Social Aspects of Federal Fisheries Management in the Pacific Islands Region: Stakeholder Perspectives and an Informal Gap Analysis of Current Data

Information about social and economic attributes of fisheries, fishing communities, and fishery participants is important for marine resource management because the focuses of agency efforts are on managing society's impacts to the marine environment. This thesis addresses two questions. First, what are the perspectives of managers, scientists, and commercial and recreational fishers regarding the importance of social information in helping to manage fisheries? Second, what gaps in knowledge about social aspects of fisheries and its management do these stakeholders feel require further research, especially in the Pacific Islands Region? Data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with 57 fishers, managers, and scientists in this Region. All of these stakeholders considered social information to be critically important to fisheries management. An informal gap analysis identified four primary gaps with regard to social information in the Pacific Islands Region, supported by 15 interviewees or more (in descending order): (a) fisher perspectives, behaviors, and motivations; (b) baseline participation and catch data for the recreational fishery; (c) culture, customs, and values; and (d) economics. This study identified social information needs according to stakeholders in the Pacific Islands Region, which can aid in developing management objectives to inform relevant future social science research efforts