| Overfishing, uncertainty
and ocean governance: The precautionary approach, ecosystem approach, and the adaptive approach in fisheries management. A PhD thesis 2009 Jon Nevill Abstract: “Why does overfishing persist in the face of
regulation?” This question, the subject of intense interest and
discussion, has no easy or palatable answer. While trawling over old
ground, this thesis hopefully offers new insights, and adds weight to
important arguments advanced by other writers. I argue here that
overfishing, a fundamental cause of the crisis facing our oceans, is the
result of the failure of our fishing management agencies (ultimately our
politicians and communities) to embrace a small suite of powerful tools
(more correctly strategic approaches) which have been developed to account
for uncertainty. Broad success in managing fisheries to achieve
sustainability goals will (I argue) only come if these tools are
enthusiastically applied. Moreover, I suggest that this will not
happen until organisational cultures within fishery management agencies
undergo a major shift. In my
view, the only way this shift will occur is for asset-based biodiversity
conservation, rather than resource exploitation, to be placed at the
centre of ocean governance. This thesis examines these issues in the context of
case studies covering regional, national and provincial (State) fishery
management agencies. With the exception of the case study of a regional
fishery (the southern ocean krill fishery) all case studies are drawn from
Australian experiences. Commercial and recreational fisheries are
considered. The central recommendation of the thesis is that fishery management agencies, worldwide, should be replaced by biodiversity asset management agencies. While recognising that many factors affect biodiversity assets (some well outside the control of current fishery agencies) such a strategy would mesh with the increasing acceptance of integrated coastal zone management, and in general the need for integrated and precautionary management of natural resources. Keywords: ocean governance, ethics, overfishing, uncertainty, precautionary principle, precautionary approach, ecosystem approach, ecosystem based fisheries management, adaptive management, krill, orange roughy, northern prawns, western rock lobster, abalone, spearfishing. Summary
paper based on chapter
18 - Entire thesis: as a PDF, or as a DOC file. Please contact me by email (or write to me at PO Box 106 Hampton Victoria 3188 Australia) if you would like a copy of my latest Endnote reference file.
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