Integrating management strategy evaluation into fisheries management: Advancing best practices for stakeholder inclusion based on an MSE for Northeast US Atlantic herring

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
By: , and 

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Abstract

The New England Fishery Management Council used management strategy evaluation (MSE) to evaluate possible harvest control rules for Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), the first MSE in the US and perhaps globally to use open-invitation, public workshops for input. Stakeholder inclusion can increase both realism and likelihood of use by managers, but inclusivity is not achieved easily. Here, self-selected participants had diverse backgrounds and differing levels of interest and preparedness. We describe some challenges with directly engaging the public in MSE and offer broader insights for obtaining effective public participation during a decision-making process. Conducting an open MSE aligns well with publicly driven management but requires clear goals and communication. Investment in effective organizers, impartial facilitators, and knowledgeable analysts can improve communication and understanding of MSE to the betterment of fisheries management. We aim to further MSE best practices on integrating stakeholders and hope that our lessons learned on communication, engagement, and integration of MSE into an existing management arena will be useful to other practitioners.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Integrating management strategy evaluation into fisheries management: Advancing best practices for stakeholder inclusion based on an MSE for Northeast US Atlantic herring
Series title Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
DOI 10.1139/cjfas-2018-0125
Volume 76
Issue 7
Year Published 2019
Language English
Publisher Canadian Science Publishing
Contributing office(s) Coop Res Unit Atlanta
Description 9 p.
First page 1103
Last page 1111
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