“Institutional Analysis of Fish Stocking Decision-Making in German Recreational Angling Organizations”
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HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN Faculty of Life Sciences Department of Agricultural Economics Division of Resource Economics “Institutional Analysis of Fish Stocking Decision-Making in German Recreational Angling Organizations” Thesis in the study program: Integrated Natural Resource Management Submitted by: Ott, Edward (547854) Advisor: Prof. Dr. Konrad Hagedorn Co-Advisor: Prof. Dr. Robert Arlinghaus Berlin, 6/2/2015 Abstract i Abstract The release of wild and hatchery-reared organisms into natural and semi-natural water bodies (fish stocking) for enhancement, mitigation of human-induced perturbations, conservation and restoration/rebuilding purposes is one of the most widespread management tools to maintain fish stocks in freshwaters. At the same time it is one of the most controversially discussed practices in the pertinent literature: e.g., debating different stocking objectives, its effectiveness and possible adverse effects on wild stocks, as well as its potential to cause various conflicts either within the angling community or with other stakeholders of water resources. There is still a great scientific gap on which factors influence stocking decision-making processes and why it is so widely pursued by the angling community. In order to better understand the dynamics in fish stocking-decision making in German Recreational Fisheries this study aimed at conducting an institutional analysis based on the Institutions of Sustainability (IoS) framework. This integrative framework allowed a structured approach to dissect the stocking decision-making process on four conceptual levels: governance structures, institutions, properties of nature-related transactions, and actors. This empirical study is based on the qualitative analysis of 38 semi-structured club-interviews and three association-interviews conducted between March 2008 and May 2009. The study identified four prototypical governance structures in German Recreational Fisheries. Further specific objectives of fish-stocking measures were identified leading to the construction of an objectives framework, which displays managers’ priorities and mirrors anglers’ interests. Properties of nature related transactions, namely uncertainty, risk, rivalry and perceived scarcity were found to greatly impact on the decision-making process. The manifold properties were mostly operationalized in the form of risk and uncertainty. Several risk and uncertainty factors greatly impacted on stocking decisions. Table of Contents ii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................ i Table of Contents ........................................................................................................ ii List of Figures ............................................................................................................. v List of Tables .............................................................................................................. vi List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. viii 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Socio-Economic Importance of Recreational Fisheries .................................... 1 1.2 Fish Stocking as a Management Tool .............................................................. 2 1.3 Research Objectives and Research Questions .................................................. 3 1.4 Structure of Thesis .......................................................................................... 5 2. Historical Contemplation of German Recreational Fisheries ........................... 6 2.1 Organizational and Institutional Evolution of GRF.......................................... 6 2.1.1 Post Second World War Development in East and West Germany ........... 6 2.1.2 Development after 1990 ........................................................................... 7 2.2 Contemporary Legal Framework..................................................................... 8 3. Analytical Framework to Study GRF from a CPR Perspective ..................... 10 3.1 Recreational Fisheries as a Social Ecological System .................................... 10 3.2 Institutions of Sustainability as a Common Analytical Framework ................ 11 3.2.1 Focal Action Situation ........................................................................... 13 3.2.2 Institutions, Property Rights, Governance Structures, Property Rights Regimes ................................................................................................. 15 3.2.3 Nature-Related Transactions and their Properties ................................... 17 3.3 Common-Pool Resource Theory – Selected Aspects ..................................... 22 Table of Contents iii 3.3.1 Subtractability and Excludability as Attributes of Differentiation ........... 23 3.3.2 Stocks, Flows and Resource Units in CPRs ............................................ 25 3.3.3 Appropriation and Provision Problems in CPRs ..................................... 25 3.3.4 Externalities in CPR Appropriation ........................................................ 27 3.3.5 Externalities in CPR Provision ............................................................... 29 3.4 Decision-Making in Common Resource Regimes ......................................... 32 4. Methodological Approach ................................................................................ 34 4.1 Case Selection .............................................................................................. 34 4.2 Data Collection Methods .............................................................................. 36 4.3 Data Analysis ............................................................................................... 37 5. Results and Interpretation ............................................................................... 43 5.1 Regional and Local Characteristics ............................................................... 43 5.1.1 Saxony – Vogtland (South-East) ............................................................ 43 5.1.2 Bavaria – Hof (South-West) ................................................................... 44 5.1.3 Brandenburg – Prignitz (North-East) ...................................................... 44 5.1.4 Lower Saxony – Lüchow-Dannenberg (North-West) ............................. 45 5.2 Action Situation in Relation to Governance Structures .................................. 49 5.2.1 Vogtland (SE) ........................................................................................ 49 5.2.2 Hof (SW) ............................................................................................... 54 5.2.3 Prignitz (NE) ......................................................................................... 56 5.2.4 Lüchow-Dannenberg (NW) ................................................................... 58 5.2.5 Summary ............................................................................................... 60 5.3 Stocking Objectives ...................................................................................... 63 5.3.1 Member Satisfaction .............................................................................. 65 5.3.2 Enhancement ......................................................................................... 67 5.3.3 Stock Rebuilding ................................................................................... 68 Table of Contents iv 5.3.4 Compensation ........................................................................................ 68 5.3.5 Conservation.......................................................................................... 70 5.3.6 Water Enhancement ............................................................................... 71 5.4 Perceived Risk and Uncertainty in Decision-Making Processes ..................... 74 5.4.1 Risk Factors ........................................................................................... 74 5.4.2 Uncertainty Factors ................................................................................ 81 5.5 Responses to Risk and Uncertainty ............................................................... 87 6. Discussion, Main Findings and Concluding Remarks ..................................... 95 6.1 Discussion .................................................................................................... 95 6.2 Main Findings and Conclusion .................................................................... 105 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 108 Appendices .............................................................................................................. 117 Table of Contents ................................................................................................. 117 Appendix I ................................................................................................................ I List of Tables ......................................................................................................... I Appendix II ..........................................................................................................