Examining the Fate of Experience Based Knowledge in a Science Policy Process

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In recent decades, experts and decision makers have begun to recognize the roles of lay experts as sources of information useful to policy, and to subject those roles to scrutiny. The present study examines the use of such experienced-based knowledge in the domain of marine fisheries management. This knowledge, although qualitatively different from research-based knowledge, has been important in policy outcomes. This award provides support to allow data collection on cooperative research between industry members and government and academic scientists in the United States and , to a limited extent, Canada. It will entail a qualitative exploration of the role of cooperative research and the use of experienced-based knopwledge in the production of scientific knowledge and management decisions for groundfish, including cod. The goal of this preliminary work is to develop accurate and detailed narrative accounts of the uses of experience-based knowledge in the science policy process in North America, which can become the basis of generalizations and hypotheses for further more refined and comparative research. The project will include a meeting with colleagues in the European Union engaged in similar projects, to prepare for further research. This project contributes to understanding how knowledge develops and to improving public participation in policy making.