The trophic fingerprint of marine fisheries

@article{Branch2010TheTF,
  title={The trophic fingerprint of marine fisheries},
  author={Trevor A. Branch and Reg A. Watson and Elizabeth A. Fulton and Simon Jennings and Carey R. McGilliard and Grace T. Pablico and Daniel Ricard and Sean Tracey},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2010},
  volume={468},
  pages={431-435}
}
Biodiversity indicators provide a vital window on the state of the planet, guiding policy development and management. The most widely adopted marine indicator is mean trophic level (MTL) from catches, intended to detect shifts from high-trophic-level predators to low-trophic-level invertebrates and plankton-feeders. This indicator underpins reported trends in human impacts, declining when predators collapse (“fishing down marine food webs”) and when low-trophic-level fisheries expand (“fishing… Expand
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Citation Type

Fisheries: Measuring biodiversity in marine ecosystems
  • J. Powers
  • Environmental Science, Medicine
  • Nature
  • 2010
TLDR
Comparison of model predictions of the widely adopted marine indicator, mean trophic level (MTL) derived from reported catches, with actual ecosystem MTL suggests that fishing has intensified throughout all levels of marine food webs. Expand
An evaluation of underlying mechanisms for “fishing down marine food webs”
Since the concept of “fishing down marine food webs” was first proposed in 1998, mean trophic level of fisheries landings (MTL) has become one of the most widely used indicators to assess the impacts… Expand
Trophic signatures of seabirds suggest shifts in oceanic ecosystems
TLDR
The results show that multiple species of fish-consuming seabirds may track the complex changes occurring in marine ecosystems, and machine learning models reveal that trophic position trends have a complex set of drivers including climate, commercial fisheries, and ecomorphology. Expand
Linking the Trophic Fingerprint of Groundfishes to Ecosystem Structure and Function in the California Current
TLDR
A decline in the ecosystem MTL of groundfishes in the same ecosystem from 2003 to 2011 is documented, the proximate cause of which was a decrease in the biomass of higher TL groundfishing. Expand
Trophic level-based indicators to track fishing impacts across marine ecosystems
Trophic level (TL)-based indicators have been widely used to examine fishing impacts in aquatic ecosystems and the induced biodiversity changes. However, much debate has ensued regarding… Expand
An assessment of “fishing down marine food webs” in coastal states during 1950–2010
Mean trophic level of fishery landings (MTL) is one of the most widely used biodiversity indicators to assess the impacts of fishing. Based on the landing data compiled by Food and Agriculture… Expand
Fishing through (and up) Alaskan food webs
We used a 112-year time series of Alaskan fishery catches to test competing hypotheses concerning trends in mean catch trophic level, a widely used indicator of fisheries sustainability. We found… Expand
Region-based MTI: resolving geographic expansion in the Marine Trophic Index
The Marine Trophic Index (MTI), which tracks the mean trophic level of fishery catches from an ecosystem, generally, but not always, tracks changes in mean trophic level of an ensemble of exploited… Expand
Are We Catching What They Eat? Moving Beyond Trends in the Mean Trophic Level of Catch
The mean trophic level of fisheries catch is commonly used to describe and assess temporal trends in fisheries. Though its value as an indicator to evaluate the relative health of fisheries in marine… Expand
Fishing down then up the food web of an invaded lake
TLDR
It is shown that while declining MTL can occur in a freshwater lake, the trajectory can be altered by a switch to recreational fishing, as well as stocking and invasive species. Expand
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References

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We used a 112-year time series of Alaskan fishery catches to test competing hypotheses concerning trends in mean catch trophic level, a widely used indicator of fisheries sustainability. We found… Expand
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TLDR
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TLDR
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