Sustainable exploitation: a review of principles and methods

© WILDLIFE BIOLOGY · 7:3 (2001) Almost half a century ago the main concepts underlying sustainable exploitation were devised in a series of remarkable papers (Schaefer 1954, Ricker 1954, Beverton & Holt 1957). These pioneering studies provided the framework for a series of sophisticated models and methods of analyses that make current fisheries management a highly advanced process (e.g. Hilborn & Walters 1992, Quinn & Deriso 1999, Jennings, Kaiser & Reynolds 2001). However, despite this understanding, the last 50 years have seen considerable overexploitation of numerous species (Ludwig, Hilborn & Walters 1993, Casey & Myers 1998). Even many intensively studied populations managed by affluent countries have collapsed, often resulting in local unemployment (e.g. Walters & Maguire 1996). Against this generally pessimistic landscape of overexploitation there are many success stories in which populations are currently reasonably healthy even with intensive exploitation. Examples include the moose Alces alces, the South African fur seal Arctocephalus pusillus and most goose populations in North America. There are two objectives in writing this review. In preparing this review I was struck by the fact that the literature is very fragmented: papers on fisheries, mammals, birds and forestry all consider similar issues but each uses a different terminology and seems developed largely in isolation. My first objective has been to identify the essential principles of sustainable exploitation and reviewing the main issues. My second objective is to outline the main methods used for determining levels of exploitation and describe the benefits, problems and uses of each. PROCEEDINGS