International workshop for southern hake study
March 15th, 2018Participants included researchers from IFOP Chile, CSIRO from Australia, IMARPE from PERU, INIDEP from Argentina
A workshop to review progress in Evaluation of Management Strategies (EEM) for southern hake fishery was held between March 5th and 8th , at IFOPs auditorium in Valparaíso.
This workshop was developed within the framework of existing cooperation agreements between IFOP Chile, the Scientific and Industrial Commonwealth Research Organization (CSIRO) from Australia, Peruvian Sea Institute (IMARPE) and National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development from Argentina (INIDEP)
Leonardo Núñez IFOP Executive Director referred about this workshop by saying “we are providing our researchers with the best capabilities to evaluate management alternatives for our fisheries recovery. But in addition, this workshop is a very important milestone in our management, since we made the first step in a long-term relationship with CSIRO and we have also been able to involve researchers from IMARPE and INIDEP, both part of Fisheries Research Institutions and Aquaculture Network Members of the Pacific Alliance Countries “.
Dr Richard Little, main CSIRO Investigator, spoke about the workshop and indicated that EEM simulates the process of fisheries management in a computer and allows users to test management options without having to implement them in reality. It can also serve as a central focal point in the discussion and debate to find an intermediate solution when the actors of a fishery have different proposals on how to manage the fishery. When the objectives of the different interest groups come into conflict, it also allows discussion and debate about the trade-off between these objectives and serves as a starting point to reach a consensus on the management measures that will be adopted.
Fisheries process management simulation, including data collection, analysis or evaluation and decision-making, is fundamental for EEM, it also allows managers to simulate and test sampling, evaluation and decision procedures to determine their effectiveness, including management measures effectiveness. With EEM, the administration can develop strategies to achieve its objectives.
With IFOP we developed an initial version for southern hake fishery in MSE a software developed by CSIRO, based on current stock assessment of southern hake. The objective was to show the process, the benefits and difficulties of its use, and finally to provide an initial guide for the development of an MSE for Chile, not only for southern hake, but also for other populations. This workshop built collaborative relationships, we discovered that IFOP scientists were open to new ideas and suggestions, they are also very capable. From our experience, this is a first step to build trust among stakeholders, achieve management decisions and recover fisheries. “