The utility of fishermen's cognition in near-shore fisheries management on the east end of Long Island
Date
2005
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Efforts to understand the impacts of fisheries management regimes have focused on describing the effects of management measures on coastal communities. Few researchers have explored how fishermen think about and perceive the fisheries management process. This thesis takes an anthropological approach to describe and compare perspectives of the four principal stakeholder groups involved in near-shore fisheries in New York (commercial and recreational fishermen, partyboat captains, and managers) regarding fisheries management. Using semi-structured interviews, the underlying cognitive motivations (values, beliefs, mental models) of these groups were identified and analyzed to investigate how stakeholders understand and interpret the fisheries management process and how they relate to the process and one another. Utility-based values, cause-effect beliefs, an output-based model of management, and a self-regulating model of nature shape fishermen's perceptions of fisheries management. Identifying cognitive motivations helps explain stakeholder behavior towards the management process and one another, leading to more effective management strategies.