PhD dissertation: Constructing and transgressing boundaries between fisheries science and management

12.11.2008

A comprehensive understanding of the boundary between fisheries advisory science and management requires examinations of practices in scientific knowledge production, its use in policy-making, and conditions on which its stability depends.

The PhD dissertation “Science|Politics: Boundary construction in mandated science – The case of ICES’ advice on fisheries management” will be defended Friday 21.11.08 at the Norwegian College for Fisheries Science, University of Tromsø for the degree of philosophiae doctor.

Based on a case study of the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), the thesis explores relationships between advisory science and politics in cases where knowledge claims are uncertain, values are disputed and decisions are urgent. Can science be regarded autonomous in such cases? Should it be so? The thesis not only seeks to contribute to the Science and Technology Studies theory it draws on, but also considers how insights generated from such perspectives may contribute to the ongoing discourses on fisheries science and management.

The thesis is empirically based on a collection and analysis of advisory reports, technical documents, policy documents and peer reviewed literature. It demonstrates that a comprehensive understanding of the construction, maintenance and transgression of the boundary between fisheries advisory science and fisheries management cannot be limited to studies of ‘boundary work’ as discursive practices but also requires examinations of practices in scientific knowledge production, the material embodiment of this knowledge, its use in policy-making, and conditions on which the stability of this knowledge depends. Forms of uncertainty in ICES fisheries advice are explored and are demonstrated to challenge conceptions of a clear-cut science-politics boundary. The thesis proposes ways in which the science and politics of fisheries can be reconsidered by the development of a framework for enabling evaluations of fisheries management systems. This is expected to enhance communication across disciplines concerned with fisheries management, and to promote systemic learning.

Kåre Nolde Nielsen has studied biology and philosophy in Denmark and holds a master degree in International Fisheries Management from the Norwegian College of Fisheries Science. Based on his interest in, and experience with, scientific risks and uncertainties, he currently works at the GenØk Centre for Biosafety in Tromsø.

Kåre Nolde Nielsen, GenØk Centre for Biosafety. Phone: +47 776 45478. Email addresses: kare.nielsen@nfh.uit.no; kare.nolde.nielsen@genok.org