Does Collaborative Research Between Fishery Managers and Scientists Is Effective to Conserve Native Brown Trout Populations?

During this last decade, several authors highlighted that conservation processes need better working relationships between researchers and managers, and multidisciplinary approaches to carry out effective actions (Pullin & Knight 2000; Reyers et al. 2009). Today, there is a critical need to be able to develop collaborative research and closer links between scientists and resource managers for making more efficient conservation decisions (Wendt & Starr 2009; Hart & Calhoun 2010; Piccolo 2011). This need for local efficient operationality is particularly acute in the context of the generally limited funding available for conservation and restoration.

I propose to report an applied experience of a collaborative research carried out since 2000 involving fishery managers and scientists from different disciplines (ecology, fishery biology and genetics). This approach has been developed in a French area for the brown trout species (Salmo trutta), the most common native salmonid in Europe, which is an interesting aquatic model organism for conservation issues because it has a high level of ecological and genetic intra-species biodiversity threatened by human activities and it is also of considerable economic value. A permanent working relationship has been developed in order to implement efficient proactive conservation measures at the population level. This approach included the five following needs: finding a common objective, ii) sharing scientific and technical knowledge, iii) matching the temporal and spatial scales of management and research, iv) assessing management practice, and v) collecting the data required before planning management actions. All the scientific information collected has been used in a decision-making procedure intended to provide effective conservation and restoration planning.