An in-season approach to management under uncertainty: the case of the SW Nova Scotia herring fishery

Several innovative management initiatives have been implemented recently in the Canadian 4WX herring fishery. An ‘‘in-season management approach’’ allows a number of decisions regarding the appropriate distribution and rate of fishing by a team consisting of participants in the fishery and members of government on the basis of the best available information during the season. Observations from the fishery are discussed routinely (often weekly), so that management can be modified quickly according to negative or positive signals. Surveys have been implemented, sampling has increased, and data-handling procedures have been changed to allow more rapid summary of results. In recognition that the management area contains several spawning components, and that they are subject to erosion through disproportionate fishing effort, there has been separate consideration of individual spawning grounds, with the explicit objective of maintaining the spatial and temporal diversity of spawning. A ‘‘survey, assess, then fish’’ protocol, in which acoustic surveys are undertaken of each spawning area, and only a portion (<20%) of what has been documented is allocated to the fishery, has been implemented to spread the total catch appropriately among spawning components in relation to their size and state. These initiatives have necessitated an increase in the quantity, quality, and availability of information from the fishery. They have demanded a very high level of commitment, involvement, and cooperation from all participants in the fishery-management process. Together, the procedures have emulated a co-management system, with a substantial degree of participation by industry, better articulation of objectives, and development of decision rules. They have led to improved effectiveness of management and care for the resource.