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Table 3. In terms of sustainability, the assessment of the performance of LME-oriented fisheries management systems can be guided by the “Principals of Sustainable Development Performance Measurements” established by the Bellagio Conference (1996, Italy) and reported by the Federal Planning Bureau of Belgium (1997, Annex 3). Briefly, these principles (adapted and modified from Garcia and Staples, 2000) include the need for, inter alia:

• “a guiding vision and clear goals;
• a holistic perspective;
• consideration of essential elements such as intra- and inter-generational equity, resource use and over-consumption, poverty, rights, ecological conditions, as well as human well-being;
• adequate scope, with long enough time scales and wide enough spatial scales, analyzing historical patterns and projecting into the future;
• practical focus, using an organizing framework, a limited number of key issues and standardized indicators, comparing targets, reference values, ranges, and thresholds;
• openness and transparency;
• effective communication with a broad and diversified audience, reaching policy and decision-makers,
• using simple information and clear language;
• broad participation by key grass-root professional and technical groups as well as decision makers;
• ongoing assessment of progress towards sustainability, improved capacity, with continuous adjustments of the framework, promoting adaptive learning and feedback; and
• institutional capacity improving the data collection and analysis as well as decision making processes, assigning responsibilities, empowering local communities.”

Present in and supported by the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and its process of implementation, these principals ought to be reflected in any “guidelines” prepared for LME-oriented fisheries.