Marine fisheries and the ecosystems that sustain them are increasingly beset
by environmental deterioration, and the problem is particularly acute in
coastal zones where human populations are increasing. In the best of
circumstances, fishery managers are faced with the multiple, often
conflicting, demands of resource users, politicians, and scientists when
considering strategies for resource management. A further challenge is that
management decisions must be made against a backdrop of a deteriorating
environment and the shifting status of coastal ecosystem integrity.
Traditional tools for single-species management may be inadequate in these
settings. Furthermore, the necessary empirical data to appropriately
parameterize models with vital rates representative of an altered
environment are often lacking. Thus, we need approaches that better
approximate the complicated dynamics between environmental conditions,
fishery impacts, and multi-species interactions. Spatially-explicit,
individual-based simulation modeling potentially permits this kind of
integration, but it has seen limited use in marine resource management,
especially with respect to benthic resources. My colleagues and I have used
this approach, combined with targeted experimental work, to explore the
impacts of nursery habitat deterioration, coastal freshwater management, and
fishery activities on Caribbean spiny lobster populations and sponge
community structure in the Florida Keys, Florida (USA). Although not
applicable for all resource management situations, our experiences provide
an example of the potential use of spatially-explicit, individual-based
modeling and targeted empirical science in predicting resource conditions in
a dynamic environment.