[Coral-List] ICRS MiniSymposium: Coral Reef Fisheries Ecosystem Approaches

[Tom Hourigan]

Dear Coral-List and Fish-Sci List::

As the December 25th deadline approaches for the submission of abstracts
to the 10th International Coral Reef Symposium in Okinawa, I would like
to draw your attention to the following mini-symposium on ecosystem
approaches to coral reef fisheries that I will be chairing.  Several
abstracts have already been submitted to the Symposium website,
http://www.plando.co.jp/icrs2004/,  and I would welcome others with an
interest to submit.

   4-12       New Approaches to Sustaining Coral Reef Ecosystems and
their Fisheries (Thomas Hourigan)

       Coral reef fisheries provide important commercial, recreational
and subsistence food resources to coastal communities throughout the
tropics. At the same time, overfishing and habitat-damaging fishing
methods are among the most widespread threats to the reef ecosystems.
The small-scale, multispecies nature of the fisheries are poorly suited
to species-by-species management approaches.  This session will explore
how an increasing understanding of the ecosystems can provide insights
into
more sustainable fishery management approaches. Case studies will
explore a range of scenarios, from traditional community management
methods utilizing simple decision rules and limited data, to insights
provided by data-intensive trophic and spatial modeling, such as Ecopath
and Ecosim, and how they are being applied in practice. The
mini-symposium will conclude with a panel of presenters and
participation from the audience challenged to identify requirements for
an ecosystem approach to coral reef fisheries and promising strategies
that can contribute to enhanced sustainability of coral reef fisheries
and the ecosystems on which they depend.

Tom