Revealing and Recommending Best Management Practices for Volunteer River Herring Monitoring Programs in Maine and Massachusetts Seacoast Communities

Citizen science is a popular data collection method applied and relied on by state, university, and citizen researchers. For example, in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, volunteer monitoring programs and harvesters are... [ view full abstract ]

Citizen science is a popular data collection method applied and relied on by state, university, and citizen researchers. For example, in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, volunteer monitoring programs and harvesters are the primary sources of river herring population data. Under these programs, harvesters and community members count fish at designated monitoring sites. Count data can then be used by state natural resource managers, policymakers, and other nongovernmental organizations to assess stock status and determine future management options. Beyond data for policy development, volunteer programs often yield cultural, economic, and ecological benefits. Also inherent to citizen monitoring programs are programmatic, economic, technical, and geographic barriers that can discourage participation, decreasing program effectiveness. Consequentially, as citizen science programs are increasingly implemented and relied on to produce data for natural resource management, it is important to assess current schemes facilitating them. This study conducted field observations, informal and formal interviews, and a regional survey at and of river herring-monitoring sites and participants to verify their efficacy, thus sustainability. Current program structures, level of communication, perception of resulting data, preferred level and form of participation of volunteers, and economic, geographic, and technical barriers affecting participation and program success were some of the factors examined. Results were used to reveal and collate best management practices that were provided to state and municipal officials, non-governmental organizations, harvesters, and volunteers aiming to improve program management.
This poster presentation will discuss the best management practices identified through this research and how they may be applied in different citizen science programs.