**The title, authors, and abstract for this completion
report are provided below. For a copy of
the completion report, please contact the GLFC via e-mail or via telephone at 734-662-3209**
Improving decision-making in
contentious Great Lakes fishery management
2Department of Fisheries
and Wildlife, School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, 13 Natural
Resources Building, East Lansing, MI 48824
3Department of Fisheries and Wildlife,
Michigan State University, 13 Natural Resources Building, East Lansing, MI
48824
December 2009
Abstract
The dramatic recovery of the
double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) in the Great Lakes has been accompanied by public
concern about the bird’s potential effects on the environment, recreation, and
economy. Indeed, if human-cormorant conflicts in the Great Lakes are to be
alleviated, agency professionals may need to look to beyond current management
tools that are primarily based on reducing cormorant abundance. Contention
exists in regard to the perceived extent of these risks within and among the
stakeholder groups who influence, or are affected by, cormorant management. To
better understand stakeholder interactions and perceptions of risk related to
cormorants, we (a) assessed risk perceptions within a social network of agency
professionals (n = 47; e.g., state,
provincial, tribal, and federal fisheries and wildlife managers) and
non-governmental stakeholders (n =
66; e.g., anglers, bird enthusiasts, business owners, commercial fishermen)
engaged in human-cormorant conflicts in northern Lake Huron, (b) characterized
the structure of the social network, and (c) evaluated the nature of
cormorant-related newspaper coverage (n
= 140 articles) in the Great Lakes from 1978 to 2007. One hundred thirteen
social network actors were identified in the U.S. and Canada. Network
centralization was 2.7% and density was 5.5%. Fifty-five percent of the top 20
degree centrality (i.e., actors with the greatest number of ties) scores were
held by agency professionals and 79%of network actors were members of at least
one clique. Five factors were found to influence cormorant-related risk
perception: certainty, frequency, responsiveness of management, seriousness,
and dread. Dyadic tie strength (i.e., reported frequency of communication
between two actors) predicted similarity in response to these factors. Three
factors: control, trust, and naturalness, could not be predicted from dyadic
tie strength. The total number of stakeholder
groups and risks perpetrated by cormorants identified in media coverage
increased over the media study period, shifting the predominant risk frame
applied to cormorants from victim to perpetrator. We discuss the implications
of this media shift and the use of risk frames in content analyses to inform
risk communication. Social networks and mass media are two important
channels in which information about cormorant-related risks is communicated,
and as a result, influence stakeholders’ risk perceptions about cormorants. In
characterizing network structure, we present a model for understanding
communication channels and information flow about cormorants. Understanding
patterns of information and opinion sharing among and between stakeholder
groups can help depict communication processes and outcomes to agency
professionals, ultimately contributing to more meaningful methods of
stakeholder engagement.