RESEARCH - Research Summary

Humanities and Social Sciences Theme

Research Summary

With the continuing growth of the knowledge base for salmon aquaculture, explicit policies are needed to foster that growth, and help in contributing to a knowledge-based economy and a sustainable environment. The objective of the project is to examine how policies for salmon aquaculture can be structured in ways that encourage learning, flexibility and adaptation. That is, it addresses how concepts of adaptive management can be applied to improve the knowledge base and management practice for salmon aquaculture in British Columbia, and elsewhere. The broader objective is to examine ways of fostering adaptive management and learning, within a complex system that operates on multiple scales with many kinds of learning opportunities.

Adaptive management starts with a simple premise: because there are profound uncertainties in resource management decisions, we should view our policy actions as experiments. This perspective requires a willingness to try different policies in different locations, plan carefully, monitor the results, and update policies to reflect new information. Adaptive management has been widely discussed as an approach to learning about aspects of large-scale eco-system management, from scientific uncertainties to aspects of institutional design.

This project has four related components, building on a 2002-03 AquaNet research project. The first involves understanding the multiple kinds of objectives and performance measures for learning about different aspects of salmon aquaculture in British Columbia, at the multiple levels at which policy decisions are made. The second involves a range of stakeholders (from communities, industry, regulators, non-governmental organisations and science organisations) in creating a learning plan for salmon aquaculture in British Columbia. The third involves working on a participatory research project with the BC Aboriginal Fisheries Commission to develop a plan for First Nations’ own research efforts regarding salmon aquaculture. The plans from the second and third components will be informed by each other, and will be developed so that they are compatible and collaborative. The fourth component involves conceptual research on how learning over time can contribute to conflict resolution in multi-party conflicts in which there are opportunities for learning.

Network Investigators

Tim McDaniels, UBC, BC
Hadi Dowlatabadi, UBC, BC
Keith Hipel, Univ. of Waterloo, ON