Fisheries are increasingly managed with involvement of fishers and other stakeholders. Stakeholders are especially critical where managers lack full knowledge of the system to be managed, resources to gather additional information, and/or resources to monitor and enforce compliance. Such ‘data-limited fisheries’ comprise more than 80% of the total global fish catch and face challenges to maintaining sustainable harvest rates. Sustainable management of data-limited fisheries may be improved by decision support that informs assessment and management choices and that is available to fishers and managers. Here we report results from a field experiment conducted with Australian fisheries stakeholders. The experiment tested FishPath, an interactive decision-support software tool for data-limited fisheries, and its influence on stakeholder buy-in to management. Participants were provided with a hypothetical fishery that mimicked commonly encountered real-world data- and capacity-limitations. In Stage 1, to establish baseline levels of buy-in, we presented participants with a shortlist of management options tailored to the fishery; participants did not interact with FishPath. In Stage 2, to test the effect of FishPath use, participants collectively input the hypothetical fishery into FishPath; the tool then presented the same management options seen in Stage 1. In Stage 3, to assess the effect of expert support, participants were randomly assigned to a control group and a treatment group after a common introduction to FishPath output. The control group explored the output without additional support, while the treatment group explored output with support from a FishPath expert. After each stage, participants were asked to rate: 1) their support for an ongoing process to select management options from the shortlist; 2) how easy or hard they expected management of the fishery to be; and 3) how effective they expected management of the fishery to be. Initial findings indicate that while FishPath use does not significantly increase stakeholder support for management (possibly due to ceiling effects, as support was high in Stage 1), it does significantly increase participants’ perceptions of the ease and effectiveness of management.

Fisheries are increasingly managed with involvement of fishers and other stakeholders. Stakeholders are especially critical where managers lack full knowledge of the system to be managed, resources to gather additional information, and/or resources to monitor and enforce compliance. Such ‘data-limited fisheries’ comprise more than 80% of the total global fish catch and face challenges to maintaining sustainable harvest rates. Sustainable management of data-limited fisheries may be improved by decision support that informs assessment and management choices and that is available to fishers and managers. Here we report results from a field experiment conducted with Australian fisheries stakeholders. The experiment tested FishPath, an interactive decision-support software tool for data-limited fisheries, and its influence on stakeholder buy-in to management. Participants were provided with a hypothetical fishery that mimicked commonly encountered real-world data- and capacity-limitations. In Stage 1, to establish baseline levels of buy-in, we presented participants with a shortlist of management options tailored to the fishery; participants did not interact with FishPath. In Stage 2, to test the effect of FishPath use, participants collectively input the hypothetical fishery into FishPath; the tool then presented the same management options seen in Stage 1. In Stage 3, to assess the effect of expert support, participants were randomly assigned to a control group and a treatment group after a common introduction to FishPath output. The control group explored the output without additional support, while the treatment group explored output with support from a FishPath expert. After each stage, participants were asked to rate: 1) their support for an ongoing process to select management options from the shortlist; 2) how easy or hard they expected management of the fishery to be; and 3) how effective they expected management of the fishery to be. Initial findings indicate that while FishPath use does not significantly increase stakeholder support for management (possibly due to ceiling effects, as support was high in Stage 1), it does significantly increase participants’ perceptions of the ease and effectiveness of management.

Fisheries are increasingly managed with involvement of fishers and other stakeholders. Stakeholders are especially critical where managers lack full knowledge of the system to be managed, resources to gather additional information, and/or resources to monitor and enforce compliance. Such ‘data-limited fisheries’ comprise more than 80% of the total global fish catch and face challenges to maintaining sustainable harvest rates. Sustainable management of data-limited fisheries may be improved by decision support that informs assessment and management choices and that is available to fishers and managers. Here we report results from a field experiment conducted with Australian fisheries stakeholders. The experiment tested FishPath, an interactive decision-support software tool for data-limited fisheries, and its influence on stakeholder buy-in to management. Participants were provided with a hypothetical fishery that mimicked commonly encountered real-world data- and capacity-limitations. In Stage 1, to establish baseline levels of buy-in, we presented participants with a shortlist of management options tailored to the fishery; participants did not interact with FishPath. In Stage 2, to test the effect of FishPath use, participants collectively input the hypothetical fishery into FishPath; the tool then presented the same management options seen in Stage 1. In Stage 3, to assess the effect of expert support, participants were randomly assigned to a control group and a treatment group after a common introduction to FishPath output. The control group explored the output without additional support, while the treatment group explored output with support from a FishPath expert. After each stage, participants were asked to rate: 1) their support for an ongoing process to select management options from the shortlist; 2) how easy or hard they expected management of the fishery to be; and 3) how effective they expected management of the fishery to be. Initial findings indicate that while FishPath use does not significantly increase stakeholder support for management (possibly due to ceiling effects, as support was high in Stage 1), it does significantly increase participants’ perceptions of the ease and effectiveness of management.

Fisheries are increasingly managed with involvement of fishers and other stakeholders. Stakeholders are especially critical where managers lack full knowledge of the system to be managed, resources to gather additional information, and/or resources to monitor and enforce compliance. Such ‘data-limited fisheries’ comprise more than 80% of the total global fish catch and face challenges to maintaining sustainable harvest rates. Sustainable management of data-limited fisheries may be improved by decision support that informs assessment and management choices and that is available to fishers and managers. Here we report results from a field experiment conducted with Australian fisheries stakeholders. The experiment tested FishPath, an interactive decision-support software tool for data-limited fisheries, and its influence on stakeholder buy-in to management. Participants were provided with a hypothetical fishery that mimicked commonly encountered real-world data- and capacity-limitations. In Stage 1, to establish baseline levels of buy-in, we presented participants with a shortlist of management options tailored to the fishery; participants did not interact with FishPath. In Stage 2, to test the effect of FishPath use, participants collectively input the hypothetical fishery into FishPath; the tool then presented the same management options seen in Stage 1. In Stage 3, to assess the effect of expert support, participants were randomly assigned to a control group and a treatment group after a common introduction to FishPath output. The control group explored the output without additional support, while the treatment group explored output with support from a FishPath expert. After each stage, participants were asked to rate: 1) their support for an ongoing process to select management options from the shortlist; 2) how easy or hard they expected management of the fishery to be; and 3) how effective they expected management of the fishery to be. Initial findings indicate that while FishPath use does not significantly increase stakeholder support for management (possibly due to ceiling effects, as support was high in Stage 1), it does significantly increase participants’ perceptions of the ease and effectiveness of management.

Fisheries are increasingly managed with involvement of fishers and other stakeholders. Stakeholders are especially critical where managers lack full knowledge of the system to be managed, resources to gather additional information, and/or resources to monitor and enforce compliance. Such ‘data-limited fisheries’ comprise more than 80% of the total global fish catch and face challenges to maintaining sustainable harvest rates. Sustainable management of data-limited fisheries may be improved by decision support that informs assessment and management choices and that is available to fishers and managers. Here we report results from a field experiment conducted with Australian fisheries stakeholders. The experiment tested FishPath, an interactive decision-support software tool for data-limited fisheries, and its influence on stakeholder buy-in to management. Participants were provided with a hypothetical fishery that mimicked commonly encountered real-world data- and capacity-limitations. In Stage 1, to establish baseline levels of buy-in, we presented participants with a shortlist of management options tailored to the fishery; participants did not interact with FishPath. In Stage 2, to test the effect of FishPath use, participants collectively input the hypothetical fishery into FishPath; the tool then presented the same management options seen in Stage 1. In Stage 3, to assess the effect of expert support, participants were randomly assigned to a control group and a treatment group after a common introduction to FishPath output. The control group explored the output without additional support, while the treatment group explored output with support from a FishPath expert. After each stage, participants were asked to rate: 1) their support for an ongoing process to select management options from the shortlist; 2) how easy or hard they expected management of the fishery to be; and 3) how effective they expected management of the fishery to be. Initial findings indicate that while FishPath use does not significantly increase stakeholder support for management (possibly due to ceiling effects, as support was high in Stage 1), it does significantly increase participants’ perceptions of the ease and effectiveness of management.

Fisheries are increasingly managed with involvement of fishers and other stakeholders. Stakeholders are especially critical where managers lack full knowledge of the system to be managed, resources to gather additional information, and/or resources to monitor and enforce compliance. Such ‘data-limited fisheries’ comprise more than 80% of the total global fish catch and face challenges to maintaining sustainable harvest rates. Sustainable management of data-limited fisheries may be improved by decision support that informs assessment and management choices and that is available to fishers and managers. Here we report results from a field experiment conducted with Australian fisheries stakeholders. The experiment tested FishPath, an interactive decision-support software tool for data-limited fisheries, and its influence on stakeholder buy-in to management. Participants were provided with a hypothetical fishery that mimicked commonly encountered real-world data- and capacity-limitations. In Stage 1, to establish baseline levels of buy-in, we presented participants with a shortlist of management options tailored to the fishery; participants did not interact with FishPath. In Stage 2, to test the effect of FishPath use, participants collectively input the hypothetical fishery into FishPath; the tool then presented the same management options seen in Stage 1. In Stage 3, to assess the effect of expert support, participants were randomly assigned to a control group and a treatment group after a common introduction to FishPath output. The control group explored the output without additional support, while the treatment group explored output with support from a FishPath expert. After each stage, participants were asked to rate: 1) their support for an ongoing process to select management options from the shortlist; 2) how easy or hard they expected management of the fishery to be; and 3) how effective they expected management of the fishery to be. Initial findings indicate that while FishPath use does not significantly increase stakeholder support for management (possibly due to ceiling effects, as support was high in Stage 1), it does significantly increase participants’ perceptions of the ease and effectiveness of management.

Fisheries are increasingly managed with involvement of fishers and other stakeholders. Stakeholders are especially critical where managers lack full knowledge of the system to be managed, resources to gather additional information, and/or resources to monitor and enforce compliance. Such ‘data-limited fisheries’ comprise more than 80% of the total global fish catch and face challenges to maintaining sustainable harvest rates. Sustainable management of data-limited fisheries may be improved by decision support that informs assessment and management choices and that is available to fishers and managers. Here we report results from a field experiment conducted with Australian fisheries stakeholders. The experiment tested FishPath, an interactive decision-support software tool for data-limited fisheries, and its influence on stakeholder buy-in to management. Participants were provided with a hypothetical fishery that mimicked commonly encountered real-world data- and capacity-limitations. In Stage 1, to establish baseline levels of buy-in, we presented participants with a shortlist of management options tailored to the fishery; participants did not interact with FishPath. In Stage 2, to test the effect of FishPath use, participants collectively input the hypothetical fishery into FishPath; the tool then presented the same management options seen in Stage 1. In Stage 3, to assess the effect of expert support, participants were randomly assigned to a control group and a treatment group after a common introduction to FishPath output. The control group explored the output without additional support, while the treatment group explored output with support from a FishPath expert. After each stage, participants were asked to rate: 1) their support for an ongoing process to select management options from the shortlist; 2) how easy or hard they expected management of the fishery to be; and 3) how effective they expected management of the fishery to be. Initial findings indicate that while FishPath use does not significantly increase stakeholder support for management (possibly due to ceiling effects, as support was high in Stage 1), it does significantly increase participants’ perceptions of the ease and effectiveness of management.

Fisheries are increasingly managed with involvement of fishers and other stakeholders. Stakeholders are especially critical where managers lack full knowledge of the system to be managed, resources to gather additional information, and/or resources to monitor and enforce compliance. Such ‘data-limited fisheries’ comprise more than 80% of the total global fish catch and face challenges to maintaining sustainable harvest rates. Sustainable management of data-limited fisheries may be improved by decision support that informs assessment and management choices and that is available to fishers and managers. Here we report results from a field experiment conducted with Australian fisheries stakeholders. The experiment tested FishPath, an interactive decision-support software tool for data-limited fisheries, and its influence on stakeholder buy-in to management. Participants were provided with a hypothetical fishery that mimicked commonly encountered real-world data- and capacity-limitations. In Stage 1, to establish baseline levels of buy-in, we presented participants with a shortlist of management options tailored to the fishery; participants did not interact with FishPath. In Stage 2, to test the effect of FishPath use, participants collectively input the hypothetical fishery into FishPath; the tool then presented the same management options seen in Stage 1. In Stage 3, to assess the effect of expert support, participants were randomly assigned to a control group and a treatment group after a common introduction to FishPath output. The control group explored the output without additional support, while the treatment group explored output with support from a FishPath expert. After each stage, participants were asked to rate: 1) their support for an ongoing process to select management options from the shortlist; 2) how easy or hard they expected management of the fishery to be; and 3) how effective they expected management of the fishery to be. Initial findings indicate that while FishPath use does not significantly increase stakeholder support for management (possibly due to ceiling effects, as support was high in Stage 1), it does significantly increase participants’ perceptions of the ease and effectiveness of management.

Fisheries are increasingly managed with involvement of fishers and other stakeholders. Stakeholders are especially critical where managers lack full knowledge of the system to be managed, resources to gather additional information, and/or resources to monitor and enforce compliance. Such ‘data-limited fisheries’ comprise more than 80% of the total global fish catch and face challenges to maintaining sustainable harvest rates. Sustainable management of data-limited fisheries may be improved by decision support that informs assessment and management choices and that is available to fishers and managers. Here we report results from a field experiment conducted with Australian fisheries stakeholders. The experiment tested FishPath, an interactive decision-support software tool for data-limited fisheries, and its influence on stakeholder buy-in to management. Participants were provided with a hypothetical fishery that mimicked commonly encountered real-world data- and capacity-limitations. In Stage 1, to establish baseline levels of buy-in, we presented participants with a shortlist of management options tailored to the fishery; participants did not interact with FishPath. In Stage 2, to test the effect of FishPath use, participants collectively input the hypothetical fishery into FishPath; the tool then presented the same management options seen in Stage 1. In Stage 3, to assess the effect of expert support, participants were randomly assigned to a control group and a treatment group after a common introduction to FishPath output. The control group explored the output without additional support, while the treatment group explored output with support from a FishPath expert. After each stage, participants were asked to rate: 1) their support for an ongoing process to select management options from the shortlist; 2) how easy or hard they expected management of the fishery to be; and 3) how effective they expected management of the fishery to be. Initial findings indicate that while FishPath use does not significantly increase stakeholder support for management (possibly due to ceiling effects, as support was high in Stage 1), it does significantly increase participants’ perceptions of the ease and effectiveness of management.