Getting To Yes With Stakeholders In Fisheries Resources Assessment - A Paradigm Shift

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.

Over the last 10 years, the Invertebrate fisheries of British Columbia on the Pacific Coast of Canada have grown by an order of magnitude. This growth has mainly been the result of exploitation of new species and expansion of fisheries into new areas. There are present direct fisheries on over 40 species of invertebrates and there are another 30 species for which new fisheries are being requested. There has also been an increase in demands on these resources by non-commercial stakeholder groups including First Nations, Sports fishing and aquaculture. Unfortunately this growth came at a time of fiscal restraint and as a result there were no increases in government funding to carry out the resulting increased need for resource assessments. To meet these shortfalls, a paradigm shift occurred in the way resource assessments where carried out. The shift was from a state where the government conducted all assessments to a state where assessment were only carried out in collaboration with stakeholders. This shift has been so complete that at this time ever Invertebrate assessment is conducted through a co-operative program with stakeholders. This paper will outline the different types of collaborative processes that have been negotiated. Discussions will centre on the principles, infrastructure considerations, roles and responsibilities, difficulties, pit falls and the lessons learned.