Making the most of fisheries information underpinning policy, management and science

In summary the conference will focus on the following topics: -Development and evaluation of policy and regulatory measures -Data requirements to support environmental, economic and social understanding of fisheries dynamics and management -Collection o f socio-economic data and fishers knowledge data and integration into the analytical and management process -Use of fishery dependent data to quantify technology creep and selection of appropriate metrics to define fishing effort -Evaluation of fishery dependent data in relation to the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) including impacts of fishing for target and bycatch species on fishing communities and habitats, and as indicators for stock condition and distribution. -Innovative data collection st rategies such as self sampling and reference fleets, including assessment of precision and bias, and integration of data -Observer programs; use of observer data in analytical assessments; cost-benefit optimization; recognition of bias (e.g. accounting fo r spatial and temporal inconsistencies); sampling design -Electronic monitoring (EM) systems such as video and VMS; use of these types of data to support fisheries management and understanding of fisheries dynamics; integration of EM data with other types of information -Other novel approaches to data collection and application of these approaches to support and develop management objectives -Ancillary (e.g. environmental) data collection during fishing operations and utilization in support of the EAF -D ata quality (uncertainty and bias) impacts on stock assessment and recognition in interpretation and provision of advice. -Quality control -Integration of multiple sources of information and information systems design, e.g., for estimating discards and I UU-fishing. -Management and acceptable use of information