Nereus Program Principal Investigator Quentin Hanich (University of Wollongong) is co-author on a new study published in Marine Policy, entitled “Transparency in fisheries conservation and management measures.” In their paper, the authors write about the role transparency, i.e. the openness and accessibility of information, can play in fisheries developing conservation and management measures (CMMs), and the importance of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) adopting CMMs to help ensure sustainable fish stock management. They discuss the importance of transparency and incorporation of scientific information at different stages of decision-making and CMM negotiation processes, and how this can help develop effective international fisheries conservation and management actions, including monitoring and enforcement. You can check out the abstract below, as well as access the original article here.

Abstract

The adoption of effective fisheries conservation and management measures (‘CMM’) represents a critical stage in the process of sustainably managing global fishing stocks. It represents the point at which scientific data is integrated with law and policy considerations to generate concrete rules designed to constrain the behaviour of fishers and other stakeholders in order to promote desired conservation goals within a fishery. This paper will examine the fisheries CMM process within the broader framework of international law and policy for marine resource governance. It will consider transparency aspects at key stages of the CMM process including the gathering and sharing of data upon which measures are based, the tabling and negotiation of new measures in RFMO meetings, through to the monitoring and enforcement of CMM to ensure their implementation. At each stage, the paper will seek to explore the potential for transparency initiatives to improve the effectiveness of fisheries CMM in promoting desired conservation and management goals within a fishery.

The above summary was adapted entirely from the reference below

Davis, R.A. & Hanich, Q. (2020). Transparency in fisheries conservation and management measures. Marine Policy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104088 link.