To shape or to be shaped: engaging stakeholders in fishery management advice

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to assess the effectiveness of the collaboration between stakeholders and scientists in the construction of a bio-economic model to simulate management strategies for the fisheries in Iberian Atlantic waters. For 3 years, different stakeholders were involved in a model development study, participating in meetings, surveys and workshops. Participatory modelling involved the definition of objectives and priorities of stakeholders, a qualitative evaluation and validation of the model for use by decision-makers, and an iterative process with the fishing sector to interpret results and introduce new scenarios for numerical simulation. The results showed that the objectives of the participating stakeholders differed. Incorporating objectives into the design of the model and prioritizing them was a challenging task. We showed that the parameterization of the model and the analysis of the scenarios results could be improved by the fishers’ input: e.g. ray and skate stocks were explicitly included in the model; and the behaviour of fleet dynamics proved much more complex than assumed in any traditional modelling approach. Overall, this study demonstrated that stakeholder engagement through dialogue and many interactions was beneficial for both, scientists and the fishing industry. The researchers obtained a final refined model and the fishing industry benefited from participating in a process, which enables them to influence decisions that may affect them directly (to shape) whereas non-participatory processes lead to management strategies being imposed on stakeholders (to be shaped).

A Literature Review on Stakeholder Participation in Coastal and Marine Fisheries

“…In total, four publications defined the term participation (Brzezinski et al 2010;Tiller et al 2015;Pristupa et al 2016;Sampedro et al 2017); three publications described participation-related terms (Kittinger 2013;Hara et al 2014;Trimble and Lazaro 2014) (Fig. 2.2a).…”

“…2.2a). After Sampedro et al (2017), participation could take many different forms, e.g. from planning (Neis et al 1999;Johannes and Neis 2007;Johnson and van Densen 2007) to co-management experiences (Berkes 2003;Wilson et al 2003).…”

“…Okali et al 1994) (Reed 2008). The fourth typology was used in the case studies by Sampedro et al (2017) and Tiller et al (2015). Here, participation was described as the use for planning or co-management experiences (Sampedro et al 2017) and as the strategy for involving stakeholders in decision-making processes (Tiller et al 2015).…”

Effects of short educational workshops on stakeholder knowledge and attitudes on coastal fish stocking programmes

“…Fisheries governance may benefit from stakeholder participation in decision‐making, policy design and implementation. Stakeholder participation in management can provide multiple benefits including improved planning, conflict management and increased acceptance of policy decisions (Coffey, ; Mikalsen & Jentoft, ; Pita, Pierce & Theodossiou, ; Sampedro et al., ). Stakeholders are better able to engage with management and to contribute meaningfully to policy and management decisions when they are aware of the biological and socio‐economic issues associated with fisheries management measures (Li, Sutton & Tynan, ; Lundquist & Granek, ; Tippett, Searle, Pahl‐Wostl & Rees, ).…”

“…Previous studies suggested that multiple opportunities for long‐term interactions or more in‐depth engagement and educational opportunities could contribute to learning and more substantial changes in beliefs and attitudes (Fujitani et al., ; Sampedro et al., ; Zint, Kraemer, Northway & Lim, ). However, given that funding and time are often limited, one‐off, short workshops are more frequently feasible for management agencies, and this study shows that they have some utility.…”