Social Science Information Needs for Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management for the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils

Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) requires information from multiple disciplines. We used a mail survey to characterize perceptions about EBFM between fishery management council members and stakeholder groups, including Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) members, commercial fishermen, recreational anglers, and nongovernmental (NGO) leaders, in the Mid-Atlantic (MA) and New England (NE) regions, using the Coorientation Model.  Our objective was to improve understanding of Council member and stakeholder beliefs, attitudes, and mutual understanding about social science information needs to support implementation of EBFM.  The overall survey response was 1,056 returns out of 5,584 surveys mailed.  Findings suggest that Council members and stakeholders generally agreed about the social science needs for fisheries management, and Council members accurately predicted stakeholder perspectives.  Overall, Council members and stakeholders responded that there were very important and moderately important social science needs in the MA and NE regions.  The social science need receiving the most ratings as “very important” was Social, economic, and cultural impact of fisheries management on coastal communities.  Improved understanding of how the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act supports ecosystem-based fisheries management practices was also considered a key social science need for EBFM.