Effective Co-management of Marine Mammals in Alaska: Identifying Essential Components and Key Impediments (2018 - 2019)

We will develop a mutually agreed-upon working definition of co-management across partners, review existing cooperative agreements to identify commonalities and differences, and identify essential components of, and key impediments to, effective co-management relationships. Effective agreements include strong communication between partners, agreement on what information is used in management decisions (stock assessments, harvest data), and conflict resolution measures. We will compile and synthesize the collected information and, in conjunction with our review of cooperative documents and consideration of resource constraints, develop recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of co-management relationships and, ultimately, improving the conservation of marine mammals. There is no scientific dataset for this project. The information collected was qualitative in the form of structured interviews and focus group discussions. As participants signed forms ensuring their confidentiality, the detailed contents of the specific interviews and focus groups are not available for public use. Included in this package for preservation are: Co-management review final report Sept 2019.pdf IRB Approved Audio and Photo Release Form.pdf IRB Approved Informed Consent Form.pdf IRB Approved Questions for ANO Members.pdf IRB Approved Questions for Federal Agency Staff.pdf IRB Approved Questions for Hunter Focus Groups.pdf