Management strategy evaluation: Transdisciplinary and transparent natural resource management

Abstract

Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) is a modelling tool used to evaluate sufficiently realistic simulations of potential policy choices in complex systems. As a contribution to the Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR) project IMBIZO V, which occurred in October 2017, a workshop was convened with the goal of developing a coherent understanding of bestpractice approaches for MSEs. MSEs are becoming standard approaches to characterizing risk across fisheries management organizations globally. MSEs are important tools that aid in delineating objectives, costs, and constraints that define risk and provide a possible mechanism to meet assessment challenges. The MSE workshop considered case studies drawn from different fisheries (including small-and large-scale fisheries), with associated cultural, societal, and management characteristics, to better define best-practice principles of MSE development, implementation, and communication. The needs and benefits of MSE model development for evaluation of management scenarios for small-scale fisheries were identified. Early career scientists and students were introduced to details of MSE development and implementation, and to colleagues who are part of professional networks that have access to the necessary tools for decisionmaking processes regarding marine resources. Networking and capacity building in MSE expertise in the Asia-Pacific region represent long-term impacts from the workshop.