Courage and the management of developing fisheries

Devising a fishery management plan can be intimidating because of the diver sity of issues, incomplete information, and criticism from many quarters. H ere, fishery managers and scientists are encouraged to anticipate problems and to set an agenda for solving them. A guide to problems presented by dev eloping fisheries and the order to address them are organized into four pha ses. In Phase I, fishers are given the opportunity to demonstrate commercia l viability with a minimum of interference. In Phase II, the extent of the resource is mapped, gear-related regulations are developed, and fishers beg in assuming responsibility for management decisions. In Phase III, basic bi ological studies are carried out, long-term management targets are set, and monitoring and regulation to achieve the targets are put into place. The f ishing-down period should be extended until the long-term management plan i s in place. This avoids having to pay for overfishing by underfishing. The challenge of Phase TV is staying the course laid out.