The goal of this paper is to begin to tease out the complexity of the relationship between policymaking and consultations in the U.S. and Canada. We do this in the context of genetically modified (GM) salmon, which involves a particularly entangled set of regulatory regimes. In exploring this relationship, we seek to lay the groundwork for demonstrating that the design, implementation, interpretation, and evaluation of public consultations need to take account of the policy arena. We use the term “policy” broadly here to refer to both legislative and administrative regimes designed to manage or implement a technology. We do not posit here that the policy regime should determine the public consultation. Rather, just as the underlying science is important to the design of the public consultation, so too is the policy regime. Thus, we think it necessary to take account of the policy arena they aim to influence in the same manner that designers of public consultation take some account of the science underlying the issues
