Transition from Low to High Data Richness: An Experiment in Ecosystem-based Fishery Management from California

Fisheries can cause major impacts on ecosystems, but the goal of managing them sustainably requires more and different information than we now have. The complexity of scientific monitoring, the statistical power of the monitoring design, and the benefits to consumptive and nonconsumptive uses and values all increase from information-poor to information-rich management. The most significant scientific hurdle comes with incorporation of ecosystem and environmental variability effects.