5.2 ICES/MSEAS Symposium on Understanding marine socio-ecological systems: including the human dimension in Integrated Ecosystem Assessments

Jake Rice (who was also in the Scientific Committee of the Symposium), Serge Garcia and Tony Charles were invited to give keynote addresses of this symposium which signalled the formal entry of the concept of social-ecological systems in conventional quarters if fisheries science.

• Garcia made a presentation on “Fi​​​sheries: from Clockworks to Social-Ecological Systems”​​. He addressed the shift from single-species fisheries management to management of a complex social-ecological system, and the related challenges of that shift, particularly in relation to social and economic dimensions of these systems (e.g. Payments for ecosystem services, etc.), the integration of multiple dimensions and the effective participation of the actors.
• Jake Rice made a presentation on “Fisheries Governance in an SES System: All Things for All People or All Things for All Creatures?” The presentation illustrated how many groups with different priorities and goals for economic, social and ecological outcomes are all trying to participate in governance of fisheries and of oceans, more generally. These different goals often mean that governance processes need to converge on compromises that do a poor job at delivering the social, economic and ecological outcomes expected by those involved on finding the compromises. As a result, over time groups with different objectives gravitate to different governance settings, each trying to make policies on biodiversity conservation and fisheries management, but with differing sympathies for the different interest groups. Governance suffers as different bodies struggle for jurisdiction over ecosystem and social factors affected by decisions of multiple bodies, and inefficiencies and, sometimes, even directly conflicting combinations of measures are adopted. The talk highlighted how greater cooperation among agencies was necessary for any of them to achieve their objectives but often major donor or funding sources drive them further apart.
• Tony Charles made a presentation on “Assessing​​​​​g and Managing a Multi-Sectoral Multi-Objective Ocean Challenges of Integration and Participation​​”.