An ecosystem-based risk assessment for California fisheries co-developed by scientists, managers, and stakeholders

Progress on Implementing Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management in the United States Through the Use of Ecosystem Models and Analysis

“…Repeated communication allows modelers to transition from responding to urgent and critical events, to providing strategic advice for operational use. This can include holistic risk assessments (Gaichas et al, 2018;Samhouri et al, 2019) and planning for climate change effects, for instance for the California drift gillnet fishery considered by EcoCast (Smith et al, unpublished). This type of risk assessment can lead to further ecosystem modeling and analysis.…”

Using Integrated Ecosystem Assessments to Build Resilient Ecosystems, Communities, and Economies

“…The challenge was to create a systematic, efficient, and transparent approach to prioritize fisheries for additional management plans. The California Ocean Science Trust, CDFW fishery managers, and NOAA scientists collaborated with stakeholders to pilot an ecological risk assessment (ERA), adapted from the IEA approach, that evaluated the potential impacts of nine California state-managed fisheries on target species, habitat, and bycatch (Figure 6) (Ramanujam et al 2017, Samhouri et al 2019. Risk was evaluated based on exposure and sensitivity.…”

“…To ensure transparency and build meaningful relationships with stakeholders, workshops were conducted in 2018 to solicit feedback on the proposed ecological risk assessment (Samhouri et al 2019). Stakeholders included fishermen that participated in the nine commercial and recreational fisheries assessed, environmental non-governmental organizations, state managers, and other federal fisheries experts.…”

Improving the IEA Approach Using Principles of Open Data Science

“…In 2019, this data management technique was used to conduct an ecological risk assessment (ERA) for nine California fisheries (Samhouri et al 2019). The open science principles applied to develop other phases of the IEA framework were directly implemented in this ERA.…”

“…The assessments are linked to management decisions and management objectives, which are often focused on balancing the needs of a variety of stakeholders. The participatory process and transparency in the development of the ERA may increase stakeholders' trust in the assessment and therefore its application in management (Samhouri et al 2019). Public cooperation in establishing the priorities and publicly available code and data highlight the adoption of open science principles by the IEA team.…”