Fish Spawning Aggregations: A Reef Resilience Toolkit Module

Engaging Stakeholders

In developing strategies for conservation action, managers should identify all potential stakeholder groups that have interests in spawning aggregations. These may include:

• Local communities near or with control over FSA sites
• Commercial and recreational fishers, cooperatives, and seafood buyers and exporters
• Tourism industry representatives, including hotel associations, tour operators, diving and recreational fishing representatives, and restaurant associations
• Government management entities with various portfolios, including fisheries, protected areas, natural resources, tourism, and economic development
• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
• Educational institutions, including local and international universities
• Religious organizations

For each stakeholder group, different engagement strategies may be necessary, but each should be evaluated for its potential contributions to the solution. Each has information to provide, and each might have resources to promote a successful conservation outcome. Depending on the governance structure of the country or region, various engagement strategies for each of these groups will need to be developed.

Community presentation in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo © Jez O'Hare

Resources

Putting fishers' knowledge to work1