Stakeholder participation in fisheries management

Abstract

Stakeholder participation in the management of fisheries resources, or co-management, is being advocated increasingly as the future of fisheries management. Co-management involves the sharing of management responsibility between fishery stakeholders and the state with the aim to bring the knowledge, interests, and political will of stakeholders into the fisheries management process in ways that improve outcomes. Using the CRA2 Bay of Plenty - Hauraki Gulf rock lobster fishery as a case study, two co-management regimes were examined to establish whether the practice of co-management was congruent with its theoretical assumptions. Results indicated that empowering stakeholders to participate in the fisheries management (1) contributes to a communicative decision-making process; (2) improves the knowledge and data basis for fisheries management; (3) helps reduce the political and equity problems between fishers; (4) and increases the extent to which users see the management systems as legitimate. It was found that successful co-management is dependent on aspects of the participatory process including: (1) the internal capacity of stakeholder sectors to participate in the process; (2) incentives promoting a collective responsibility and commitment between stakeholders; (3) the extent of participation; and (4) an empowering and supportive environment provided by external agencies. Policy implications are also discussed.