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Ensuring that harvest strategies are robust to climate change is a top priority for many fisheries jurisdictions globally. This is because climate change is altering ecosystem structure and the productivity of marine species. We outline a range of approaches for incorporating climate change impacts within harvest strategies, including how a harvest strategy is specified and changes to monitoring requirements. Approaches evaluated include the use of extended stock assessments, multi-species and ecosystem models, revised management reference points, implementing regime shifts in model parameters, the provision of climate-sensitive catch advice, projections under alternative climate change scenarios and expanded use of management strategy evaluation. We evaluate the utility of these approaches against cost, data needs and uncertainty criteria; highlight key learnings from a range of global jurisdictions and demonstrate the broad array of options available outside of direct incorporation of climate variables within stock assessments. We identify approaches that have been successfully implemented and show that the most complex responses are not always the most successful. While there is no one-size-fits-all way to incorporate climate change within harvest strategies, we outline the need for flexible management arrangements. We also provide examples of approaches that have been successfully implemented, demonstrating that many of the most data-intensive responses will only be applicable in a few cases, necessitating the application of cheaper, less data-intensive approaches that are associated with greater uncertainty.

The breathtakingly beautiful coral reefs of the world cover less than a half of one percent of our planet's sea floor. And yet, these magnificent underwater empires are home to an estimated 25 percent of all oceanic species, a dazzling diversity of sea creatures. Like the teeming metropolis of Rome, a coral reef "was not built in a day."Rather, the coral heads in a reef grow at a painstakingly slow average rate of half an inch per year and require epochs of geological time to amass into reefs and coral cays.Coral reefs, in addition to providing food and shelter for countless varieties of marine life, provide benefits beyond estimation for humankind. Healthy reefs aree ssential for an adequate supply of seafood to nourish the world's populations and sustain regional fishing industries. Reefs enhance tourist businesses by attracting millions of divers and by continuously supplying coastal beaches with shimmering white sand, the fine-grained rubble of dead corals and calcareous reef algae. By breaking waves, reefs protect nearby shorelines from soil and sand erosion and from the brunt of ravaging hurricanes. A wealth of commercial and medical applications has been discovered for corals and other components of the reef community. From coral reefs come additives for cement and mortar, compounds used in violin varnishes, substances for surgically replacing broken human bones, and promising treatments for infections,viruses, arthritis, asthma, and cancer. Scientists agree that this is only the tip of the iceberg as far as important findings and innovations which will result from continued research of coral reefs.

Both scientists and decision makers have become increasingly aware of the need to understand the complexity of natural systems when considering actions that affect individual aspects of resources and the environment. The interconnectedness of the physical and biological elements of a natural system is often appreciated in the abstract, but sometimes not as much as it should be in scientific studies. Too frequently, how the interaction of all elements of a system influence the organism, habitat, or process being focused on is given only lip service or general observations. Although not intended to be an integrated study, this report on oceanographic, geological, biological, and environmental aspects of the Gulf of the Farall ones is an excellent example of a study describing the many facets of a complex marine system.