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Developing fisheries policies based on the best available science (BAS) has been generally required in international agreements and national legal documents in many countries. However, it is difficult to comply with BAS when lacking a uniformly agreed‐upon operational framework. In this study, we conducted an exhaustive literature review and developed a framework that includes a comprehensive set of criteria and a basic operational structure for science‐based fisheries management (SBFM) to better integrate BAS in fisheries policies. We proposed that SBFM consists of four components: objective‐setting, data input (implementation and enforcement process), data production (scientific research process), and data use (management strategy development). The capacity of a fisheries system to produce and use BAS is mainly reflected in the following areas: (a) efficient informational feedback among these components; (b) collecting a good range of quality‐assured data that meet the needs of scientific research and fishery policy formulation; (c) analyzing the collected data; and (d) selecting and using the best data from different sources. The framework developed provides a set of new patterns for the use of fisheries science, which is applied for management purposes. It can inform the creation, evaluation, and improvement of management systems rooted in SBFM and strengthen SBFM‐related research, communication, and cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new methodology based in the use of fishers' knowledge and cost-effective tools to obtain information about marine recreational fisheries ( MRF) is presented. The squid and cuttlefish fishery of the Ría of Vigo ( NW Spain) was selected because it is managed in a data-poor environment. In-depth interviews (57) were conducted with fishers, collecting ecological and socio-economic information. A cartography of fishing grounds based on their knowledge was obtained, while the intensity of effort and catches was mapped by the monitoring of two vessels with low-cost GPS data loggers. The 102 shore anglers and 248 recreational boats catch 8 t/year of European squid Loligo vulgaris and 11 t/year of common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (11% of total catches on these species in the area). Shore anglers fish from 11 ports, while boat fishers use 14 fishing grounds (covering 30 km2). Most of the catches (86%) are landed by boats, and their CPUE is higher in the outer part of the Ría of Vigo. The use of fishers' knowledge and cost-effective monitoring is encouraged to obtain information for the management of MRF. Given the economic contribution of MRF (260,000 €/year in direct expenses), this activity should be considered in the regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As biologists, we care about things like this because, in addition to wetlands, the WOTUS rule determines what streams or rivers are protected. The WOTUS definition can be contentious politically because projects may be seeking a permit to fill in or encroach on wetlands, stream channels, or riparian areas. Every time I go out to do a wetland delineation or a stream habitat assessment, the first thing I do is visit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website for my region and check to see how we are defining what a WOTUS is or is not today. [Extracted from the article]

Following from similar initiatives worldwide, the U.K.'s Fisheries Science Partnership ( FSP) was established in 2003 to provide the fishing industry with opportunities to propose and participate in scientific studies in collaboration with fishery scientists. Key concepts were that most of the available funding would support industry participation, that industry, not scientists, would come up with the ideas for projects, and that commercial fishing vessels and fishing methods would be used to address specific concerns of the fishing industry in a scientifically controlled manner. Nearly 100 projects had been commissioned by March 2012, covering annual time-series surveys of stocks subject to traditional assessment, and ad hoc projects on, e.g. gear selectivity, discard survival, tagging and migration and fishery development. The extent to which the results of the projects have been used by stakeholders, fishery scientists and fishery managers at a national and E.U. level is evaluated, along with the degree of industry interest and involvement, and reasons are identified for successes or failures in the uptake of the results into management and policy. Finally, the question is posed whether the programme has been successful in improving the engagement of the fishing community in the science-management process and in fostering communication and greater trust between fishers, scientists and managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to an intense social media campaign led by international conservation groups, Green politicians, and recreational fishers, the Australian government imposed a moratorium on the operations of a large factory trawler. This moratorium overrode the government's own independent fisheries management process by making amendments to its key environmental legislation just days prior to the commencement of fishing by this vessel. Concurrently, the government announced a comprehensive review of Australia's fisheries management legislation. Whereas science is usually deployed in support of conservation in natural resource conflicts, in this case science-based fisheries management advice took a back seat to vociferous protest by interest groups, perpetuated by the media (in particular social media), ultimately culminating in a contentious political decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is broad consensus that the main problem facing fisheries globally is too many boats chasing too few fish. Unfortunately it is also possible to argue that there are too many proposed solutions and not enough practical answers to improving fisheries management. There is a deepening divide between those who propose alternative regulatory controls on fishers, including establishing large areas permanently closed to fishing, and those who argue for better alignment of incentives combined with broad participation of resource users in fishery management decisions (in simple terms, between top down and bottom up systems of governance). However despite the choice of policy instruments used, a consistent outcome is that resource users behave in a manner that is often unintended by the designers of the management system. Hence whilst uncertainty is broadly recognized as a pervasive feature of fisheries management, to date most of the attention has focussed on only part of that uncertainty - scientific uncertainty about the status of exploited resources. The effect of uncertainty generated on the human side of fisheries science and management has received much less attention. However, the uncertainty generated by unexpected resource user behaviour is critical as it has unplanned consequences and leads to unintended management outcomes. Using empirical evidence of unexpected resource user behaviour and reviewing current responses to unexpected management outcomes, we identify different approaches that both improve prediction of human behaviour in fisheries systems and identify management measures that are more robust to these sources of uncertainty. However, unless the micro scale drivers of human behaviour that contribute to macro scale implementation uncertainty are communicated effectively to managers and considered more regularly and in greater depth, unanticipated responses to management actions will continue to undermine management systems and threaten the sustainability of fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]