Incorporating social science into fisheries management to address challenges from aquatic invasive species

Governance of freshwater resources amidst degradation from invasive species requires a sophisticated understanding of the water using constituency. This requires the continued integration of social science into fisheries research to understand preferences for management in the midst of multiple competing demands, as well as theoretically informed research on user behavior and its antecedents. My research addresses this necessity with two objectives: (1) assess recreational anglers’ preference for future management scenarios characterized by the spread of AIS in both the US and Canada, and (2) determine the effects of trust instilled in regulatory and scientific communities on pro-environmental behavior among boaters in Illinois. To address objective 1, a stated choice experiment was conducted to determine the relative palatability of five attributes among recreational anglers: impact from invasives, amount of native fish, quality of fish habitat, added cost per fishing trip, and the availability of equipment and boat wash stations. To reflect the regional scale of resource management, this experiment solicited Great Lakes anglers across the US-Canada border, allowing me to examine preference heterogeneity across an international border Results showed consistency among US and Canadian anglers, suggesting that a unified management approach would be well received. To address objective 2, personal values were used to understand how trust in the regulatory community moderated respondents’ intention to engage in behavior that mitigated the spread of invasive species among boaters in Illinois. Results from a structural equation model showed that higher levels of trust clarified paths from personal values to intended behavior, suggesting that increasing trust in regulators among water users will make their behavior easier to predict. Trust research is rendered urgent by increasingly polarized attitudes regarding government and the scientific community, thus underscoring the importance of social science to inform fisheries research and management.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Natural Res & Env Sciences

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Joffe-Nelson, North

Contributors dc:contributor

• van Riper , Carena
• Suski, Cory
• Stedman, Richard

• recreational angling
• stated choice model
• aquatic invasive species
• fisheries management
• Boaters
• trust
• environmental values
• invasive species
• behavior

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 North Joffe-Nelson

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116288

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F116288