Ocean Conservancy’s Overfishing Scorecard

In 2005, the Ocean Conservancy (OC) published its first Overfishing Scorecard, which sought to highlight the progress of eight federally-managed regional fish councils whose mandate is to help end overfishing and rebuild overfished fish stocks. The OC teamed with FOS in 2007 to evaluate the effectiveness of this Scorecard in helping to end overfishing in domestic fisheries. FOS and OC staff retrospectively developed a conceptual model and results chain showing the theory of change behind how the Scorecard was believed to contribute to ending overfishing. FOS then tested the assumptions by collecting data on specific indicators and anticipated intermediate outcomes related to key parts of the results chain. This internal-external evaluation combination resulted in key findings on how the Scorecard impacted fisheries councils and organizations, as well as recommendations for the development and release of the OC’s next Overfishing Scorecard.