Effective long-term management of the world’s fish stocks requires science, stakeholder engagement and advanced planning. An innovative approach known as harvest strategies combines those elements, providing fisheries managers a science-based framework for determining precautionary measures for fish stocks. Also known as management procedures, harvest strategies move managers away from yearly, sometimes contentious quota negotiations to a set of pre-agreed rules that aim to foster long-term sustainability and profitability of fisheries. They allow managers and stakeholders to balance trade-offs among management objectives for both the species and socioeconomic dimensions of the fishery. And, the methodology also allows scientists to better account for the variable and uncertain environments in which fisheries operate.
In this video series, Pew speaks to a range of market stakeholders—including processors, retailers and scientists—about why they support calls for greater uptake and implementation of harvest strategies by regional fisheries management organizations.