Fisheries Co-management: Organization, Process, and Decision Support

Fisheries management requires making complex decisions that account for multiple objectives involving many participants in an inherently variable environment. The form and function of management remains a major strategic issue as we approach the next century. Management approaches for the future need to focus on integrating biological, economic, social and political considerations of fisheries systems through new participatory management structures and processes. This requires institutionalizing a new organizational framework operating under an appropriate process for interdisciplinary decision making. There is a need to overcome disciplinary organizational structures which characterize most established management systems throughout the world, to include relevant participants in effective co-management regimes, and to employ suitable methods of problem solving borrowed from the field of management science. The term "Fisheries Management Science" has been coined to describe the application of the scientific method of problem solving in this more comprehensive fishery management context. It provides an ideal framework for participatory decision making. Implementation requires defining the roles and responsibilities of the participants, the context and methodologies for setting multiple objectives and constraints, the modelling and analysis of alternative management scenarios, and the assessment and management of risk. As an illustration, the specific tools being developed for supporting the in-season co-management initiatives in Atlantic Canada's Bay of Fundy (NAFO Div. 4WX) herring fishery is prescribed.