PORTLAND — Representatives from the fishing industry and government agencies will meet with scientists Friday and Saturday at the Marriott Hotel in Portland to discuss one of the central unresolved questions in fisheries management: Are local stocks distinct from one another or are they simply a part of a larger stock spread out over a region?

The answer has important consequences for the ways in which fisheries are managed, according to James Wilson, one of the meeting organizers and a professor in the University of Maine’s School of Marine Sciences.

The workshop will consist of short presentations followed by responses from panels of industry and government representatives and scientists. Discussions are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Friday and will proceed during the day and evening with breaks for coffee and dinner. Saturday, the meeting will run from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

A $50 registration fee will cover dinner Friday, all meals Saturday and coffee breaks. For those who do not want to take their meals with the workshop, there will be a $10 fee.

For information, call the UM School of Marine Sciences at 581-4385.