November 5, 2004
Symposium weighs science’s role in improving fisheries management
In the midst of substantial debate surrounding recommendations made to the president by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and Congressional work on reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the symposium “Improving Fishery Management: Melding Science and Governance,” Nov. 15 and 16, will weigh the latest findings on how fisheries are managed.
The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will be in the Husky Student Union on the University of Washington campus. One can register in advance by e-mailing fishsymp@u.washington.edu or at the door starting at 8 a.m. Nov. 15.
“This symposium addresses some key issues including the status of fished ecosystems over time, bycatch, fisheries interactions with habitat and whether or not to ‘separate’ science from the management process or to better integrate it in management,” says Dave Fluharty, professor of marine affairs and chair of the committee organizing the symposium.
On the agenda are experts and representatives of the fishing industry and environmental leaders from Alaska, British Columbia, the U.S. West Coast and the Western Pacific.
The lead-off speaker Daniel Pauly, for example, has been named the world’s best known fisheries scientist. The lead speaker the second day, Lee Crockett, is executive director of a coalition of national fisheries and environmental groups, which had a major role in reshaping the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act the last time it was reformed. The act is the United States’ primary marine fishery management law. Among other thing, it created an Exclusive Economic Zone for U.S. fishing stretching out 200 miles from the coastline.
For more symposium information see http://www.sma.washington.edu/fishsymp/ or call (206) 685-1581. About 100 people have already registered for the event, which is being sponsored by the UW School of Marine Affairs and the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.
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Fluharty, (206) 685-2518, fluharty@u.washington.edu
