St. Lawrence fishery study tests the benefits of collaboration between scientists, government, management and industry members

The surprise rebound of a once-decimated fish stock gave UBC researchers from the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF) a chance to test the usefulness of a fashionable fisheries management tool called management strategy evaluation (MSE).

MSEs bring scientists, government researchers, fisheries management, and industry representatives together to agree upon how to best run fisheries. In an MSE, scientists use computer models to show how fish stocks will respond to different management strategies – for example, how stocks will grow or decline if fisheries select only large fish vs. small fish. The different groups use information gleaned from the models to decide how fisheries can make good use of the resource while meeting environmental standards set by the government.

“Quantitative fisheries scientists are good at computer stuff, but not always the best at communicating and dealing with these big management contexts,” said Mairin Deith, a zoology PhD student at the IOF and the study’s lead author. “We took this exciting case study of the redfish species on the East Coast and dissected it after it was done to see what worked, what didn’t work and what can we pass on to other people for the future.”

Due to overfishing, redfish populations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence plummeted in the mid-1990s, and many fisheries in the region were shuttered. However, the reappearance of massive quantities of redfish in the 2010s sparked a rush of interested new investors and created the perfect context for an MSE.

The fishery presented a unique challenge because of the multitude of new and returning stakeholders interested in setting up shop in the area. Many groups that participated in the MSE had conflicting visions for how the fishery should be managed.

“I don’t think that I’ve ever heard of a perfect management process,” Deith said. “Any time you bring a lot of people together in the same room and say, ‘we need you to agree on something and make a decision,’ you’re going to have a hard time.”

She added, “Something unexpected that came up here, and one of the bigger challenges that was particular to this redfish MSE, is that there was a really high amount of turnover in terms of the types of people attending the meetings.”

The researchers found that when new members joined the process, they lacked knowledge of previous meetings and repeated many of the same ideas that the group had already rejected.

The study, published in Marine Policy, makes many recommendations for avoiding these types of MSE pitfalls. Some suggestions include:

• MSEs should include regular workshops and webinars to keep members updated and get new and returning members up to date
• Early in the MSE and repeatedly throughout the process, organizers should define the responsibilities of different groups at each stage of MSE development
• Specific criteria for MSE group selection should be developed collaboratively between organizers and stakeholder groups early in the process, be made publicly available and reiterated at each meeting
• Modelers should communicate with participants in a way that matches the participants’ level of expertise. Where appropriate, use simplified models and easy-to-understand communications materials, and
• Organizers should give all invited stakeholder groups the opportunity to self-nominate trusted, committed, and knowledgeable individuals as group representatives in MSE working groups

The study also points out some novel ideas that could be made part of the MSE process, such as role playing and group work.

MSEs can be a valuable tool for scientists looking to get accurate data, according to Murdoch McAllister, associate professor and senior author on the St. Lawrence fishery MSE.

“Because local fishers and fisheries management are often more familiar with the territory and history of the fishery than researchers, they can provide crucial insights to strengthen models and correct for anomalies in the data,” McAllister said.

“Before the MSE, industry was confrontational and rejected government initiatives. This turned it around and made all parties much more amenable to working together,” he said. “The biggest takeaway is that new insights and innovations can be obtained from really strong commitment to collaboration between academia, government scientists, managers, industry participants, and rights-holders.”

Tags: Canada, Faculty, fisheries management, IOF students, Modelling, Murdoch McAllister, Research, video