This research examines the effectiveness of ten marine aquaculture partnerships measured by the emergence of new social capital, learning and consensus on scientific and policy issues, formal policy agreements, policy adoption by higher authorities, and projected socioeconomic and ecological outcomes. Marine aquaculture is the cultivation of fish and shellfish in ocean waters under controlled conditions. Advocates of marine aquaculture tout its potential to provide a reliable and nutritious food source while easing the United States' seafood trade deficit, which exceeds $7 billion per year. Critics of marine aquaculture worry that it might deplete wild fish stocks, pollute marine environments, displace fishing-dependent communities, and produce seafood that is chemically and genetically tainted. The debate is still in its formative stages with hundreds of stakeholders from government agencies, tribes, universities, and the private sector vying to influence policy decisions. Much of the current debate about promoting and regulating marine aquaculture is taking place within multi-stakeholder partnerships that have convened around the country to collaborate on research, demonstration projects, and policy proposals. The long-term fate of the industry hinges partly on the ability of these partnerships to avert prolonged policy stalemates.
The study will test hypotheses from the Advocacy Coalition Framework regarding how attributes of the stakeholders interact with the structure and operation of the partnership to influence success. Of particular interest is documenting the relative success of partnerships that include aquaculture skeptics versus those that mainly seek to promote the industry. The investigators will use a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques to analyze case-study data garnered from interviews, partnership documents, and a stakeholder survey. They will compare results with previous research on 76 terrestrial watershed partnerships. The study will contribute to our understanding of best management practices in collaborative governance, particularly for policy disputes marked by high conflict and technical uncertainty.
