Stakeholder engagement and adaptive management

Stakeholder category

Examples of stakeholders

Suggested roles in developing and managing whale watching

Small scale tour operators

These can include fishermen taking tourists out on a part time basis, dive operators, charter fishing boat operators or marine naturalists, and will usually involve businesses of 5 or fewer part- or full time staff and small vessels (e.g.  maximum 20 passengers).

Offering tours, marketing tours, participating in training and capacity building workshops; collaborating with researchers by hosting researchers on board and/or contributing sightings/photo data; contributing to the local community by employing locals, boosting local support businesses.

Medium sized tour operators

Whale watching fleets, marine tour companies or charter yacht companies –usually employing 5 or more (part and full-time staff) and using vessels of different sizes – ranging from zodiacs to larger specialized whale watching vessels

Offering tours, marketing tours, participating in training and capacity building workshops; collaborating with researchers by hosting researchers on board and/or contributing sightings/photo data; contributing to the local community by employing locals, boosting local support businesses.

Large and Multinational corporations

Cruise ship companies that operate live-aboard cruises that may incorporate whale watching (e.g. in Alaska, the Caribbean or the Antarctic).

Offering tours, marketing tours, collaborating with medium and small tour operators to allow local businesses to benefit from the tourism brought to the region; collaborating with researchers by hosting researchers on board and/or contributing sightings/photo data;

Supporting businesses

Hotels and resorts where whale watching customers stay, restaurants and snack shops near embarkation points, transportation services to and from the whale watching location (e.g. ferries, charter airlines), boat maintenance providers, souvenir shops and artisans supplying those shops, etc.

Providing accommodation, food and services to whale watch tourists and operators, and benefitting from additional business generated by whale watching in the community.  Raising awareness of whales and dolphins and their conservation needs by promoting whale and dolphin-related products with locals and visitors.

Government Agencies

Marine park authorities; tourism and marketing boards; state, local or provincial governments; national ministries of tourism/natural resources/environment

Collaborating with other stakeholders to devise a management strategy; ensuring that strategies have the legal backing to be effective; working with law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to ensure effective monitoring and collaboration.

Law enforcement agencies

Park rangers; coastguard; navy; marine police

Patrolling the areas where whale watching is conducted to monitor compliance with regulations designed to protect tourists and whales and dolphins.

Local or regional residents/stakeholder groups

Local resident stakeholder groups, national or international (whale and dolphin) conservation NGOs/associations/charities; Tour operators’ associations; dive clubs, etc.

Representing the interests of the local community and environment, as well as the whales and dolphins, to ensure that whale watching activities do not have a negative impact on the community and local natural resources.

Natural Science Researchers

Wildlife biologists, ecologists, oceanographers; These can be associated with academic institutions like universities, or NGOs.

In the early phases of development, researchers can help to conduct baseline surveys on the target whale/dolphin populations, and an environmental impact assessment of whale watching activities.  Once the industry is established, they can assist local government and other stakeholders with the continual monitoring of potential impact on target whale or dolphin populations.

Social Science Researchers

Economists and social scientists studying tourism and communities. These can be associated with academic institutions like universities, or NGOs.

In the early phases of development, researchers can help to conduct baseline market surveys on the demand and potential market for whale watching.  Once the industry is established, they can assist local government and other stakeholders with the continual monitoring of the whale watching industry to measure socio-economic developments and trends in the industry. They can also help to develop educational materials and brochures

Category of cost

Examples

Measures that can be taken to mitigate the cost

Environmental

E.g. water and air pollution from increased road, air or vessel traffic, increased waste of all kinds from increased human presence in the targeted community

Ensure that operators are adhering to the best environmental practices with regard to engine maintenance, waste disposal, recycling, etc.

Biological

E.g. the cumulative impacts of repeated disturbance of the target animals’ critical functions such as resting, feeding and socializing. These can be difficult to measure and require expertise from researchers. Managers may decide to use a precautionary principal if there is even suspicion that a limit of acceptable change has been reached, rather than waiting for measurable proof that a population is declining, or behaviours and energy budgets are significantly impacted.

• Establish the ‘limits of acceptable change’ for the target area and how these will be measured or defined: for example- how many vessels/tours per day lead to a risk of negative impact on the population? 
• Limit the number of vessel licenses, and review this often based on observed pressures.
• Establish approach guidelines to limit the distance, speed, and number of vessels that can approach a single (group of) whale(s) or dolphin(s).
• Create protected areas or implement time-area closures to prevent interactions with animals in critical habitats and/or define areas where stricter management measures can be enforced.
• Establish an effective monitoring and enforcement regime
• Conduct training and capacity building workshops for operators

Social

Local communities may begin to feel ‘overrun’ by tourists, especially if tourism conflicts with local fishing or other marine activities, or strains community services originally designed for local residents only.

Whale watching operators begin to engage in competition or confrontation among themselves, or come into conflict with other marine users.

• Establish limits of acceptable change from a social standpoint and actively manage growth, so that it does not negatively impact the local community or its infrastructure.
• Include local residents/stakeholders in annual/semi-annual reviews of the industry and its impacts.
• Ensure that enough resources are directed toward local resident services.
• Find ways to involve the local community in conservation activities.
• Ensure that all stakeholders have an equal voice and can be heard and conflict can be mitigated

Economic

While whale watching can generate income for local communities, it also generates costs – such as the creation of additional infrastructure (roads, clinics, hotels, harbours etc) to accommodate the industry and influx of tourists.  It may conflict with fishing, and require increased investment in administration and management (e.g. monitoring and enforcement).

Ensure that a proportion of revenue from whale watching is set aside for investment in public infrastructure (e.g. through tourism taxes), and monitoring and enforcement

Is the wildlife resource degraded or in the process of degrading?

• Is population growth (number of births minus number of deaths) stable or positive?
• Are animals leaving the area?
• Are animals being approached or watched closely causing them to change their behaviour, even in subtle ways?
• Do animals show any signs of possibly whale watch or stress related disease or injury?

Is the overall environment degraded?

• Is the water visibly polluted?  Has it been tested for contaminants?
• Is waste management from coastal facilities and tour vessels adequate to prevent pollution?

Tourist/Industry profile

• Are the visitors local, domestic or international?
• Do tourists express a desire to help protect and conserve dolphins?
• Are tourist numbers (and subsequently the number of tours on the water with animals) increasing, decreasing, or remaining stable?

Operators’ profile

• Are they knowledgeable about marine mammals, the environment and local culture?
• Are they personable and good teachers?
• Do they have a sense of responsibility toward the activities of visitors in their ‘care’?
• Are business practices compatible with sustainable tourism?
• Does wildlife watching contribute to the community?