| This dissertation explores the boundaries between science and non-science, including different forms of expertise, when citizens with experience-based knowledge (EBK) are included in the science policy process through cooperative research. This study focused on industry-science cooperative research between fishermen and scientists in the Northeastern U.S.;Ethnographic research primarily consisted of semi-structured and informal interviews and direct observation of the science-policy process, as well as a review of relevant fisheries science and management documents. Five different types of cooperative research with fishermen were examined in eight case studies: real-time data collection in the Illex squid fishery (chapter 4), the Northeast Regional Cod Tagging Program (chapter 5), gear selectivity/bycatch reduction research in the Loligo squid and whiting fisheries (chapter 6), industry-based surveys in New England and the Mid-Atlantic (chapter 7), and an industry-science advisory panel to improve the federal resource survey (chapter 8). Stakeholder perceptions regarding cooperative research were examined using the social science method discourse analysis (chapter 9).;This dissertation concludes that fishermen and their experience-based knowledge are being incorporated at important stages into scientific research through cooperative research. Cooperative research functions as an effective boundary institution. It allows for translation, communication, and mediation across the boundaries of diverse knowledge cultures. Cooperative research makes fishermen's knowledge more relevant or usable in the large-scale fisheries science policy process either by making it fit the requirements of the scientific method or by aggregating it to a scale more compatible with science-based management.;This research found that capacity building (such as learning or the sharing of expertise between fishermen and scientists) and boundary-spanners (those individuals who are able to span the boundary between science and non-science) facilitate the effectiveness of cooperative research. In addition, the peer review process is a critical site of boundary management. However, peer review of cooperative research is not dominated entirely by scientists, but instead includes an "extended peer review" process that includes participation by fishermen and other stakeholders. |
