![]() Madden and McQuinn (2014) present two success stories in human-wildlife conflict management where problem-solving processes account for politics and stakeholder relationships. Strategies that instead engage stakeholders to take stock of and improve relationships among stakeholders and between humans and wildlife may be better positioned to resolve human-wildlife conflict ( Marchini et al., 2019). Other cases point to implementation breakdowns due to failure to account for power dynamics between managers and stakeholders ( Webber et al., 2007 Clark and Slocombe, 2011). Where these symbolic meanings around human-wildlife conflict are ignored, animosity toward wildlife may persist even after negative human-wildlife interactions have been resolved ( Dickman, 2010). In some cases, management regimes generated symbolic meanings for large terrestrial wildlife among stakeholders who then viewed wildlife as negative representations of state governance ( Nie, 2001 Naughton-Treves and Treves, 2005) or the interests of distant, privileged environmental groups ( Skogen et al., 2008). For example, an emerging body of literature describes terrestrial management efforts aimed at biological and tangible problems of human-wildlife interaction that instead exacerbated conflicts. Sociopolitical analyses have begun to shed light on the systemic complexity of human-wildlife conflict and management. It is essential in problem-solving endeavors to embrace the full range of systems-level complexity of natural resource management problems ( Ostrom, 2007 Palsson et al., 2013 Aswani et al., 2018). ![]() Even as socioeconomic and biophysical data are integrated to improve management outcomes ( Stephenson et al., 2017), using simplified models for decision-making can lead to overly simple solutions ( Scott, 1998). Failed problem-solving endeavors ignoring social, cultural, and political contexts have been documented in conflict resolution ( Ginges et al., 2007 May, 2013) and conservation management ( Dickman, 2010 Clark and Slocombe, 2011). Moreover, problem framings are often inattentive to the sociopolitical, conflict-laden landscapes within which natural resource management problems manifest and evolve ( Nie, 2001). Given stakeholders' diverse perceptions of the problem ( Bardwell, 1991 Adams et al., 2003 Ebbin, 2011), deciding whose narratives to include makes the problem definition process inherently political ( Weiss, 1989). Natural resource management often employs partial problem framings that favor biophysical, “scientifically objective” information ( Young N. Thus, a sociopolitical approach to problem-solving may yield greater collective benefits to fisheries stakeholders and sharks, with broader implications for the systemic management of complex human and biophysical ecosystem components. This strategy has the potential to affect both dispute- and deeper-level outcomes by advancing collective understanding of sharks and shark-handling tools, fisher behavior, and reducing shark mortality. This case study documented one such multi-pronged strategy employing fisher-researcher knowledge exchange, collaborative research, and means of more transparent communication. Together, dispute and deeper conflicts limit the effectiveness of singular approaches (e.g., regulation) to mitigate fisher-shark interactions and necessitate multi-pronged solutions with substance-, process-, and relationships-based components. Deeper conflicts include fishers' poor perceptions of management legitimacy, degraded relationships with researchers and managers, threatened fisher identities, and poor enforcement capacity. We discovered that economic cost, sharks as fishing competitors, and factors of fishers' on-the-water decisions define the fisher-shark interaction problem at the dispute level. ![]() We interpreted these data using an adapted framework that mobilizes concepts from conflict theory and problem definition. Through interviews with Hawai‘i small boat fishers and observations of a community-based shark-tagging project, we examined fisher perspective, socioeconomic landscapes, stakeholder relationships, and power dynamics. ![]() Using a fisher engagement approach, this case study examines the sociopolitical dimensions of fisher-shark interactions in pursuit of more complete problem definitions and effective solutions.
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