Good practice:

Bottom-Up Fisheries Management increases stakeholder participation and improves decision making.

Recreational fishing within the Swedish alpine region is an activity that provides food for households but equally as important an activity for sport fishers and locally based sport fishing and service companies within the tourism sector to thrive. Management of the recreational fishery within the Swedish alpine area is within the responsibility of the County Administration Board (CAB) and fish populations has generally been stable.
Local fisheries management is becoming more challenging due to increased tourism, shortage of dedicated economic resources and a climate change within the sensitive alpine biosphere. The region is geographically large (97 242 km2), sparsely populated (2,6 km2) and with a harsh climate making travel challenging and therefore dialogue difficult. At the same time information technology has created a more informed public with digital means to contribute to local fisheries management. It therefore has become important and easier for fisheries managers to increase dialogue with stakeholders.
We have through the WLE project and digital platforms been able to start dialogue meetings with stakeholders within the recreational fishery. Stakeholders have participated from extremely isolated locations and forwarded important local knowledge. This process is generating a far more inclusive form of future local fisheries management within the alpine region as well as aiding the managing authority in knowledge on local conditions and needs.

Digital infrastructure investment via EU and the Swedish state is ongoing and the County Administration Board (CAB) has purchased a digital meeting platform license. Information acquired concerning fish stocks and fishing pressure can reduce need for expensive field visits by the CAB.

Digital stakeholder meetings have had a much higher participation rate than was previously expected by the County Administration Board (CAB). This clearly demonstrates that there was a need for a forum where stakeholders could meet and share opinions and knowledge concerning local ecology, and management. High value has also been proven via participation in an internet survey.

Regions that have a natural resource that is shared by multiple different stakeholders with often very different goals and needs as well as extreme geographic and climactic difficulties in creating real life forum may find our theme interesting and applicable. Managing authorities using traditional top-down methods may be uncertain about the potential results of in increased stakeholder participation in natural resource management and the ability for different user groups to inform and reach amicable shared usage goals together with the managing authority. Our simple method for increased dialogue among resource users in extremely geographically isolated areas is easily applicable and shows that it is indeed valuable to start such digital forum.