Mobilizing New Science into Management Practice: The Challenge of Biotelemetry for Fisheries Management, a Case Study of Canada's Fraser River

摘要

Natural resources that are "commons" or held in public trust are notoriously difficult to govern. In the absence of exclusive property rights, authorities face the twin challenges of setting limits on the amount that may be harvested (a sustainability challenge) and determining how the harvest should be distributed (an equity challenge). These decisions, which are often controversial on their own, are particularly difficult in fisheries management, where significant gaps in scientific knowledge still exist. Despite recent advances, our understanding of aquatic environments remains strikingly limited, which means that big decisions must be made using incomplete information. Under these circumstances, one might assume that any new knowledge would be cheerfully welcomed by decision-makers and promptly integrated into management plans as a way of filling in gaps and reducing uncertainty.