This looks just the kind of symposium where the case for using data collected in the day-to-day work of fishermen should be made a priority - and the means to make use of cost effective mobile devices like phones or tablets to collect the data the norm.
Symposium guide:
The goal of the symposium is to document and synthesise the best quality scientific approaches to management advice and implementation under potentially conflicting objectives. This will be done by facilitating exchange of ideas and the development of new and innovative solutions. The symposium will bring together scientific experts from across the world and in a variety of disciplines, with stakeholders and managers to enable the communication between suppliers and recipients of scientific management advice. The MSY (Maximum Sustainable Yield) and precautionary frameworks as well as Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management approaches (such as Good Environmental Status under the MSFD) already implemented by ICES have solved some of the initial challenges in implementation.
However, substantial issues remain particularly where objectives are in conflict, such as is the case in mixed fisheries, areas where prey and predators are both exploited, forage fish fisheries, divergence between e.g. MEY and MSY, where ecosystem goals are mutually inconsistent and in the exact implementation of the approaches in management plans.
The symposium will take a global approach to these topics under a series of themes:
ICES symposium on “Targets and limits for long term fisheries management” will be held from 27-30 October 2015, in Athens, Greece.