A Framework for Reducing Implementation Uncertainty in Fisheries Management

Abstract

Fisheries scientists and managers work within a process that has been represented by a feedback control loop. The control process in this loop is the management plan that regulates future fisheries, consistent with objectives of managers. Implementation uncertainty occurs when provisions of management plans fail to have the intended consequences (i.e., when the control process in the loop fails). One reason for failure is that industry works within its own feedback loop; fishing activities change according to the objectives and past experience of industry as well as to the provisions of management plans. If the objectives of industry differ substantially from the objectives of management, the management control process can be ineffective. We illustrate operation of the management and industry feedback loops using the trawl fishery for rockfish (Scorpaenidae) off British Columbia, Canada, where implementation uncertainty was high, and objectives of neither management nor industry were achieved. Addressing this source of implementation uncertainty directly is necessary to create an environment in which both conservation and economic objectives can be met.