Key issues in Atlantic fishery management

by Joseph Gough, M.A.

Biographical note: Joseph Gough has written extensively on Canadian fisheries past and present, as a journalist, as a consultant, and currently as a public servant with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The views and opinions expressed in this internal paper, prepared in February 2001 for the Canadian Museum of Civilization, as a background paper for the exhibition Lifelines: Canada's East Coast Fisheries, are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Fishery management involves multiple factors of environment, conservation, science, economic and social values, politics, and sovereignty. These variables affect one another in complex ways that are difficult to predict. Indeed, some question whether fisheries management can ever be fully figured out. This paper gives background on the fishing industry, on trends in management, and on some current and future issues.