Barriers to implementation of dynamic reference points in fisheries management

Fish populations are dynamic; their productivity depends on the environment, predator and prey interactions, and fisheries harvest rates. Failure to account for these factors in fisheries science and management can lead to a misestimation of stock dynamics and productivity, resulting in overexploitation or forgone fisheries yield. Using an online survey, we asked fisheries scientists, industry stakeholders, Indigenous partners, and non-governmental organizations whether changing ecosystem productivity was a problem in their experience, how often dynamic approaches to fisheries reference points have been adopted, what methods had been used, and what fisheries they had been applied to. Changing fisheries or ecosystem productivity was reported as an issue by 96% of respondents; however, 74% of respondents said they had never seen dynamic reference points implemented, 16% said in very few instances, while 10% said frequently. The most common barriers to implementation of dynamic approaches in fisheries management were institutional inertia and uncertainty about whether a change in productivity was lasting. We discuss trade-offs between fisheries management performance and stability.