Scoping the background information for an ecosystem approach to fisheries in Scottish waters: Review of predator-prey interactions with fisheries, and balanced harvesting. Project report Fisheries Innovation Scotland: contract FIS013.

Marine ecosystems are inevitably affected by fishing because this involves the removal of a portion of the natural production to meet the human need for food. Through most of the 20th century, fisheries management has focused on regulating harvesting to secure the long-term sustainability of targeted fish stocks, but has assumed that these exist in isolation from the rest of the ecosystem. In reality, fishing practices have, through a variety of processes, affected the functioning of the ecosystem as a whole by impacting on a wide range of non-target species. In many cases this has undermined the productivity of targeted fish stocks and compromised other qualities and services provided by the ecosystem that human societies also value.