Spatial valuation of California marine fisheries as an ecosystem service1

Quantifying spatiotemporal dynamics of ecosystem servicesis an emerging approach for informing and managing trade-offs among cumulative or competing activities in marine environments. As one proxy for ecosystem servicesand benefits, we quantified and mapped catch and economic value of California commercial fisheries removals using a 75-year spatially explicit time series. From 1931 to 2005, approximately 88% of the catch was attributed to finfish. However, there has been an increasing reliance of proportional value from invertebrates over the last 25 years. The spatial organizationof historical catches suggests species composition varies substantially by depth and latitude, and an evaluation of changes in the spatial distribution of catches in three different time periods suggests that spatial shifts in catch locations have occurred for some taxonomic groups over time. A spatial assessment of historical catches and value benefits marine spatial planning, informs stock assessments, provides a quantifica...