BONUS GOHERR organized an expert workshop on integrated governance on 14th of November in Helsinki.

15 experts representing the fishing industry, fisheries and public health sciences, decision makers and environmental NGOs contributed to discussions about the potential and challenges of 1) integrating the governance of Baltic salmon and herring fisheries, and 2) integrating food safety and security into fisheries governance.

The analysis of the workshop discussions is expected to contribute to the understanding of how to operationalise ecosystem-based fisheries management. An output of the workshop will be a journal article with the workshop participants involved as co-authors.

GOHERR scientists Annukka Lehikoinen and Mia Pihlajamäki participated the 3rd conference of The Nordic Chapter of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA). The conference was held at Aalto University, Espoo, Finland, on November 2-3, 2017. The theme of the conference was ´Risk and Security’. Annukka presented a systems analytic approach to evaluate the sustainable use of the dioxin rich Baltic herring and salmon. Mia gave a talk on combining exploratory scenarios and Bayesian belief network to analyse the sustainability of Baltic herring and salmon fisheries.

Doctoral students Mia Pihlajamäki and Suvi Ignatius presented governance-related GOHERR research in Baltic Area Legal Studies BALEX Research Seminar that was organized in Turku, Finland on 31st of October by University of Turku and Åbo Akademi. The topic of the seminar was ‘Multiple Layers of Regulation: Focus on the Baltic Sea Region’. Mia gave a talk titled ‘Food security and safety in fisheries governance – case study on Baltic herring’. Suvi’s presentation was titled ‘Comparing values in fisheries governance: the cases of Baltic salmon and herring’.

In the last week, scientists from several ongoing BONUS projects as well as other Baltic Sea researchers gathered to discuss how to deliver science for sustainable use of the Baltic Sea living resources. BONUS Symposium, organized in 17-19 October in Tallinn, Estonia, also involved stakeholders to address the main challenges of integrating science and policy at the regional sea level.

GOHERR project was well represented in the symposium with 10 presentations (6 oral and 4 posters) concerning the ecosystem-based adaptive management and the interdisciplinary approach needed for its successful implementation. In addition, a BONUS GOHERR short film by Alyne Delaney about the socio-cultural importance of Baltic herring had its premiere in the symposium.

For further information and book of abstracts, please visit the BONUS Symposium website.

GOHERR scientists Päivi Haapasaari, Annukka Lehikoinen and Mia Pihlajamäki recently introduced governance and socio-ecological modelling related GOHERR research for the international community of marine scientists in the ICES Annual Science Conference. The conference was organized in 18-21 September 2017 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Päivi Haapasaari discussed reorganizing the governance to support ecosystem-based fisheries management by drawing from the cases of Baltic salmon and herring. Annukka Lehikoinen introduced two systems analytic approaches to evaluate the sustainable use of Baltic herring and salmon. Mia Pihlajamäki analyzed the uncertain future of Baltic salmon and herring fisheries by combining exploratory scenarios and Bayesian belief networks.

For further information and abstracts, please visit the ICES ASC 2017 website.

Ways and reasons for utilizing decision support tools to inform decision making in environmental management were pondered last week by young scientists and doctoral students in a course organized by BONUS GOHERR in collaboration with the DENVI doctoral programme of the University of Helsinki. During the course, participants got acquainted with the theory and practice of Bayesian decision analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis. Moreover, methods for defining criteria for decision making based on environmental values were reflected. Usefulness of these tools to support participatory and collaborative decision making were illustrated by several case studies drawing from e.g. fisheries management, risks related to maritime oil transportation, ground water and land use, and maritime spatial planning. In addition to lectures, the participants practiced applying decision analysis in their own research.

Social and cultural values related to Baltic salmon and herring and their use were discussed in a public event that took place on 16^th of February in the Loki café organized by John Nurminen Foundation in the Helsinki International Boat show. Young BONUS scientist, doctoral student Suvi Ignatius addressed different perceptions and value conflicts related to the use and management of these species drawing from her ongoing research in BONUS GOHERR project. The presentation was titled “Disputed noble fish and underrated keystone species”.

“King of fishes and sour dish” was a topic of a public lecture that was held in Maritime Centre Vellamo, Kotka, Finland, in 18^th of Januray. In her talk, doctoral student Suvi Ignatius discussed on the sociocultural values that Finns relate to Baltic salmon and herring.

BONUS GOHERR will organise a course in decision analysis for environmental management in collaboration with the DENVI doctoral programme of the University of Helsinki (Doctoral programme in interdisciplinary environmental sciences). The course is intended for young BONUS scientists and doctoral students in DENVI. It will take place on 13-17 February 2017 in Helsinki.

Further information in BONUS projects webpage.