Evaluating Baltic Sea fisheries governance in the context of open policy practice

Open policy practice (OPP) is a decision support method that is based on open co‐creation of materials describing scientific evidence and stakeholder values related to a given policy. In the BONUS GOHERR project, we assess the current Baltic Sea fisheries and environmental management procedures using the normative principles of OPP as criteria. Three main principles of OPP are openness (of information and participation), criticism (based on scientific evidence, local experience‐based knowledge or stakeholder values), and shared information objects (permanent, structured online pages for managing, updating, and distributing information). The current regional governance structures fulfil these principles poorly, and there are organizational reasons for this. Information flows through closed channels (e.g. email) between groups that have narrow tasks such as to recommend or determine total allowable catch. Stakeholders are heard, but there is no standardized procedure to incorporate emerging critique. With current structures, it would be difficult to achieve integrated governance between e.g. species or sectors based on shared information base. During the latter part of the project, we will apply OPP principles in a stakeholder meeting about Baltic Sea fisheries and environmental governance and collect feedback about what hindrances participants see in their implementation in actual policy-making.