Table 1 Definitions of indicator variables used to assess the impacts of our fisheries

Species persistence

The proportion of species that persisted after the introduction of the fisheries.

Food web biomass change (non-harvested)

The difference between the community biomass values at the end of the simulations with fisheries (B_f) and at the end of the pristine simulations (B_p), divided by the biomass values at the end of the pristine simulations: (B_f - B_p)/B_p. Calculated for non-harvested species only.

Sustained total biomass catch

The pooled biomass caught of all three fisheries once the system has reached equilibrium, per time step.

Sustained total revenue

The pooled revenue of all three fisheries reached once the system has reached equilibrium, per time step.

Number of sustained fisheries

The number of fisheries remaining in the food web after equilibrium is reached.

Overall effect indicator

Each indicator is rescaled between 0–1, and then the average of the five indicators is taken.