Kronbak and Vestergaard discuss reducing fishing efforts for a single species below its maximum sustainable yield (MSY). To understand why this MSY information is important, it is necessary to look at footnote 6:"It is well known that in a multispecies fishery, optimal equilibrium stock may be below the single species MSY stock level, and economically optimal management involves a trade-off in exploitation of different species."

After reading the footnote, it is understood that managing the take of one vulnerable species population protects all the populations of other species. The maximum level at which a natural resource can be removed from a system without long-term depletion pays off because

Answer Options:

a. increasing fishing effort for one species results in fewer economically important species being taken.

b. increasing fishing effort and overexploitation of fish improves ecosystem structure, function, and overall quality.

c. negative tangible costs (fewer fish, less profit) may equal positive intangible benefits (more future fish stock, abundant d. populations, ecosystem integrity).

e. decreasing fishing effort does not improve ecosystem structure, function, and overall quality.