Technical Background for an Integrated Ecosystem Assessment of the California Current: Groundfish, Salmon, Green Sturgeon, and Ecosystem Health

摘要

Understanding marine systems and the processes that drive them is the first step to ensuring healthy oceans for the future. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is developing an Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) tool to synthesize and analyze science knowledge and present it in a manner that informs management decisions. It will help resource managers understand the status and health of the oceans and how various management actions might influence those factors. It will inform an ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach. This technical memorandum provides an overview of this evolving tool and the results of the pilot 2010 IEA for the California Current.