Presentation given by MDC at ICES annual science conference, on the need for ICES to includemore social and economice information in its outputs, and highlight good examples

1. @DickeyCollas
Where does social-ecological
modelling fit in ICES?
Mark Dickey-Collas

2. Tools to build understanding & frame
context for ecosystem based management
sociology human geography history economics political science anthropology ….
• qualitative approaches and narratives
• systems analysis
• good & services
• values, beliefs & traditions,
• inherited/developed understanding,
• risk & vulnerability analysis

3. Shifting arena for ICES advice & science
Holsman et al 2017 & ICES

4. Science for society…
• solving challenges – wicked problems
• normative & vague objectives – Good Environmental Status
• uncertainty, values & stakes - post normal science
• science speaking to society - mode 1 and 2 science
• knowledge brokers - salient, credible, legitimate, social license

5. ICES is providing information for economic trade-offs
Value landed when 10% of lowest fished area
removed (2012-2015)
http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Advice/2017/Special_requests/eu.2017.13.pdf
Spatial analysis of economic value of seabed impact
Process included exploration of
concepts with stakeholders

6. Eastern Baltic cod
Ecologically-constrained
Maximum Economic Yield (eMEY)
ICES WKDEICE

7. ICES operational indicators include…
• catch & value by port
• social groups of fishers
• communities near MPAs
• fishers incomes
• vulnerable to climate change
• fleet diversity
• ???
Why not…
WGSEDA- reviewed indicators for aquaculture, suggest difference between
monetary monitoring use and applicability to ICES assessment
status of fish
stocks
spatial fishing
pressure
seabed impact
vulnerable marine
ecosystem (VME)
OSPAR & HELCOM
birds
spatial weight &
value of landings
HELCOM
eutrophication
€

8. Social indicators
• Well-being
• Values
• Agency
• Inequality
Hicks et al 2016

9. Mid-Atlantic USA
State of the ecosystem
Mid-Atlantic: http://www.mafmc.org/s/Tab02_2017-04_State-of-the-Ecosystem-and-EAFM.pdf
New England: http://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/2_2016-State-of-the-Ecosystem-Report.pdf
Alaska community profile: https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/refm/Socioeconomics/Projects/CPU.php

10. No-one-solution questions
Workshop on ICES Framework for Ecosystem Advice (WKECOFRAME)

11. Challenges of natural scientists working with stakeholders:
power dynamic, values, cost of iterations, perceived objectivity

12. Reconciling objectives:
management strategy evaluation
ICES asked to develop scheme to reconcile biodiversity criteria for
EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive and Habitats & Birds Directives
Politics, science & pragmatism intertwined.

13. Information and data flow
1. Can we develop or link to existing databases/censuses on
social and community information?
2. Are we able to combine/integrate across scales for monitoring
and assessment?
3. Are we equipped for place based social context information?
WGHIST: social-ecological interactions change over time, analysis
of previous change can inform likely future scenarios &
expectations of non-linear responses.

14. Is our research community equipped to
accept narrative as a method?
explore normative objectives?
investigate values?

15. http://www.ices.dk/community/advisory-process/Pages/Ecosystem-overviews.aspx
What next for ICES ecosystem overviews & assessments?
Goods & services?
Risk, vulnerability assessment?
Trade-offs exploration

16. Thank you!

17. ICES 2017: M 318
Theme session M
Modelling social-ecological systems: methods and tools for scenario development and prediction
Where does social-ecological modelling fit in ICES?
Mark Dickey-Collas, International Council for the Exploration of the Sea Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Email: Mark.dickey-Collas@ices.dk
For a number of years, ICES has strived to engage with more social scientists and launched its Human
Dimension Strategic Initiative to attract their attention and encourage them to contribute. The phrases
“trade off analysis” and “integrated ecosystem assessments” have been used as possible conduits of social
and ecological modelling into operational ICES work. But in practice, is ICES really ready to head down this
route, and are there tangible ways in which social-ecological modelling can be used? In its recent
declaration on providing the knowledge base for ecosystem based management, social science is raised
with regards to the validity and relevance of ICES advice to society but not in the provision of information
and knowledge for decision makers. This talk will highlight some of the advances made in the practical
application of social science within ICES. It will suggest further routes that could be developed to ensure
that when ICES proclaims that it can and will be inclusive of social-ecological modelling, this proclamation is
not just aspirational but truly operational.

18. Challenges when providing knowledge
• Developing the question or knowledge need
• Clarification of objectives and roles
• Expectation management of outcome
• Ensuring optimal and effective
stakeholder engagement
• Awareness of power dynamics

19. For EBM, how we build the knowledge is as
important as the knowledge itself.
“Place your order,
drive around, and
pick up the answer”

20. 8 tenets for scientists, policy-makers, and managers
(i) engage with players early, often, and continually;
(ii) conduct rigorous human dimensions research;
(iii) recognize the importance of transparently selecting indicators;
(iv) set ecosystem targets to create a system of EBM accountability;
(v) establish a formal mechanism(s) for the review of science;
(vi) serve current management needs, but not at the expense of more integrative ocean management;
(vii) provide a venue for EBM decision-making that takes full advantage of IEA products;
(viii) embrace realistic expectations about science and its implementation.
Samhouri et al 2014