April 16, 2009
Barriers to ecosystem-based fisheries management is subject of symposium
The world report card on ecosystem-based fisheries management is not encouraging.
“No country rated overall as ‘good,’ only four countries were ‘adequate,’ while over half received ‘fail’ grades,” according to an assessment of 33 countries published last year in the journal Marine Policy.
Ideally, ecosystem-based fisheries management considers the condition of marine habitat, the effects those conditions have on the number of fish and their health, as well as how fishing affects both those things. Such an approach has to be flexible enough to take into account that ecosystems are constantly changing.
The barriers getting in the way of ecosystem-based fisheries management is the subject of a workshop April 30 and May 1 at the UW’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.
“On the Ground and in the Water: Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management in Practice” is this year’s offering under the Bevan Series on Sustainable Fisheries. The workshop, which is free and open to the public, is aimed at scientists, students, policy makers, lawyers and representatives of non-governmental organizations. Click here to find agenda and registration information. Registration is first come, first served.
“This two-day symposium will feature internationally recognized experts in fisheries science, policy and law discussing practical ways to overcome challenges in implementing ecosystem-based fisheries management,” says Tim Essington, UW associate professor of aquatic and fisheries sciences and one of the organizers of the event.
He said speakers will come from all across North America as well as New Zealand, Australia and Europe. The keynote speaker April 30 at 9 a.m., for example, is Jake Rice, director of advice and assessment for the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
“Jake provides a world of experience on how to extend traditional methods for fisheries management to take broader ecosystem considerations into account, having been at the forefront of advancing the scientific basis for ecosystem-based fisheries management for decades,” says Andre Punt, professor of aquatic and fisheries sciences and another organizer of the event.
The Bevan series is named in honor of Don Bevan, a longtime faculty member in fisheries and marine affairs, and was launched in part by donations from his widow, Tanya.
