Stakeholders in Coastal Fisheries

Empathize with stakeholders in coastal fisheries

Effective solutions to address coastal overfishing require an understanding of key stakeholders in coastal communities, their motivations, and barriers to sustainably managing their fisheries.

The Fish Game, inspired by What's the Catch? developed by the Environment Defense Fund (EDF), immerses participants in the persona or character of common stakeholders in coastal fisheries: fishers, fish traders, fishworkers, and local government officials.

On-Site Instructions

Distribute a set of persona cards to teams.
Each member will choose one card. If there are more than five people in a group, assign more people to the fisher persona.
Each participant puts on the artifacts that correspond to the persona they chose and silently reads their card.
Ask participants to imagine how their persona thinks, feels, and acts in their day-to-day activities and to reflect on what may be motivating them to do so.
Ask if participants felt identified with, or discovered something new or surprising about the stakeholders. If they are comfortable, ask a few participants to share their reflections.
Tell participants they will play the Fish Game in the mindset (and artifacts!) of their persona.

Virtual Instructions

Choose a stakeholder from the five persona cards below.
Search for artifacts that are similar to the ones described on the card and put them on...have fun with it!
Imagine what the persona you chose might think, feel, and do in their day-to-day activities. Reflect on what may be motivating them to think, feel, or act in this way.
Express your reflection in writing, in a drawing, song, or any other way inspiration strikes!
Choose another persona card and repeat steps 1 - 5.
Keep your reflections on hand to refer back to as you make your way through all the FF Essentials activities.