Ten lessons from the frontlines of science in support of fisheries management

Citation
Hare JA (2020) Ten lessons from the frontlines of science in support of fisheries management. ICES Journal of Marine Science 77:870–877. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsaa025
Abstract

After 20+ years as a research scientist, I recently made a career change to a scientific administrator in NOAA Fisheries. Part of the NOAA Fisheries mission is to provide scientific advice for fisheries using ecosystem based approaches to management. Where I used to see fisheries science as a relatively straightforward discipline, I now recognize fisheries as a complex socio-ecological system that spans natural and social sciences. With this recognition has come an appreciation for the concept of wicked problems and for the incremental approach to policy-making. Here I describe my perspectives before and after this recognition and present 10 lessons for myself as a guide to providing science in support of fisheries management.