Opportunities and Challenges in Navigating Multiple Bureaucracies to Inform Fish Management

Many fishery scientists work within State or Federal bureaucracies, which present substantial opportunities for, and challenges to, incorporating research findings into fish management.  We draw on our collective experiences working as Federal scientists embedded in a top research university to highlight common opportunities and challenges and functional distinctions among bureaucracies.  We offer suggestions on how to consistently produce useful science while navigating multifaceted, complex bureaucracies. While all our bureaucracies value issue-relevant science and have mechanisms to recognize and reward productive employees, they also require scientists to spend significant time attending to a stream of administrative tasks such as annual reports, account summaries, supervisory reviews, training, and approvals. Thus, in this age of dependence on electronic reporting and compliance, the time and intellectual focus, particularly of Federal scientists, is increasingly diluted by activities and responsibilities ancillary to their research and mentoring of future fishery scientists. In addition, Federal scientists must take special care to avoid overt statements of support or criticism for official policies when presenting scientific findings and expert judgments in public forums. Important lessons that we have learned, applicable to any bureaucracy, include a) establish personal priorities b) choose challenges carefully, and c) seek and maintain productive partnerships.