Figure 1. Suggested requirements of an integrated large marine ecosystem
(LME) management strategy as a part of the socio-economic and governance modules
in the LME approach, adopted and modified from von Zharen (1999 pp. 17-21).
Regarding “partnering” outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD; Johannesburg, 2002) Hens and Nath (2003, p. 7) discuss
the advent of Type II Partnerships culminating from that international
symposium; these are “projects that allow civil society to contribute
to the implementation of sustainable development.” This corresponds
to humans as an integral part of the marine ecosystem (Sherman, 2005). “Partnerships
have become state-of-the-art because of the confluence of two trends, namely
the increasing acceptance of the fundamental tenets of ecosystem management
and the changing nature and scale of government” (Michaels et al.,
1999 p. 159). The WSSD Type II Partnerships articulated in the paper by
Hens and Nath (2003 p. 32) are defined “as a series of implementation
partnerships and commitments involving many stakeholders ... [t]hese would
help translate the multilaterally negotiated and agreed outcomes into concrete
actions by interested governments, international organizations and major
groups.” For our purposes, the “major groups” would include
fishing vessel captains, operators, and their crew, fisherfolk organizations,
seafood processors and distributors, gear makers, fishery management councils
in the U.S., etc. Masood et al., (1997 p. 108) reports that in the offshore
Georges Bank area researchers there were among the first in the U.S. to
involve fisherfolk in scientific studies. A set of “guidelines” were
developed for Type II Partnerships indicating that they should, inter alia, “be
voluntary in nature” and feature “integrated economic, social
and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.” And, these
partnerships should “have a system of accountability, including arrangements
for monitoring progress” (Hens and Nath, 2003 p. 33). Therefore,
it is hypothesized here that “civil society” (major groups)
can make project-wise contribution to the implementation of sustainable
development through an embrace of voluntary environmental management systems
(VEMS) envisioned in the ISO 14001 VEMS framework or equivalent consensus-based
paradigms (see also Duda, 2005; Connaughton, 2002a&b). A VEMS is not
a substitute for government commitments found in legislative mandates nor
is it subject to negotiation (see e.g. Hens and Nath, 2003 pp. 32 & 33).
Further, because implementation of sustainable development “is not
a core activity of business or industry” (Hens and Nath, 2003 p.
33), these authors also speculate that “scientists engaged in research
on sustainable development have much to gain from Type II Partnership networks.” Therefore
by example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
(NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) “Broad Agency Announcement” for
proposals addressing several research topics related to Northeast U.S.
fisheries (Northwest Atlantic Ocean) under the Cooperative Research Partners
Initiative can be considered just such a Type II Partnership as envisioned
in Johannesburg in September 2002. For example, the “objectives of
these projects are to encourage cooperative research between fisheries
managers, scientists, and industry members” (see: http://www.nero.noaa.gov/statefedoff/coopresearch/baa4.htm,
Online Available June 18, 2005). The Cooperative Research Partners Program’s
announcement for 2005 included “partnerships” research
on inter alia, “topics relevant to ecosystem-based fisheries management” as
well as studies on the “socio-economic aspects of marine recreational
and commercial fisheries in the Northeast” and to “develop
and implement strategies for enhancing safety at sea” (National Standard
10 of the U.S. Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996; e.g. Table
7). Another
of the research topics in the 2005 solicitation involves “studies
on fishing practices… or ways to reduce the bycatch of groundfish
(re: haddock) in the herring fishery.” It is this contemporary topic
that is discussed in Appendix 1 to this manuscript as a representative
example of an industry based voluntary environmental management system
ISO 14001 approach that encompasses relevancy for “ecosystem-based
fisheries management” as well.
