Understanding the Role of Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations in Developing Fishery Management Plans

Millions of dollars are spent each year by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to influence public decisions and there are hundreds of environmental NGOs with marine or fisheries conservation priorities in the US alone.  Many of these organizations are active participants in regional fishery management council processes involved in developing US fisheries regulations.  There has been little research assessing the impact of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) within public administration rulemaking contexts in general, and in developing fisheries regulations specifically.  This research will begin to fill this gap in the literature by evaluating the influence of ENGO behavior within fishery management plan (FMP) development.  Detailed case study analyses will be conducted on selected ENGOs, drawing upon organizational theory and public administration literature on rulemaking to assess the potential influence of ENGO behavior on the development of selected FMPs.  Data is gathered through document analysis, participant observation and interviews, using process tracing methods to assess influence by linking organizational behavior to changes in the FMP development process or outcome.  Results will shed light on the nature of role of ENGOs within FMP development.  More broadly, results will suggest which organizational behaviors are influential, when, under what conditions and why.