Study highlights the benefits of biodiversity for commercial fisheries
by John Wallace, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science
September 22, 2025
A new study published in Ecological Applications demonstrates that commercial fisheries function much like an investment portfolio: diversity brings stability. The research shows that when different fish species in the Chesapeake Bay are harvested at different times, a dynamic known as “asynchrony,” overall fishing harvests and revenue tend to be less variable. However, the researchers also found that this result was impacted by the seasonal availability of harvested species, market demand and fishery management strategies.
The research was led by former University of Virginia Ph.D. student and Virginia Sea Grant Fellow Sean Hardison and was based on data compiled by William & Mary’s Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences and VIMS’ Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring and Assessment Program (CHesMMAP) from 2002 to 2018, in addition to recorded values of commercial landings as documented by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The work brought together an interdisciplinary team of ecologists, economists and fisheries scientists from UVA, the Batten School & VIMS, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and Canada’s Pacific Biological Station.
“The findings speak to how commercial fisheries benefit from natural fluctuations in the ecosystem, but also how these natural influences are mediated by factors like market prices and management practices,” said Hardison, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “The concept is similar to finance strategies that mitigate risk through a diversified portfolio of investments.”
Keep reading: https://www.vims.edu/newsandevents/topstories/2025/asynchrony-fisheries.php
Read the Ecological Applications paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.70097