Doctoral Dissertation Research: Disjuncture in Perceptions of Success in Collective Action for Natural Resource Management: The Case of Hokkaido, Japan

印第安纳州大学博士生Shingo Hamada在Richard Wilk博士的指导下，将研究不同社会群体如何看待和定义成功的海洋保护的可变性以及这种可变性对实际海洋资源恢复的影响。该项目的具体重点将是为什么鲱鱼恢复项目在日本的沿海社区在过去的二十年中，尽管经济和生态效益不确定的发展。这项研究将有助于更好地了解多个利益相关者参与保护工作的条件以及他们参与的累积生态效应。研究人员将在日本北方北海道的一个渔业社区进行为期13个月的实地考察，在那里他将专注于鲱鱼产业。鲱鱼产业在2011年地震和海啸之后尤为重要，因为在其他渔业面临风险的情况下，鲱鱼产业得以持续。Hamada将进行多个半结构化访谈，并在与保护相关的活动中进行参与式观察，例如重新造林活动和孵化场活动。他将招募范围广泛的线人，包括渔民、海鲜企业家、造林项目参与者和组织者、渔业科学家和市政管理人员。研究人员将运用一系列社会科学研究方法，确定行为者之间在鲱鱼和鲱鱼捕捞的文化价值上的一致性和差异，并确定社会文化背景如何影响恢复项目的成功。这项研究很重要，因为许多保护项目未能实现社会和环境的可持续性。这项研究的结果将有助于建立理论，是什么带来了改善人与环境的关系和成功的集体环境决策。这项研究也将有助于社会科学家的博士培养。

Indiana University doctoral student Shingo Hamada, with the guidance of Dr. Richard Wilk, will undertake research on variability in how different social groups perceive and define successful marine conservation and the effects of that variability on actual marine resource recovery. The project's specific focus will be why herring restoration projects in Japan have developed in coastal communities in the last two decades, despite uncertain benefits both economically and ecologically. This research will contribute to improved understanding of the conditions in which multiple stakeholders engage in conservation efforts and the cumulative ecological effects of their engagement.The researcher will undertake thirteen months of fieldwork in a fishing community in Hokkaido, northern Japan, where he will focus on the herring industry. The herring industry is particularly important in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami because it has persisted while other fisheries are at risk. Hamada will conduct multiple semi-structured interviews and carry out participant observation in conservation-related events, such as reforestation activities and hatchery operations. He will recruit a wide range of informants, including fishers, seafood entrepreneurs, reforestation project participants and organizers, fishery scientists, and municipal administrators. The researcher will apply a series of social scientific research methods to determine the agreements and variations in the cultural values of herring and herring fishing among actors, and to identify how socio-cultural contexts influence the success of the restoration projects.The research is important because many conservation projects fail to achieve social and environmental sustainability. Findings from this study will contribute to building theory on what brings about improved human-environment relations and successful collective environmental decision-making. The research also will contribute to the doctoral training of a social scientist.