A regional database management system: the fisheries resource information system and tools (FiRST): Its design, utility and future directions.

This article describes the refined version of FiRST (version 2004) and provides examples on how the database (‘TrawlBase’) has been used to date for analyses aimed at establishing historic resource baselines and examining the status of coastal fishery resources. The results show a severe decline of resource biomass to an average of 22% of pre-exploitation levels, with cases as low <4%. These results clearly demonstrate the strong impact of fishing on coastal resource biomass and diversity.