Nadine Heck

Indicators to Evaluate the Social Dimensions of the Recreational Fishery in the Great Lakes

AbstractNatural resource management agencies increasingly engage in monitoring and evaluation activities to become more explicit and transparent about their activities and to demonstrate management achievements. As fishery management focuses on fish resources and the people using these resources, evaluating management performance requires assessing both environmental and human-centered outcomes of a fishery. Our paper addresses the current lack of indicators to evaluate the social dimensions of the recreational fishery in the Great Lakes. We identified management outcomes and evaluation indicators for the social dimensions of the fishery through semistructured interviews with fishery managers. Our study finds that fishery managers identified desired management outcomes and indicators at three distinct levels: individual anglers, local communities, and Great Lakes states and provinces. Managers’ input on outcomes and indicators was key to clarifying generic management goals such as “happy anglers.” Desired...

Predictors of coastal stakeholders' knowledge about seawater desalination impacts on marine ecosystems

This study investigates variables that shape coastal stakeholders knowledge about marine ecosystems and impacts of seawater desalination. The influence of trans-situational and situation-specific variables on self-assessed and factual knowledge among coastal residents and commercial marine stakeholders. Data were collected using a questionnaire based survey administered to a random sample of coastal residents and commercial marine stakeholders in eight communities in central California. Knowledge of biological features was higher than knowledge of physical and chemical processes. Both trans-situational and situation-specific variables were significant predictors of knowledge, in particular gender, education, and ocean use patterns. TV and social media were the only information sources that correlated negatively with knowledge. Predictors for distinct types of knowledge were different and provide insights that could help target specific ocean literacy gaps. The study also finds that commercial marine stakeholders were more knowledgeable than other coastal residents. Having an economic stake in the marine environment appears to be a strong motivation to be more educated about the ocean.

Social Issues and Public Acceptance of Seawater Desalination Plants

Abstract Seawater desalination has the potential to be a major 21st century source of urban potable water. In addition to advancements in the technology of desalination, public attitudes toward desalination will help shape its ultimate role in urban water supply. A growing literature on public perception of emerging water supplies has examined responses to seawater desalination in general, as well as attitudes toward new facility installation at the planning/proposal stages, and during facility operational stages. Studies from different countries topically overlap but have reached varying conclusions on public attitudes and their drivers. Demographic variables appear to be minimally helpful in predicting support for desalination, while an individual’s active use of marine resources and strong ocean attachment are consistent predictors of lack of support. Coastal residents seem aware of subsurface ocean processes and are opposed to subsurface infrastructure development that impacts these processes. Positive or negative attitudes toward the public agencies and private companies regulating or proposing/operating desalination facilities influence whether the public supports the projects themselves. While residents of affluent coastal communities demonstrate not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) attitudes, there are mixed results when the desalination facility is colocated with a coastal power plant in an industrial coastal area. Efforts to mitigate CO2 emissions from California desalination facilities did not meet with public support. Numerous areas for future research will help clarify public attitudes toward seawater desalination and could influence public policy processes for approving and setting operating conditions for new facilities.