30
M. C. Mifsud
• Some stakeholders did not want to discuss the effect of the new MPAs on their
livelihoods—mostly because the current ones are considered to not be working
at all and because they wanted to know the regulations which will be in effect
beforehand.
• Most stakeholders are concerned about the importance of sustainability of the
marine environment—they understand the importance of rules to achieve this.
• Spearfishing is an issue that has to be properly regulated and enforced—It has
been identified as a problem by both fishermen and divers.
• Perception is that enforcement is not done at all. The Administrative Law
Enforcement is understaffed and requires more resources.
• Regulations are at best unclear or worse inexistent to most stakeholders.
• Recreational fishermen also appear to be perceived as problematic to the
sustainability of the sea.
• There are communication and trust issues between some stakeholders and the
authorities.
• There are communication and trust issues between some stakeholders.
• There is mistrust in a number of marine studies especially from the fishing
community.
• Bunkering is frequently mentioned as destructive to marine life—permanent
moorings mentioned as a mitigating measure.
• Stakeholders want to be more involved in the decision making level not only at
the consultee level.
5 Recommendations
Most recommendations involve management approaches to be taken in order to
adopt a participatory attitude and involvement from the stakeholders concerned. The
involvement of Higher Education Institutions is important as neutral representatives
of goodwill and objective expertise and to be able to train the trainers in communication skills and to clarify objectives. The following table represents the main
recommendations and the authority/higher education institution that should take the
lead in the initiative (Fig. 3).
6 Conclusion
This research project, highlighted sustainability concerns pertaining to the local
stakeholders involved in the sea. These concerns require clarification, better understanding and increased engagement from the fishing community. In this phase of
the research the concerns of the stakeholders with regard to the introduction of new
MPAs were mapped. In the next phase the university together with other authorities
will need to design outreach activities in order to address these lacunae in the form
M. C. Mifsud
• Some stakeholders did not want to discuss the effect of the new MPAs on their
livelihoods—mostly because the current ones are considered to not be working
at all and because they wanted to know the regulations which will be in effect
beforehand.
• Most stakeholders are concerned about the importance of sustainability of the
marine environment—they understand the importance of rules to achieve this.
• Spearfishing is an issue that has to be properly regulated and enforced—It has
been identified as a problem by both fishermen and divers.
• Perception is that enforcement is not done at all. The Administrative Law
Enforcement is understaffed and requires more resources.
• Regulations are at best unclear or worse inexistent to most stakeholders.
• Recreational fishermen also appear to be perceived as problematic to the
sustainability of the sea.
• There are communication and trust issues between some stakeholders and the
authorities.
• There are communication and trust issues between some stakeholders.
• There is mistrust in a number of marine studies especially from the fishing
community.
• Bunkering is frequently mentioned as destructive to marine life—permanent
moorings mentioned as a mitigating measure.
• Stakeholders want to be more involved in the decision making level not only at
the consultee level.
5 Recommendations
Most recommendations involve management approaches to be taken in order to
adopt a participatory attitude and involvement from the stakeholders concerned. The
involvement of Higher Education Institutions is important as neutral representatives
of goodwill and objective expertise and to be able to train the trainers in communication skills and to clarify objectives. The following table represents the main
recommendations and the authority/higher education institution that should take the
lead in the initiative (Fig. 3).
6 Conclusion
This research project, highlighted sustainability concerns pertaining to the local
stakeholders involved in the sea. These concerns require clarification, better understanding and increased engagement from the fishing community. In this phase of
the research the concerns of the stakeholders with regard to the introduction of new
MPAs were mapped. In the next phase the university together with other authorities
will need to design outreach activities in order to address these lacunae in the form