Abstract
Integration of fishers’ knowledge into scientific-based fisheries management is difficult due to a history of distrust between fishers and scientists and institutional constraints that limit management to only the best scientific information available. A recent response to the Northeast U.S. fisheries crisis has been to include fishers in scientific research. Cooperative research, where fishers and scientists collaborate to produce knowledge for fisheries management, aims improve the knowledge base of fisheries management and integrate fishers and their knowledge into the science policy process, which together is expected to generate broader acceptance of scientific-based management. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in the Northeast U.S., this paper discusses the value of cooperative research as a tool for managing the commons. Specifically, it focuses on the flow of knowledge and expertise between fishers and scientists. The flow of knowledge from fishers to science involves a process of translation, where fishers’ knowledge is transformed (proven, verified, etc.) into scientific knowledge. This process enables the flow of fishers’ knowledge into the science policy process. Knowledge and expertise also flow from scientists to fishers, where fishers gain understandings of the scientific research process. With this new expertise, fishers develop a greater capacity to participate in science and management discussions. The paper argues that 2-way knowledge flow between fishers and scientists, in particular flow that results in capacity building, can improve commons management through communication, translation, and conflict resolution. Finally, boundary spanners are identified as being critical to success in cooperative research.
Highlights
New strategies for managing the marine commons are needed in response to degraded marine ecosystems and the fish and human populations they support (Berkes 2006; Berkes et al 2006; Wilson 2007)
Boundary spanners are identified as being critical to successful knowledge exchange in cooperative research
The final reports are forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for technical review and the Research Steering Committee (RSC) reviews these to (a) determine that they have had appropriate technical review and (b) provide any additional “value added” comments to direct the results for use in management
Summary
New strategies for managing the marine commons are needed in response to degraded marine ecosystems and the fish and human populations they support (Berkes 2006; Berkes et al 2006; Wilson 2007). The lack of communication and knowledge exchange between fishers and scientists, as well as managers, has often been at the root of fisheries management conflicts (Finlayson 1994; Smith 1995; Dobbs 2000; Hanna et al 2000; Weber 2002) This is true for the large-scale commercial groundfish fisheries in the Northeast U.S As participants in a co-management system (Pomeroy and Berkes 1997), scientists, fishers, and managers collectively failed to devise rules to effectively manage this common-pool resource. One approach to linking the local knowledge and experiences of fishers with the large-scale efforts of science-based management (and hopefully creating mutual understanding about the condition of the resources) is to include fishers in scientific research in what is known as cooperative (or collaborative) research (e.g. NRC 2004; Reid and Hartley 2006; Johnson and van Densen 2007). Boundary spanners are identified as being critical to successful knowledge exchange in cooperative research
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