International Coastal Management:
Tools for Successful Regional Partnerships and Initiatives

While it is easy enough to say that we ought to manage our fisheries using the best available scientific information, it is very difficult to create a meaningful legal framework for the process. There are at least three challenging law/science questions: First, how should we define the term "best available scientific information?" Second, what do we mean when we say we ought to "use" this information in management? Third, what is the role of law in resolving the apparent conflict between scientific uncertainty and pointed decision making? I will address these questions with reference to case studies of two federally managed fisheries