It takes all kinds: a composite approach to sustainable freshwater fisheries

Freshwater fisheries face diverse, interacting stressors that threaten freshwater fish populations and global freshwater biodiversity. In Canada, freshwater fisheries are managed and conserved by various government agencies and departments (lead actors) and a supporting cast of non-governmental groups and individuals (supporting actors) whose efforts range from coordinated and synergistic to disjunct and antagonistic. This is problematic, because threats to freshwater fisheries and biodiversity are highly synergistic. In some cases, these threats are addressed by strong, combined efforts by lead and supporting actors. Here, greater capacity and resilience are achieved via a composite approach, meaning an effective combination of parts to create one whole. In other cases, efforts are less plural and/or combined, and therefore weaker. We use insights from an expert sample of freshwater fisheries practitioners to describe the supporting cast, how it varies from a critical asset to an untapped resource, and the determinants of these different outcomes. Our results are not only applicable to Canada and/or freshwater fisheries, but to other cases where environmental management and conservation involve both lead and supporting actors.