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Ecosystems

Marine monitoring is hard and costly

Nature volume 495, page 174 (2013)Cite this article

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While fisheries scientists are still struggling with uncertainties in stock assessments for single species (Nature 494, 282; 2013), a giant leap towards a whole-ecosystem approach is being embedded into international policies for fisheries management. However, underwater monitoring of a huge and complex range of environmental and biological processes will be difficult and costly.

The unsustainable use of a resource can have knock-on effects within an ecosystem, as well as socioeconomic repercussions. If budget constraints limit the monitoring of whole communities, however, population estimates and predictions could be compromised, possibly masking a species decline and leading to misguided policy decisions. Governments should not be tempted to find inexpensive solutions to fulfil policy requirements and to meet deadlines.

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  1. Centre for Oceanography, University of Lisbon, Portugal

    Miguel Pessanha Pais

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  1. Miguel Pessanha Pais
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Correspondence to Miguel Pessanha Pais.

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Pais, M. Marine monitoring is hard and costly. Nature 495, 174 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/495174d

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