Prioritization of knowledge-needs to achieve best practices for bottom trawling in relation to seabed habitats

Management and technical approaches that achieve a sustainable level of fish production while at the same time minimizing or limiting the wider ecological effects caused through fishing gear contact with the seabed might be considered to be ‘best practice’. To identify future knowledge-needs that would help to support a transition towards the adoption of best practices for trawling, a prioritization exercise was undertaken with a group of 39 practitioners from the seafood industry and management, and 13 research scientists who have an active research interest in bottom-trawl and dredge fisheries. A list of 108 knowledge-needs related to trawl and dredge fisheries was developed in conjunction with an ‘expert task force’. The long list was further refined through a three stage process of voting and scoring, including discussions of each knowledge-need. The top 25 knowledge-needs are presented, as scored separately by practitioners and scientists. There was considerable consistency in the priorities identified by these two groups. The top priority knowledge-need to improve current understanding on the distribution and extent of different habitat types also reinforced the concomitant need for the provision and access to data on the spatial and temporal distribution of all forms of towed bottom-fishing activities. Many of the other top 25 knowledge-needs concerned the evaluation of different management approaches or implementation of different fishing practices, particularly those that explore trade-offs between effects of bottom trawling on biodiversity and ecosystem services and the benefits of fish production as food. Fil: Kaiser, Michel J.. Bangor University; Reino Unido Fil: Hilborn, Ray. University of Washington; Estados Unidos Fil: Jennings, Simon. Fisheries and Aquaculture Science; Reino Unido Fil: Amaroso, Ricky. University of Washington; Estados Unidos Fil: Andersen, Michael. Danish Fishermen; Dinamarca Fil: Balliet, Kris. Sustainable Fisheries Partnership; Estados Unidos Fil: Barratt, Eric. Sanford Limited; Nueva Zelanda Fil: Bergstad, Odd A. Institute of Marine Research; Noruega Fil: Bishop, Stephen. Independent Fisheries Ltd; Nueva Zelanda Fil: Bostrom, Jodi L. Marine Stewardship Council; Reino Unido Fil: Boyd, Catherine. Clearwater Seafoods; Canadá Fil: Bruce, Eduardo A. Friosur S.A.; Chile Fil: Burden, Merrick. Marine Conservation Alliance; Estados Unidos Fil: Carey, Chris. Independent Fisheries Ltd.; Estados Unidos Fil: Clermont, Jason. New England Aquarium; Estados Unidos Fil: Collie, Jeremy S. University of Rhode Island,; Estados Unidos Fil: Delahunty, Antony. National Federation of Fishermen; Reino Unido Fil: Dixon, Jacqui. Pacific Andes International Holdings Limited; China Fil: Eayrs, Steve. Gulf of Maine Research Institute; Estados Unidos Fil: Edwards, Nigel. Seachill Ltd.; Reino Unido Fil: Fujita, Rod. Environmental Defense Fund; Reino Unido Fil: Gauvin, John. Alaska Seafood Cooperative; Estados Unidos Fil: Gleason, Mary. The Nature Conservancy; Estados Unidos Fil: Harris, Brad. Alaska Pacific University; Estados Unidos Fil: He, Pingguo. University of Massachusetts Dartmouth; Estados Unidos Fil: Hiddink, Jan G. Bangor University; Reino Unido Fil: Hughes, Kathryn M. Bangor University; Reino Unido Fil: Inostroza, Mario. EMDEPES; Chile Fil: Kenny, Andrew. Fisheries and Aquaculture Science; Reino Unido Fil: Kritzer, Jake. Environmental Defense Fund; Estados Unidos Fil: Kuntzsch, Volker. Sanford Limited; Estados Unidos Fil: Lasta, Mario. Diag. Montegrande N° 7078. Mar del Plata; Argentina Fil: Lopez, Ivan. Confederacion Española de Pesca; España Fil: Loveridge, Craig. South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation; Nueva Zelanda Fil: Lynch, Don. Gorton; Estados Unidos Fil: Masters, Jim. Marine Conservation Society; Reino Unido Fil: Mazor, Tessa. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research; Australia Fil: McConnaughey, Robert A. US National Marine Fisheries Service; Estados Unidos Fil: Moenne, Marcel. Pacificblu; Chile Fil: Francis. Marine Scotland Science; Reino Unido Fil: Nimick, Aileen M. Alaska Pacific University; Estados Unidos Fil: Olsen, Alex. A. Espersen; Dinamarca Fil: Parker, David. Young; Reino Unido Fil: Parma, Ana María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina Fil: Penney, Christine. Clearwater Seafoods; Canadá Fil: Pierce, David. Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries; Estados Unidos Fil: Pitcher, Roland. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research; Australia Fil: Pol, Michael. Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries; Estados Unidos Fil: Richardson, Ed. Pollock Conservation Cooperative; Estados Unidos Fil: Rijnsdorp, Adriaan D. Wageningen IMARES; Países Bajos Fil: Rilatt, Simon. A. Espersen; Dinamarca Fil: Rodmell, Dale P. National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations; Reino Unido Fil: Rose, Craig. FishNext Research; Estados Unidos Fil: Sethi, Suresh A. Alaska Pacific University; Estados Unidos Fil: Short, Katherine. F.L.O.W. Collaborative; Nueva Zelanda Fil: Suuronen, Petri. Fisheries and Aquaculture Department; Italia Fil: Taylor, Erin. New England Aquarium; Estados Unidos Fil: Wallace, Scott. The David Suzuki Foundation; Canadá Fil: Webb, Lisa. Gorton's Inc.; Estados Unidos Fil: Wickham, Eric. Unit four –1957 McNicoll Avenue; Canadá Fil: Wilding, Sam R. Monterey Bay Aquarium; Estados Unidos Fil: Wilson, Ashley. Department for Environment; Reino Unido Fil: Winger, Paul. Memorial University Of Newfoundland; Canadá Fil: Sutherland, William J. University of Cambridge; Reino Unido