Report of the Second Advisory Roundtable on the Assessment of Inland Fisheries, Rome, 25–27 November 2019

Book excerpt: The Second Advisory Roundtable on the Assessment of Inland Fisheries was convened in partnership with United States Geological Service (USGS), from 25 to 27 November 2019. It reviewed the progress of work that had been initiated as a response to the recommendations of the “Advisory Roundtable on the Assessment of Inland Fisheries” that was convened in partnership with the United States Geological Service (USGS) and Michigan State University (MSU) in FAO Rome, from 8 to 10 May 2018. The Second Roundtable covered two aspects of the assessment of inland fisheries. As its first task, the Roundtable reviewed a threat mapping framework developed by USGS and the University of Florida, which seeks to provide a robust assessment method for inland fisheries and the associated ecosystems/basins upon which they depend. This is intended to support the management of aquatic systems and the continued delivery of ecosystem services. The status map that the analysis provides is a visual (and quantifiable) relative indication of the levels of anthropogenic and natural environmental pressures to inland fisheries at the basin or sub-basin level. Five major threats to inland fisheries (and their 21 sub-threat categories) were scored according to global studies and modeling.