the Councils and Secretary must comply. The Act requires that the Secretary establish advisory guidelines based, on the national standards, to assist in the development of FMFis. 7he guidelines are intended to provide direction and elaboration in compliance with the national standards and, in themselves, do not have the force and effect of law. Open Access Fishery - A fishery in which any person can participate at any time. Optimum Yield (OY) means the amount of fish which will
provide the greatest overall benefit to the Nation, particularly
with respect to food production and recreational opportunities,
and taking into account the protection of marine ecosystems It
is prescribed on the basis of of the MSY from the fishery, as
reduced by relevant social, economic, or ecologicalfactor In
the case of an overfished fishery, it provides for rebuilding
to a level consistent with producing the MSY m such fishery It
may be expressed in terms of a quantified harvest level, formula,
or non-numerical fishf ry Over-capitalization in a fishing fleet means more money has been invested in boats than the fishery can support. It can also refer to the ability of fishermen to increase effort without increasing the number of boats. If no new boats are added to a fishery, but each boat doubles its fishing power by carrying twice as much longline or using new technology (sonar, GPS, etc.) the new effort can have the same effect as doubling the number of boats. Overfishing is a level or rate of fishing mortality that jeopardizes the long-term capacity of a stock or stock complex to produce MSY on a continuing basis. Oviparous Refers to animals that produce eggs that are laid and hatched externally Ovoviviparous - Refers to animals whose eggs are fertilized, developed, and hatched inside the female, but receive no nourishment from her. Parturition - The act of giving birth. Population - All individuals of the same species occupying a defined area during a given time. Environmental barriers may divide the population into local breeding units with restricted immigration and interbreeding between the localired units. Population is a group of individuals of the same species living in a certain area Production - Gross primary production is the amount
of light energy converted to chemical energy in the form of organic
compounds by autotrophs like algae. The amount left after respiration
is net primary.production and is usually expressed as biomass
or calories/unit area/unit time. Net production for carnivores
and herbivores is based on the same concept, except that chemical
energy from food, not light, is used and partially stored for
life processes Efficiency of energy transfers between trophic
levels ranges from 10-65% (depending on the organism and trophic Quota - The maximum number of fish that can be legally landed in a time period. It can apply to the total fishery or an individual fishermanis share under an ITQ system. Recruit is an individual fish that has moved into a certain class, such as the spawning class or fishing-size class (recruitment is the measurement of the total number of fish moving into a certain spawning or fishing class). Reproductive potential - The number of offspring possible for a female of a given species to produce if she lives to the Spawning biomass is the biomass of female fish at the beginning of the year. If the production of eggs is not propertional to body weight, then this definition should be modified to be proportional to expected egg production. Spawning biomass is the biomass of female fish at the beginning of the year. If the production of eggs is not proportional to body weight, then this definition should be modified to be proportional to expected egg production. Spawning biomass per recruit is the expected egg production of a female fish over its lifetime. Alternatively, this is the mature female biomass of an equilibrium stock divided by the mean level of recruitment that produced this stock. Spawning Potential Ratio (SFR) is the number of eggs that could be produced by an average recruit (female) over her lifetime when the stock is foshe d divided bjy the number of eggs that could be produced by an average recruit over its lifetime when the stock is unfished. Species - (1) A fundamental taxonomic group ranking after a genus. (2) A group of organisms recognized as distinct from other groups, whose members can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Report (SAFE) - This report is a document or set of documents that provides the Council with a summary of information concerning the most recent biological condition of stocks and the marine ecosystems in the fishery management unit and the social and economic condition of the recreational and commercial fishing interests, fishing communities, and the fish processing industries. It sununarizes, on a periodic basis, the best available scientific information concerning the past, present, and possible future condition of the stocks, marine ecosystems, and fisheries being managed under federalregulation. The SAFE report provides information to the Councils for determining annual harvest levels from each stock. Stock is the practical unit of a population that is selected for management or harvesting purposes. In some casts a manged stock may include more than one species. Temporal - Fertainmg to time. Used to describe organism activities, developing stages, and distributions as they relate to daily seasonal, or geologic time periods. Total Allowable Catch (TAC) - The annual recommended catch for a species or species group. The regional council sets the TAC from the range of the allowable biological catch. Upwelling - The process whereby prevailing seasonal winds create surface currents that allow nutrient rich cold water from the ocean depths to move into the euphotic or epipelagic zone. Year Class - Refers to animals of a species population hatched or born in the same year at about the same time; also known as a cohort. Strong year classes result when there is high larval and juvenile survival; the reverse is true for weak year-classes. The effects of strong and weak year-classes on population size and structure persist for years in species with long lives. Variation in year-class strength often affects fisheries. 1These terms were taken
from: Core Team for West Coast Groundfish, National Marine Fisheries Service. 1998. Essential Fish Habitat West Coast Groundfish Appendix. |
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