Figure 1
Map of Hawai‘i co-management areas referenced in this study.
Table 1
Total number of completed interviews by sector (N=18).
| Interviewee sector | Total |
|---|---|
| State government | 6 |
| NGO/Foundation | 4 |
| Community | 3 |
| Federal Government | 2 |
| Academia | 2 |
| Consulting | 1 |
Table 2
Barriers to fisheries co-management implementation in Hawai‘i coral reef fisheries, (N=18).
| Barrier | Total respondents mentioning theme |
|---|---|
| Agency relations, capacity, and operations | 17/18 |
| |
| Planning and decision-making process requirements | 13/18 |
| |
| Organized opposition from special interest groups | 10/18 |
| |
| Consensus building | 10/18 |
|
Table 3
Selected quotes from interview respondents, coded by subthemes, and organized under general barriers to co-management of coral reef fisheries in Hawai‘i (N=18).
| Barrier | Exemplar quotes |
|---|---|
| Agency relations, capacity and operations (17) | “We’ve done too many unfunded mandates. The Legislature has not come to the table… Where is the will? There’s a lot of lip service… Look at our budget – one-half of 1% of the state’s budget.” (Lack of enforcement and management capacity) |
| “Yes it is. Just an aside on this, in some respects Hawai‘i is very much behind a lot of areas in the Pacific just in terms of having really effective nearshore fisheries management. We’re almost like the fourth world here, not even the third world. If you look at what we consider third world countries and you look at their marine resource stuff, and you’re like whoa, they’re doing that? And they don’t allow that?” (Institutional design flaws) | |
| “I think we could do more with what we have, but it takes leadership [within the agency]. And that’s the key. Right now there’s none so people are off doing their own little thing. There’s no concerted effort to focus on various things. If we had an administrator that said ‘Hey, Hā‘ena is moving a long ways, they’ve got to get this going, you and you and you need to go over there and work with the community, and help come up with some drafts and let’s move forward with creating those rules, then it would get done right?’ But nobody is doing that right now and as far as I can tell, there’s no light at the end of tunnel, not in the near term anyway.” (Organizational culture resistant to change) | |
| “Unfortunately right now it’s a lack of institutionalized enforcement, it’s just a free for all.” Lack of enforcement and management capacity) | |
| “And in the other side, there hasn’t been a willingness for anyone in DAR to participate – no one in DAR wants to participate. There’s that whole dynamic. I don’t know how you crack that nut. “(Lack of trust in government) | |
| Planning and decision-making process requirements (13) | “It’s a long process. It’s two or three years just to go through the process. I’ve been explained the process. I’d like to have it figured out…At some point I’ll figure out institutionally, you know, it has to go the attorney general, then it waits six months…” (Administrative rulemaking process too long and onerous) |
| “I think the original legislation I take issue with because I think there’s lack of clarity, a lack of definitions in what they’re requiring, what they’re asking. It just says to work with the department…There’s such a range, well I’m working with you by providing you with this management plan or am I working with you by inviting you to every single community meeting? There’s no layout…” (Ambiguous enabling legislation) | |
| “As far the other communities that could go through the Land Board and not actually have to have their own statute, because that is an option, I think that goes back to a lack of a clear process. There might be communities that are interested but it’s a difficult process to navigate because it hasn’t even been set officially by DLNR, and also it says you have to have a management plan. They are probably going to need support to do these things. And so on that end, there needs capacity and on the state end it’s been five years budget cuts and staffing cuts, so it’s very difficult...” (Administrative rulemaking process too long and onerous) | |
| Organized opposition from special interest groups (10) | “And one of the things unfortunately about government at least on the state level is it’s almost axiomatic if somebody almost in the singular is strongly enough opposed to something, government wilts. And certainly if you get an organized group of people, even though you maybe have lots of people in favor of it that are not in somebody’s face and maybe it’s obvious that it’s the right thing to do, it doesn’t take much to make government back off.” (State government support dwindles under any opposition) |
| “Well, I mean, just the Hā‘ena rules in particular, when they were going through the legislature, we had a bunch of commercial/recreational operators, boating recreational operators from Maui show up and testify against the Hā‘ena bill you know, because they were afraid of the precedent it was setting to give community members a say in regulating commercial activities.“ (Organized interests oppose any fisheries regulation) | |
| “I think some of these rights to fish groups are very… against community-based fisheries.” (Organized interests oppose any fisheries regulation) | |
| “You’ve got a real strong advantage in that most fishermen in Hawai‘i, most people that have any traditional roots will not try to tell another community what to do, what not to do. That’s your place, you do what you want to do. But there is a commercial fishing lobby in Honolulu that will show up to any hearing at any site and argue against it just on the basis of the constitutional right to fish and that is usually a problem although I think that can be overcome.” (Organized interests oppose any fisheries regulation) | |
| Consensus-building (10) | “I think you know, Miloli‘i is a good example of where there was not a community that was on the same page, even though they had the legislation… I think to think that you’ll have a community that is 100% on the same page is foolish, it will not happen. But I think you can hope for a large percentage of buy-in and a good process and you’ve vetted it.” (Stakeholder factions and diversity complicate consensus building) |
| “The community members often don’t get consensus.” (Insufficient outreach and resources to build consensus) |
Table 4
Comparative Performance of Institutional Arrangements Related to Coral Reef Fisheries Management Costs (Transformation and Transaction costs) in Hawai‘i, (adapted from Ostrom et al. (1993).
| Co-management | Centralized management | |
|---|---|---|
| Intermediate performance criteria, provision costs | ||
| Transaction costs | ||
| Coordination costs | High | Low |
| Information costs | ||
| Time and place | High | High |
| Scientific | High | High |
| Strategic costs | ||
| Free riding | Med | High |
| Rent seeking | High | High |
| Corruption | N.A. | N.A. |
| Transformation costs | High | High |
Figure 2
The transformation and transaction costs associated with governance transitions.