Improving communication from managers to fishers in Europe and the US

Abstract

Communication problems need to be solved if managers are to be more persuasive about the need for limitations on fishing, to protect and restore fish populations. The context is widespread scepticism about the effectiveness of management on both sides of the Atlantic. That scepticism is fuelled by assessment bias as seen in the case of the northern cod of Newfoundland, and by failure to take into account differences in perceptions of stock size and fishing mortality; differences in causal reasoning about fishing pressure and environmental factors influencing stock size; and differences in the capacity to read and understand the mostly graphic information that underlies and is often used to explain management decisions. This analysis is based on interviews and observations in the European Union and the northeastern USA. © 2007 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved.