Best practices for producing actionable knowledge to inform fisheries management and conservation

Abstract

In applied research, there is an expectation that knowledge generators will produce information that can be acted upon by knowledge end users (i.e., actionable knowledge); however, this is not always the case, resulting in a knowledge-action gap. Currently, there is no literature directly targeted at fisheries knowledge generators (e.g., researchers) to guide them in producing knowledge that could be readily used to inform fisheries management and conservation. To that end, this paper provides evidence-based recommendations for researchers to produce actionable knowledge. Key recommendations include the following: (1) embrace co-production; (2) prioritize capacity building; (3) include Indigenous and local knowledge systems; (4) diversify forms of knowledge exchange; (5) participate in interdisciplinary research; and (6) provide training for early-career researchers on producing actionable knowledge. We also analyze challenges to producing actionable knowledge, such as trust imbalances, costs of engaging in highly collaborative work, and difficulties related to effective knowledge exchange with fast-moving research timeframes, funding restrictions, and lack of institutional support. Using several case studies, we examine how knowledge generators overcome such challenges to successfully implement the key recommendations. It is our hope these recommendations will encourage and facilitate actionable research, contributing to more effective fisheries management and conservation.