Fishery management as a governance network: Examples from the Gulf of Maine and the potential for communication network analysis research in fisheries

It has been suggested that the fisheries management process with multiple, informed stakeholders and socio-economic, political, and scientific complexity can be considered a governance network. This exploratory study applied communication network analysis (CNA) measures and methods to assess two cas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine policy Vol. 34; no. 5; pp. 1060 - 1067
Main Author: Hartley, Troy W.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2010
Elsevier
Series:Marine Policy
Subjects:
Communication network analysis
Communication networks
Computer programs
Density
Fisheries
Fishery management
Fishery management Governance network Communication network analysis
Fishery policy
Fishing
Governance network
Management
Marine
Marine resources
Networks
Placopecten magellanicus
Policies
Quota systems
Resource management
Scallops
U.S.A
ANW, USA, Maine Gulf
Fishery management
Governance network
Communication network analysis
ISSN:0308-597X, 1872-9460
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:It has been suggested that the fisheries management process with multiple, informed stakeholders and socio-economic, political, and scientific complexity can be considered a governance network. This exploratory study applied communication network analysis (CNA) measures and methods to assess two cases of US federal fishery management in the Northwest Atlantic—Atlantic herring and sea scallop. Through questionnaires and interviews, CNA maps were constructed and quantitative measures of network structure and function (density, weighted average path length) and centrality measures for individual network members (degree, betweenness) were derived using InFlow software. The results show that fishery governance networks are horizontally and vertically integrated across levels of government and public–private–nonprofit sectors. The findings validated existing understanding of fisheries management as a contested, competitive management context among stakeholders, and provided new insights about the effectiveness of information sharing across the network and the critical role of bridgers connecting disparate subgroups. Fisheries management can be conceptualized and analyzed as governance networks, and the paper discusses additional research questions, refinements needed for application of the research methods, and ramifications for managers (e.g., can resource managers manage networks).
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ISSN:0308-597X
1872-9460
DOI:10.1016/j.marpol.2010.03.005