Ecosystem-based fisheries management of seamount and deep-sea coral reefs in U.S. waters: conceptual models for proactive decisions

The eight regional fisheries management councils in the United States under the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service lack a sufficiently detailed understanding of ecosystem structure and function and of the target stocks and managed fisheries for making decisions that protect the stocks and ecosystems while allowing fisheries to proceed. Because the development of such detailed understanding is time consuming, we suggest that conceptual diagrammatic models can be used to express the generally known structures and functions of ecosystems so that precautionary management decisions can be made while more sophisticated models of marine ecosystems and fisheries are developed.