Through our integrative, trans-disciplinary approach we often engage with the practice of fisheries management. We do this for example through:

Collaborative problem-solving: We often engage stakeholders in semi-formal, collaborative processes aimed at finding innovative solutions for persistent and seemingly intractable management challenges. Examples include developing a basin-wide Mekong giant catfish conservation strategy, eliciting stakeholder perspectives on Goliath Grouper management, piloting place-based fisheries forums in SW Florida, collaborative development of a habitat management plan for Florida’a Lake Istokpoga, and (re-)engaging fishing stakeholders in the mangement of the Kristin Jacobs Coral Reef Ecosystem Conservation Area.

Stakeholder surveys: Understanding stakeholder characteristics, attitudes and responses to management measures is crucial to effective fisheries management. We use qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys to gain insights into such stakeholder attributes. Examples include surveys on angler attitudes to marine stock enhancement, drivers of conservation behaviors among fishers, and angler perceptions of and satisfaction with opportunities to participate in fisheries management.

Involving stakeholders in research: Many of our projects involve stakeholders at all stages of research. This helps to ensure that our research is relevant to their needs, and that results are translated into appropriate management action. We have working with the a voluntary angler data program to better understand motivations for participation in such programs. Our Darwin project in the Amazon has involved commercial and subsistence-oriented fishers, managers and scientists in an evaluation of the impacts of co-management agreements. In Sri Lanka, we have brought together reservoir fishers, farmers, and irrigation authorities to consider interactions between irrigation water management and fisheries.

Management experiments: Management experiments can be a very effective way of evaluating alternative management practices. They also allow us to study ecological processes on larger spatial and temporal scales than is possible in conventional lab or field experiments. We have used passive and active experiments involving up to 60 independent sites to assess the effectiveness of fisheries co-management in Amazon floodplain lakes, and impacts of fisheries enhancements and irrigation development on aquatic resources in Laos.

Promoting uptake of research outputs: We promote uptake of research by policy makers, managers and resource users through a variety of means. This has included policy briefs, a manual to guide assessments of irrigation impacts on fisheries, and extension materials to disseminate results to resource users. We have also developed a software package to make quantitative assessment tools for fisheries enhancements available to a wider group of managers.

Documenting and valuing aquatic resource use: Aquatic resources and those who use them are often invisible to policy makers. Documenting and valuing aquatic resources and their role in livelihoods is a crucial first step towards improved management. We have carried out extensive surveys on aquatic resource use in inland areas of South and Southeast Asia, and in the Brazilian Amazon. A particular interest has been documenting and evaluating poorly documented systems and practices such as fishing as a an important component of farming livelihoods, diverse aquatic resource management practices on farmland, or the unexpected outcomes of fishing by dewatering of floodplain wetlands in the Mekong region.