Biological Resource Management

Biological resource management (BRM) refers to any programmatic science-based intervention designed to preserve, restore, or enhance the value of a biological resource. A BRM plan (BRMP) can focus narrowly on a single species, or, as is now more commonly the case, on the wider issue of biodiversity. BRM and habitat conservation and restoration are closely related, but BRM frequently involves economic considerations that habitat conservation efforts generally do not. Furthermore, given climate change, world population growth and its concomitant impacts, the need for BRM is becoming increasingly more apparent.

The fisheries industry was among the first to recognize the need for BRM in the mid-20th century when the problem of coastal eutrophication lead to dramatic declines in food fish production. The presence of elevated concentrations of organic matter in the water that reduced water clarity, lowered oxygen levels in deep waters, and killed sea grasses, was traced mainly to nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural water runoff. Nitrogen introduced to the atmosphere by fossil fuel combustion was also implicated. Faced with the loss of their livelihood, fisheries around the world began to address the issue, engaging with their governments to devise strategies to address and reverse the problem, an effort that required the involvement of the agricultural industries as well. Though eutrophication was not the first sign of an ecological system failure, it was the first to be recognized as putting a whole industry at risk. This was due in large part to the fact that, though ecological systems are integral to human welfare, their contribution to economic production has been taken for granted. They are poorly handled by traditional economic models, which address scarcity through price mechanisms but fail to account for resource degradation and depletion. Consequently, natural and environmental resources are undervalued, misallocated and misused. The issue of eutrophication helped raise awareness of the environment as an asset that requires management, but it also highlighted the complexity of [Page 25]management issues and the need to think of the environment as a system rather than focusing on isolated elements.

Despite significant advances in our understanding of ecological systems, their complexity can be overwhelming. Incidents like the mysterious decline of the honeybee populations in Europe and North America that began in 2004 brought the issues of economics and the ecosystem together on the nightly news, as commentators discussed how food prices would be affected and whether certain fruits might disappear completely without bees to pollinate them. Scientists, unable to pinpoint a definite cause, were unable to prescribe a definitive course of corrective action.

An understanding of what is happening ecologically is critical to establishing a BRMP, determining how to proceed, and at what scale. As the examples of coastal eutrophication and declining honeybee populations illustrate, some problems must be dealt with on an international level. Local BRMPs are also needed, but even for these, the monitoring efforts must transcend several political boundaries, for example, municipalities, watersheds, and airsheds. Like the habitats they seek to fortify, BRMPs must be hierarchically nested, which raises a host of social, political, and economic issues that require balancing the short-term needs of multiple stakeholders against the long-term interest of community sustainability and species survival. Individuals tend to worry about livelihood, commodity affordability, and private property rights. Industry groups and individual businesses tend to be defensive and inflexible, frequently focusing on short-term financial considerations rather than on the long-term sustainability of the resources they consume. Governmental policies tend to be inconsistent and difficult to amend. Delegating responsibility for formulating, financing, implementing, and monitoring a BRMP can be a lengthy, fractious, and often litigious process.

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