Kevin StokesChief Scientist, New Zealand Seafood Industry CouncilProperty Rights and Ecosystem Management: An Industry Perspective
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Like many other countries, New Zealand has been struggling to develop management approaches for the marine environment. Unlike most other countries, New Zealand has a history of experimenting with novel regimes and already has in place one of the most comprehensive rights-based (in the form of ITQs) fishery management regimes in the world. The aim of this talk is to consider how to accommodate achieving wider marine environmental objectives whilst maintaining the important incentives and structures created by the rights-based system. We briefly describe the history of the ITQ system, concentrating on the nature of the rights and incentives created as well as the technical demands of implementation. We then consider different interpretations of ecosystem-based management (EBM), an ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAF) and generalized objective-based management. Finally, we consider how different approaches to EAF or EBM can build from existing rights-based systems, develop cognizant of rights or be imposed regardless of rights. The pros and cons of each approach are considered.
Kevin Stokes is the Chief Scientist at the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council (SeaFIC), a company set up by the seafood industry to provide generic policy, science and other services to the seafood industry as well as specific contracted services to industry, government and other parties. Kevin heads up the science capacity at SeaFIC and is involved in science policy and strategy as well as in technical working groups spanning stock assessment, protected species, ecosystem issues and other matters. A large part of the job is in the provision of advice to and working with government and industry to find appropriate fishery management measures. In New Zealand, Kevin also chairs the National Rock Lobster Management group, a comanagement group reporting directly to the Minister and providing annual management advice on rock lobster fisheries. He also chairs the advisory board for Victoria University of Wellington's Centre for Marine Environmental and Economic Research. Prior to going to New Zealand in 2000, Kevin worked for the UK government, for many years heading the modelling and assessment group at the Lowestoft fisheies laboratory. During that time, Kevin serve as Chair of the European Commission's Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries, was the UK delegate to the ICES Advisory Committee on Fisheries Management and was Chair of the ICES LOng-term Management Measures Working Group. Between 1989 and 1995, Kevin headed the UK's scentific delegation to the International Whaling Commission and also served as alternate UK Commissioner for three years. Kevin's academic background was in biology and psychology, witha PhD in Applied Physics.
Kevin's involvement in the USA includes being part of the team that developed the Definitions of Overfishing in 1994. Subsequently, he reviewed the Technical Guidance on the use of the precautionary approach when Implementing National Standard 1 and has reviewed assessments and management of Gulf of Mexico red snapper and assessments of Bering Sea Pollack as well as being on the review team for harvest strategies used in the Bering sea and Gulf of Alaska Groundfish Fishery Management Plans.
Kevin has a long standing interest in development of fishery management cognisant of ecosytem objectives. Starting in 1985, Kevin was part of the ICES working group on multispecies fisheries assessments and was an early participant in ICES ecosystem effects of fishing meetings. During the 1990s, Kevin was involved in numerous European initiatives to develop ecosystem approaches and was responsible for the provision of advice on seabirds and fisheries and marine mammal interactions. In 2001, Kevin was part of the New Zealand delegation to the FAO Conference on Responsible Fisheries in the Marine Ecosystem and in 2002 was part of the FAO Expert Consultation on Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management. In New Zealand, as part of SeaFIC, Kevin is actively involved in seabird, marine mammal and habitat damage issues as well as in debates on marine reserves and management approaches beyond the use of quotas. In New Zealand, the nature of property rights, expressed as ITQs, creates particular issues for the development of fisheries management cognisant of ecosystem objectives or for ecosystem-based management.
FAO. 2003. Fisheries Management 2. The ecosystem approach to fisheries. FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries 4 Suppl. 2. Rome, FAO. 112 p. (read executive summary)
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