Identifying functional stakeholder clusters to maximise communication for the ecosystem approach to fisheries management

Interaction with ecological models can improve stakeholder participation in fisheries management. Problems exist in efficiently communicating outputs to stakeholders and an objective method of structuring stakeholder differences is lacking. This paper aims to inform the design of a multi-user communication interface for fisheries management by identifying functional stakeholder groups. Intuitive categorisation of stakeholders, derived from survey responses, is contrasted with an Evidence-Based method derived from analysis of stakeholder literature. Intuitive categorisation relies on interpretation and professional judgement when categorising stakeholders among conventional stakeholder groups. Evidence-Based categorisation quantitatively characterises each stakeholder with a vector of four management objective interest-strength values (Yield, Employment, Profit and Ecosystem Preservation). Survey respondents agreed little in forming intuitive groups and the groups were poorly defined and heterogeneous in interests. In contrast the Evidence-Based clusters were well defined and largely homogeneous, so more useful for identifying functional relations with model outputs. The categorisations lead to two different clusterings of stakeholders and suggest unhelpful stereotyping of stakeholders may occur with the Intuitive categorisation method. Stakeholder clusters based on literature-evidence show a high degree of common interests among clusters and is encouraging for those seeking to maximise dialogue and consensus forming. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.