The biomass yields and management challenges for the Yellow sea large marine ecosystem

• YSLME has changed a lot in recently years.
• Overfishing and climate changes caused such changes.
• Reducing fishing pressure and developing stock enhancement are good management choice for YSLME.
• Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture should be a encouraged choice for YSLME.

This paper summarizes the changing biomass yields in the Yellow Sea large marine ecosystem (YSLME) in recent years and discusses the causes of such changes, including overfishing and climate changes. Meanwhile, two kinds of adaptive management strategies are recommended to support the biomass yields in YSLME, including resource-conservation-based capture fisheries (e.g. closed season/areas, stock enhancement etc.) and environmentally friendly aquaculture (e.g. integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, IMTA).