Risk reduction in fisheries management

A crucial issue in fisheries management is the extent to which management strategy should be designed to reduce risk: risk of depleting the resource and risk of business failure for the fishermen and processors. Fishery management requires that data be assimilated from a wide variety of sources into a coherent scheme for allocating fish. Many sources of risk, which can be measured as the probability of an event's occurrence, affect the objectives and outcomes of fishery management strategies. Fishery management decisions are also made in the face of uncertainty, some of which cannot be alleviated by additional information. Four general sources of risk are considered here: the resource and its changing environment; scientific research; markets for the products and factors of production; and management measures. The complexity of fishery management is illustrated through descriptions of interconnected sources of risk, and recommendations for dealing with risk and uncertainty are suggested.