Brett van Poorten

Dr. van Poorten is a fisheries scientist who studies fisheries management decisions by merging concepts from recreational and commercial fisheries with human dimensions and management science. His research includes decision analysis and structured decision making to address management issues, development of novel techniques for monitoring fishing effort, and developing and applying social-ecological systems models to better understand interrelationships between management, fish, and fishers.

Dr. van Poorten and the Fisheries Management Lab work directly with management agencies to address pressing issues, including assessing data needed to assess prawn fisheries, co-management of arctic fisheries, setting appropriate regulations to balance social and ecological needs. These projects include time with communities and management agencies, field work, and lots of computer modelling to understand all aspects of a system and how it works. The ultimate goal of this work is to better integrate existing or required information directly into the decision-making process to make well-informed decisions.