Director of Scientific Programs and Chief Science Advisor, NOAA Fisheries Service
Depending on the source, we are either behind the starting gate in implementing ecosystem-based management (EBM) of our oceans and coasts, or well into it, at least for a number of sectoral-based institutions. In reality, a number of our policy implementing institutions routinely consider some of the most-often articulated EBM principles, but the most elusive of EBM’s tenets are those involving tradeoffs and allocation among competing use sectors. The chief impediments to implementing cross-sectoral decision making involve the asymmetric costs and benefits to individual use sectors perceived as accruing from EBM, and a consistent set of institutional frameworks and legal instruments supporting decision making. Science supporting the implementation of ecosystem-based principles chiefly requires information on species interactions, climate-species relationships, and habitat-species dependencies. Without such information, environmentalists urge precautionary management, while existing use sectors demand more specificity in the issues to be considered under the EBM rubric, as well as an accounting of how current management fails to address important issues. I will outline a number of current science and management “myths” regarding EBM, and my perceptions of “reality” regarding ecosystem policy. Additionally I will consider the value of incremental vs. paradigm-shifting change in our science approaches and management regimes for affecting EBM.
Since 2005, Steven Murawski has been the Director of Scientific Programs and Chief Science Advisor for NOAA Fisheries Service. In January 2006, he was selected to be the NOAA Ecosystem Goal Team Lead and is responsible for out-year strategic planning and budget development for all of NOAA’s ecosystem activities which amount to $1.2 billion in 2008. Currently, Steve works with management to move forward the concept of ecosystem-based approaches both at NOAA and in conjunction with other federal agencies and international bodies. Steven has considerable experience in the field of applied fisheries biology and quantitative fisheries science. He served as Chief Stock Assessment Scientist for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts (19902004) and was the Director of the NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology. His research background is in fisheries biology, population dynamics and stock assessment.
Steve received his Ph.D. from the University of MassachusettsAmherst (1984). He has published over 150 reports, articles and peer-reviewed publications. During his career, Steve has been a key representative on several committees and councils including his current roles as official U.S. delegate to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), NOAA representative to the White House Interagency Joint Sub-Committee on Science and Technology (JSOST), and member on the Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (GLOBEC) Program Steering Committee. Steve has received many honors during his career including: NOAA Fisheries Employee of the Year (2002); one NOAA Gold Medal Award (2007); three NOAA Bronze Medal Awards (1994, 1999, and 2003); Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Natural Resource Conservation, University of Massachusetts (2003); and the David Belding Marine Conservation Award from the Massachusetts Divisions of Marine Fisheries (2004).
Streaming
video - click here
Need to have Windows Media Player (connect
here to DOWNLOAD the program)