What Is Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management?

A cartoon crash course

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Projects: U.S. Ocean Conservation & Conservation Science

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What Is Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management?

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Ocean life doesn’t live in a bubble—if you want to take care of one fish species, you also have to preserve where it lives and understand the other animals it interacts with. This big picture approach to marine conservation is called ecosystem-based fisheries management.

As cartoonist and conservationist Jim Toomey explains above, "EBFM" recognizes that every part of the marine ecosystem, from the kelp forest to the blue whale, is interconnected.

Cartoonist Jim Toomey—whose daily comic strip, Sherman’s Lagoon, is syndicated in more than 250 newspapers in the United States—joined forces with The Pew Charitable Trusts to illustrate "ecosystem-based fisheries" and other terms associated with our oceans.

Watch the full ocean terms video series.

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Article January 27, 2016

A Visual Glossary of Ocean Terminology

Cartoon crash course
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bycatch
Article January 27, 2016

Ocean conservation is essential but sometimes difficult to understand. Pew joined forces with cartoonist Jim Toomey, the artist behind “Sherman’s Lagoon,” on 10 animated videos that explain the complicated concepts that guide efforts to protect our oceans.

Related Resources

A Big-Picture Approach to Fisheries Management The Science Behind Big-Picture Fisheries Management
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Ocean Conservation
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U.S. Ocean Conservation Conservation Science

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Atlantic bluefin tuna, Mediterranean Sea.

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