Evaluating potential indicators for an ecosystem approach to fishery management in European waters

This study describes the process of evaluating potential indicators for an ecosystem approach to fishery management in European waters by evaluating these indicators against existing criteria using questionnaires completed by experts. We (i) compare the use of a longer list of simple criteria with a shorter list of elaborate ones; (ii) compare evaluation results when screening criteria are applied to specific indicators vs. high-level headline indicators; and (iii) examine whether detailed questionnaires, with elaborate indicators and elaborate criteria, result in ranked scores that are less influenced by familiarity with the indicators. The results show that the ranked scores of indicators are affected by the level of detail, both in terms of criteria and indicators, provided in the questionnaires. It appears that adding detail to the questionnaires makes the scoring process more transparent and provides better founded scores; at a certain point, however, more-detailed indicators and/or more-detailed criteria result in decreased performance of the scoring process, reflecting mostly factors that do not determine the suitability of the indicator (e.g. the level of familiarity), while giving the false impression of a more thorough analysis.