title: Getting past the blame game: Convergence and divergence in perceived threats to salmon resources among anglers and indigenous fishers in Canada's lower Fraser River.
abstract: This article examines threat perception as a potential dimension of inter-group conflict over salmon fisheries in Canada's Fraser River watershed. Environmental changes and the entry of new user groups are putting pressure on both the resource and regulators, as well as threatening to exacerbate conflicts, notably between First Nation (indigenous) fishers and non-indigenous recreational anglers. While resource conflicts are often superficially conceptualized as cases of competing interests, we build on recent studies suggesting that conflicts are associated with deeper cognitive and perceptual differences among user groups. We report findings from 422 riverbank interviews with First Nation fishers and recreational anglers focusing on perceptions of threat to the fisheries. Responses reveal both substantial agreement and disagreement in threat perceptions between the two groups. These patterns provide a potential roadmap for consensus building, and suggest possible avenues for policy-makers to defuse the "blame game" that often dominates this type of conflict.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada. vivian.nguyen@carleton.ca.
authors.forename: Vivian M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Ottawa, 120 University Private, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
authors.forename: Scott G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Hinch
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada.
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cooke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001290:Attitude; D001955:British Columbia; D032921:Consensus; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D005398:Fisheries / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010465:Perception; D044382:Population Groups / Q000523:psychology; D011998:Recreation / Q000523:psychology; D040841:Resource Allocation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*; D045483:Rivers; D012474:Salmon / Q000254:growth & development*
keywords: Co-management; Conflict management; Consensus building; Mental models; Pacific Salmon; Threat perception