Publication Abstract

The PKFM project investigated the use of biological knowledge in various parts of the fisheries system using the North Sea cod as a case study. The project examined the way the scientific advice was generated from both a technical and institutional perspective, as well as the way claims about science appeared in both the public debate and the policy-setting process. The results suggest that many people involved in the system want a new way to think about science in management. People in all the major stakeholder groups are calling for a more interactive system of producing a common knowledge base. Such a system could bring uncertainty from its current marginal role as the leftovers of certainty to the heart of the science process. It would require stakeholders to help address uncertainty and negotiate a more realistic placement of burdens of proof.