engleski

The exclusive economic zone - a first step toward sustainable management of marine ecosystems

From management of marine ecosystems point of view, reasons are given to encourage coastal states to proclaim the exclusive economic zone. First it is shown that the present state of affair in the open sea, which is subject to exploitation by all and responsibility by none, has already harmed marine ecosystems beyond recovery in several areas. The continuation of present practice would certainly result in the extinction of species which now appear threatened. A review of principles of exploitation of one population is given next. It is proven that the benthic fish stock in the Adriatic Sea has been overfished. An introduction to exploitation of marine predator-prey ecosystems follows. It is shown that, contrary to the exploitation of one population, the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) may not exist. If it exists, it is certainly much smaller than the MSY of an isolated population. Finally, recommendations are made for urgent research into, and monitoring of, sustainable management of marine ecosystems appropriate for the 21 century.

Adriatic sea; maximum sustainable yield; demersal fish

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