So What?

This book has had eight regional chapters, one international chapter, and a synthesis chapter which all contain copious material for U.S. marine fisheries ecosystems. But what does it all mean? The overarching theme of this book is that although much work remains, much progress has occurred. This chapter provides a short synopsis of several major “so-whats” to elucidate the major lessons we have learned and the major issues still facing us regarding progress toward ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM). We attempt this synopsis by posing a series of questions, questions which are routinely presented to us, and then attempt to address them. We pose the question of what happens if we don’t do EBFM, and briefly explore some considerations that question raises. We conclude by asking where we will be in 10 years with respect to EBFM? Ten years ago the debate shifted from “what and why” of EBFM to “how” we actually do EBFM. Ten years from now we hope that the EBFM debate will have shifted into “how well have we been doing.”