Examining the Presence and Effects of Coherence and Fragmentation in the Gulf of Maine Fishery Management Network

Authors

Derek Katznelson
Antonia Sohns
Dongkyu Kim
Evelyn Roozee
William R Donner
Andrew M Song
Jasper R de Vries
Owen Temby
Gordon M Hickey

Language

English

Publication Date

1-1-2025

Journal

Regional Environmental Change

DOI

10.1007/s10113-024-02328-y

PMID

39650802

PMCID

PMC11624248

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

12-6-2024

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Natural resource management networks cohere due to mutual dependencies and fragment, in part, due to the perceived risks of interaction. However, research on these networks has tended to accept coherence a priori rather than problematizing dependence, and few studies exist on interorganizational risk perception. This article presents the results of a study operationalizing these concepts and measuring the distribution of three types of dependence (capital, legitimacy, and regulatory) and two types of perceived risk (performance and sanction) among nearly fifty stakeholder groups and organizations participating in the management of fisheries in the binational Gulf of Maine. The analysis reveals an organizationally diverse network with several stakeholder types participating, with communications clustered binationally, with low levels of perceived risk in interacting, and interdependencies cohering the network. The types of interorganizational dependence present varied across dyadic relationships, but legitimacy dependence, based on shared understandings that organizations should work together, was the most present and had the largest effect on collaboration-oriented network traits. Sanction risk was more common than performance risk but had the most substantial negative effect. The results suggest an opportunity for additional studies of interorganizational dependance and perceived risk to operationalize and measure the sources of network coherence and fragmentation and their effect on collaboration.

Keywords

Transboundary fishery governance, Risk, Gulf of Maine, Networks, Collaboration

Published Open-Access

yes

Recommended Citation

Katznelson, Derek; Sohns, Antonia; Kim, Dongkyu; et al., "Examining the Presence and Effects of Coherence and Fragmentation in the Gulf of Maine Fishery Management Network" (2025). Faculty, Staff and Student Publications. 6561.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthgsbs_docs/6561