A comparative analysis of sustainable fishery development indicator systems in Australia and Canada

This paper comparatively analyzes the systems in Australia and Canada from the perspective of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation's Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries No. 8. The results show that the key factors in the success of the Australian system are public participation, selecting an indicator with its objectives and improving management performance by the evaluation of the system. Further, the boundaries of the SFDIS should be the same as the boundaries of the management units and fisheries should be examined independently. The framework chosen by the Canadian system is more all-round, and can be combined with the PSR framework to maximize the management effects. Finally, techniques and specialist software such as fuzzy AHP etc. are 'well-suited to measuring weights and have the potential to be applied elsewhere'. Visual presentation is the best way to promote communication with the public. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation's kite diagram and the Sustainable Development Committee's dashboard of sustainability are two excellent visualizations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.