Applications of social science theory to fisheries management: Three examples

Funding support, and the realization by fishery managers that social science research has much to offer in the management process, have combined to create a framework for important research activity in recent years. This paper describes three projects of varying breadth, depth, and scope in which social scientific scholarship has both theoretical and applied value. The first project was a research effort in which funding first allowed for the construction of an appropriate theoretical model and hypotheses, and then supported the research, application, and evaluation. The second project illustrates how available theory and methods can be adapted to the solution of a basic problem in fisheries management, namely how to involve those who are affected by policies and regulations in the formation of those policies and regulations. The third project addresses the issue of conflict of fisheries management and locates marine resource conflicts within a larger conceptual context. This is also an area in which there has been a reluctance to face squarely the research needed to provide for more effective management.