Conference News

NFCC President Expects Groundbreaking Discussion

A few years ago I began noticing that discussions about the use of marine reserves in fisheries management contained a surprising disconnect between two groups of scientists.

There were basic differences between marine ecologists working on reserve theory, and stock assessment scientists familiar with the existing management system. These scientists had different views about what ecological processes dominated, how data should be interpreted, and what modeling approaches to use.

These largely unexplored disagreements limited fruitful dialogue, precluded the development of more sophisticated management tools, and, all too frequently, allowed advocacy from all sides to dominate policy-making.

We think the consensus conference format may provide a venue to explore these questions. The meeting results from at least two years of effort by a number of parties, including fishermen, academic and agency scientists, conservation advocates, and nonprofits. These interested participants have helped to more clearly define areas of scientific contention, develop the format for the conference, and identify the issues to be put before the Review Panel.

In talking with participants about their presentations, I have become increasingly excited about the opportunity to provide a venue for hearing the results of the latest research—much of it ready to be published. I sincerely hope that the end result of this open and vigorous examination of areas of past scientific disagreement will be a broader accord about the scientific approaches appropriate for evaluating the potential value of marine reserves as a fishery management tool.


—Brock Bernstein, NFCC President