The Precautionary Approach: 

 A New Paradigm 

 or Business as Usual? 



pre»cau»tion \"pri-'ko-shcii\ n [¥ pirciintidii, tr. \A. pmecaution-, pmecautio, 

 fr. L praecautus, pp. ok praecavere to guard against, [x. prae- + cavere to be 

 on one's guard — more at hear] 1 : care taken in advance : foresichp 

 <warned ot the need for -> 2 : a measure taken beforehand to prevent 

 harm or secure good : SAFEGUARD — pre»cau»tion*ary \-she-,ner-e\ ad] 



approach n 1 a : an act or instance ot approaching <the - ot summer> b 

 : APPROXIMATIDN <in this book he makes his closest - to greatness> 2 a : 

 the taking of preliminary steps toward a particular purpose <experiment- 

 ing with new lines ot -> b : a particular manner ot taking such steps <a 

 highly indiviciual - to languago 3 : a means of access : avenue' 



Feature 

 Article 



1 



VICTOR R RESTREPO 



University of Miami 



Miami 

 Florida 



INTRODUCTION 



The term Precautionary Approach has been 

 receiving considerable attention in fisheries. It is a 

 principal tocus ot recent scientific documents and 

 technical guidelines for fishery management agree- 

 ments, and it continues to be a tocus ot many 

 workshops being held throughout the world. As 



'The first definition of precaution, and the second definition 

 of approach. By pctmission, from Mcrriam-Webster's Col- 

 legiate® Dictionary, Tenth Edition (D 19^)8 hy Mctriam- 

 Webster, Incorporated. 



explained below, the Precautionary Approach is a 

 protocol tor ensuring that resource conservation 

 takes precedence over other — usually short-term — 

 objectives. But the need for conservation measures 

 in the use of renewable resources like fisheries is 

 nothing new. Hence the question asked by many 

 people, including fishermen, managers, and sci- 

 entists, is this: Are these simply buzzwords that 

 will come and go, or does the Precautionary Ap- 

 proach represent something new that is needed 

 now? In this feature, we explain what the Precau- 

 tionary Approach is about and how it relates to 

 contemporary fishery management needs in the 

 United States and elsewhere. 



PAMELA M MACE 



NMFS 



Office of Science and 



Technology 



Silver Spring 

 Maryland 



FREDRIC M SERCHUK 



NMFS Northeast Fisheries 

 Science Center 



Woods Hole 

 Massachusetts 



6 1 



