scholarly journals Implementing Sustainably Managed Fisheries Using Ecological Risk Assessment and Bowtie Analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Astles ◽  
Roland Cormier
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Ecological Risk ◽  
Ecological Risk Assessment ◽  
Management System ◽  
Fishery Management ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
Step Method ◽  
Fishery Resource ◽  
Management Objectives ◽  
Management Controls

Determining the effectiveness of a management system to enable fisheries to harvest sustainably is a key challenge. To fully assess the likelihood that a fishery management system will not achieve its sustainability objectives, the assessment needs to include the whole pathway that leads to the consequences for management objectives. A crucial aspect of the pathway is the inclusion of management controls. Effectiveness of these management controls determines whether the effects of human pressures on ecological components and their impacts are reduced to a level that will not impede management achieving their objectives. Ecological risk assessments do not provide sufficient information to make decisions about what to change specifically in a management system to ensure a fishery is sustainably managed. Bowtie analysis (BTA) is a method that logically connects the relationships between management objectives, management controls, threats, potential impacts of threats on the fishery resource and the consequences of those impacts on achieving the management objectives. The combination of bowtie analysis and ecological risk assessment enables managers, scientists and stakeholders to evaluate different management controls and research options in response to risk factors and track the effectiveness of the management system. We applied a three-step method of bowtie analysis stage 1, quantitative ecological risk assessment and bowtie analysis stage 2 to evaluate fisheries management and science. We demonstrate these steps using a case study of a commercially fished species in New South Wales, Australia.

scholarly journals A Blueprint for the Problem Formulation Phase of EPA-Type Ecological Risk Assessments for 316(b) Determinations

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 271-298
Author(s):  
Webster Van Winkle ◽  
William P. Dey ◽  
Steve M. Jinks ◽  
Mark S. Bevlhimer ◽  
Charles C. Coutant
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Ecological Risk ◽  
Ecological Risk Assessment ◽  
Problem Formulation ◽  
Risk Assessments ◽  
Levels Of Analysis ◽  
Management Objectives ◽  
Ecological Risk Assessments ◽  
Generic Analysis ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

The difference between management objectives focused on sustainability of fish populations and the indigenous aquatic community, and a management objective focused on minimizing entrainment and impingement losses accounts for much of the ongoing controversy surrounding §316(b). We describe the EPA’s ecological risk assessment framework and recommend that this framework be used to more effectively address differences in management objectives and structure §316(b) determinations. We provide a blueprint for the problem formulation phase of EPA-type ecological risk assessments for cooling-water intake structures (CWIS) at existing power plant facilities. Our management objectives, assessment endpoints, conceptual model, and generic analysis plan apply to all existing facilities. However, adapting the problem formulation process for a specific facility requires consideration of the permitting agency’s guidelines and level of regulatory concern, as well as site-specific ecological and technical differences. The facility-specific problem formulation phase is designed around the hierarchy of biolo gical levels of organization in the generic conceptual model and the sequence of cause-effect events and risk hypotheses represented by this model. Problem formulation is designed to be flexible in that it can be tailored for facilities where §316(b) regulatory concern is low or high. For some facilities, we anticipate that the assessment can be completed based on consideration of susceptibility alone. At the other extreme, a high level of regulatory concern combined with the availability of extensive information and consideration of costly CWIS mitigation options may result in the ecological risk assessment relying on analyses at all levels. Decisions on whether to extend the ecological risk assessment to additional levels should be based on whether regulatory or generator concerns merit additional analyses and whether available information is adequate to support such analyses. In making these decisions, the functional dependence between levels of analysis must be considered in making the transition to the analysis phase and risk estimation component of the ecological risk assessment. Regardless of how the generic analysis plan is modified to develop a facility-specific analysis plan, the resulting plan should be viewed as a tool for comparing representative species and alternative CWIS options by focusing on relative changes (i.e., proportional or percent changes) in various measures. The analysis plan is specifically designed to encourage consideration of multiple lines of evidence and to characterize uncertainties in each line of evidence. Multiple lines of evidence from different levels of analysis, obtained using both prospective and retrospective techniques, provide a broader perspective on the magnitude of potential effects and associated uncertainties and risks. The implications of the EPA’s recent (April 2002) proposed regulations for existing facilities on the applicability of this blueprint are briefly considered.

Pollution Characteristics and Ecological Risk Assessment of Hg and As in Sediments from WuHe Wetland

2014 ◽  
Vol 1051 ◽  
pp. 552-556
Author(s):  
Xiao Tian Ma ◽  
Ren Jun Liang ◽  
Ji Cai Qiu ◽  
Li Zhi Wang ◽  
Xiu Zhen Wang
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Ecological Risk ◽  
Ecological Risk Assessment ◽  
Risk Index ◽  
Pollution Index ◽  
Background Level ◽  
Potential Ecological Risk ◽  
Step Method ◽  
Ecological Risk Index ◽  
Potential Ecological Risk Index

This study used four acid digestion methods and the Tessier five-step method to analyze the content characteristics of the elements Hg and As in samples. Further measures included the enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index and potential ecological risk index, for a comprehensive ecological risk assessment of pollution by Hg and As. The average contents were 1.16 mg·kg-1 for Hg and 46.76 mg·kg-1 for As.The two class natural background level was compared to evaluate the cumulative pollution index: among all sampling points, the Hg Igeo mean was-0.55, indicating this element was non-polluting, and the As Igeo mean of 0.23 indicated pollution-free to light pollution. The overall potential ecological risk index (RI) had a mean of 64.93, which indicated slight potential ecological harm to the wetland system.

scholarly journals Health and ecological risk assessment based on pesticide monitoring in Saïss plain (Morocco) groundwater

2021 ◽  
Vol 276 ◽  
pp. 116638
Author(s):  
Imane Berni ◽  
Aziza Menouni ◽  
Ibrahim El Ghazi ◽  
Lode Godderis ◽  
Radu-Corneliu Duca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Ecological Risk ◽  
Ecological Risk Assessment ◽  
Pesticide Monitoring
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