title: Learning the wrong lessons? Science and fisheries management in the Chesapeake Bay blue crab fishery.
abstract: This paper argues that information produced and then taken up for policy decision making is a function of a complex interplay within the scientific community and between scientists and the broader policy network who are all grappling with issues in a complex environment with a high degree of scientific uncertainty. The dynamics of forming and re-forming the scientific community are shaped by political processes, as are the directions and questions scientists attend to in their roles as policy advisors. Three factors: 1) social construction of scientific communities, 2) the indeterminacy of science, and 3) demands by policy makers to have concrete information for decision making; are intertwined in the production and dissemination of information that may serve as the basis for policy learning. Through this process, however, what gets learned may not be what is needed to mitigate the problem, be complete in terms of addressing multiple causations, or be correct.
authors.affiliation: Department of Government and International Relations, Merewether H04, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia betsi.beem@sydney.edu.au
authors.forename: Betsi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Beem
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003386:Brachyura; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D005398:Fisheries; D008396:Maryland; D011050:Policy Making; D011057:Politics; D011641:Public Relations