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How IFCAs are perceived
Co-management of marine resources, through democratic deliberation where balance between multiple, often competing, interests must be navigated, is not easy and requires skill and experience to find middle ground through evidence- based reasoning to progress a decision. Decisions that reflect a balance between different sets of priorities cannot please all stakeholders and will invariably result in a degree of disappointment for some. This does not mean that, where present, poor stakeholder relationships should be left unaddressed, but this reality is important for the wider fisheries management community, including central government and public bodies, to comprehend. Perception-based evaluations of IFCA performance (both formal and informal) must take into full account the IFCAs’ remit to deliver balance across multiple stakeholder interests. If a single stakeholder group were fully satisfied with an IFCA decision it is a probable indicator of unbalanced management. More evidence is required to ascertain the extent to which stakeholder dissatisfaction with IFCAs, if it exists, is a product of IFCA performance, or attributable to a lack of communication between the IFCA (staff and members) regarding its management approach and the broader coastal community who do not sit on an IFCA or attend its public meetings.
83.7 % of IFCA staff and members surveyed agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: “As part of the IFCA I feel my voice is heard and that my views matter”.
As part of this research, an online survey was distributed across IFCA staff and members. Not all IFCAs participated in the survey, but it is a representative sample (from 86 respondents) at national level.
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