NOAA Fisheries released its Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management (EBFM) Road Map(1) in November 2016, detailing how the agency will implement its EBFM Policy(2). The EBFM Policy documents, clarifies and solidifies NOAA Fisheries commitment to EBFM, as well as establishes a framework of guiding principles. The EBFM Road Map will guide implementation of the EBFM Policy, by NOAA Fisheries and its partners, via a series of core components and action items for each of the Policy's guiding principles. These elements are the actionable steps that provide a menu of options for implementation of EBFM. They also establish benchmarks against which NOAA Fisheries can evaluate its progress.
There has been much discussion about EBFM for the past couple of decades, but this is one of the first attempts to describe in detail what operational EBFM might look like. NOAA Fisheries is moving from the "what's, why's and when's" to the "how's" of EBFM implementation. The Policy and Road Map's action items are a significant step towards that end. It is not trivial for an agency such as NOAA Fisheries to delineate what it thinks successful EBFM would look like. This has both disciplinary and practical ramifications. Stay tuned for continued discussions on the topic as we all attempt to advance the implementation of EBFM. (1) http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/op/pds/documents/01/120/01-120-01.pdf (2) http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/op/pds/documents/01/01-120.pdf
