Squaring the circle: reconciling fishing and conservation of aquatic ecosystems

Size-at-entry regulations in fisheries cause major disruption to aquatic ecosystems, including truncation of age- and size-structures, destabilization of fish stocks, directional selection on phenotypic traits and a by-catch of unwanted species and sizes. Here, we use simple dynamic models of size-spectra to examine an alternative, socalled balanced harvesting. Balanced harvesting helps in reta…