Pietri, D.M., Gurney, G.G., Benitez-Vina, N., Kuklok, A., Maxwell, S.M., Vina, M.A., Whiting, L., Jenkins, L.D. 2013. Practical recommendations to help students bridge the research-implementation gap and promote conservation. Conservation Biology. DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12089
Graduate students face a challenge in bridging the research-implementation gap due to limited opportunities for interdisciplinary training and lack of institutional support for application of research results. This article examines the ways in which graduate students can create resources within their academic institutions, institutionalize resources, and engage with stakeholders to promote real-world conservation outcomes.
Jenkins, L.D. and Garrison, K. 2013. Fishing gear substitution to reduce bycatch and habitat impacts: An example of social-ecological research to inform policy. Marine Policy. 38: 293-303.
This paper examines the value and feasibility of gear substitution through a case study of the sablefish fishery. This fishery enabled comparison of gears because it uses three types: trawls, longlines, and pots (traps). Through this comparison, the paper shows that gear substitution would offer ecological and economic benefits while being socio-culturally acceptable.
Jenkins, L.D. 2012. Reducing sea turtle bycatch in trawl nets: A history of NMFS' turtle excluder device research. Marine Fisheries Review. 74(2): 26-44.
As a result of efforts by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and many stakeholders--including domestic and foreign fishermen, environmentalists, and government agencies-- to reduce mortality of sea turtles in shrimp trawls, many trawl fisheries around the world now use a version of the turtle excluder device (TED). This article chronicles the contributions of NMFS to this effort and summarizes the impetus for and results of major developments and little known events in the TED research. The article also discusses how these influenced the course of subsequent research.
Benaka, L.R., Cimo, L.F., and Jenkins, L.D. 2012. New bycatch provisions in the Reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act. Marine Fisheries Review. 74(2):1-12.
Bycatch can harm marine ecosystems, reduce biodiversity, lead to the death of protected species, and have severe economic implications for fisheries. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSRA) aims to minimize bycatch, seabird interactions, bycatch mortality, and post-release mortality in federally managed fisheries, as well as identify nations whose vessels are engaged in the bycatch of protected living marine resources (PLMR’s) under specified circumstances. This paper summarizes how NMFS has and is implementing the new bycatch provisions in the MSRA to address bycatch both domestically and internationally.
Gorman, M.E., Jenkins, L.D., Plowright, R.K. 2012. Human interactions and sustainability In: Sustainability: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives, eds. Heriberto Cabezas and Urmila Diwekar. Bentham Open E-Books.
This chapter describes a framework for understanding and managing complex systems that couple human beings, nature, and technology. The framework includes five major components: superordinate goals, moral imagination, trading zones, adaptive management, and anticipatory governance. This framework is applied to two detailed case studies, one of which is turtle excluder devices. The paper discusses the limitations of the framework in the light of these case studies, along with suggestions for improvement.
Jenkins, L.D., Maxwell, S.M., Fisher, E. 2012. Using embedded experiences and upstream elicitation to increase conservation impact and better align research with policy needs. Conservation Biology. 26: 740-742.
This commentary encourages the conservation community to take advantage of embedded experiences in other communities such as government offices or NGOs in order to improve both the policy relevance and effective communication of their research.
This letter to the journal BioScience, suggests that conservation biologists not only make recommendations for conservation, but also help implement these recommendations while engaging in grassroots efforts to gain academic recognition for their efforts.
Jenkins, L.D. 2010. Profile and influence of the successful fisher-inventor of marine conservation technology. Conservation & Society. 8:44-54.
Anecdotally it is said that fishers are the best inventors of marine conservation technologies. This paper describes case studies of TEDs and dolphin conservation technology with a focus on local inventors. It offers empirical proof that fishers are indeed successful inventors of marine conservation technology. It also details how inventors can have substantial influence in encouraging the adoption of their inventions locally.
Jenkins, L.D. 2010. The evolution of a trading zone: A case study of the turtle excluder device. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science. 41:75-85.
This paper explores the evolution of a trading zone by organizing the case study of turtle excluder devices within the model proposed by Collins et al. (2007). That case study offers evidence that trading zones evolve and that the concepts of enforced and fractionated trading zones can be used for describing and defining the complexities of actual exchanges. For each step of the evolution described in the case study, the article describes the forces that drove these transitions. It also presents an adapted trading zone model that is a better fit for the turtle excluder device case study.
Jenkins, L.D. 2008. The end game is diffusion: Adoption of turtle excluder devices and the diffusion process. In: Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. eds. Rodhe, K.H., Gayheart, K., and Shanker, K. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-582: 14.
Although substantial money has been spent on the invention and diffusion of conservation technologies such as TEDs, little attention has been paid to the process by which these tools are adopted. In this case study, Kiki examines the use of TEDs within the U.S. shrimp trawl fisheries to more fully understand how users learn about and begin to use these types of conservation technologies.
Jenkins, L.D. 2007. Bycatch: Interactional expertise, dolphins and the U.S. tuna fishery. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science. 38:698-712.
Examination of the controversial and well-known case study of dolphin bycatch in the U.S. tuna fishery reveals that effective problem-solving was hindered by institutional tensions. These tensions negatively affected decision-making authority and made integration of different expertises difficult at best. In this study, Kiki compares the profiles of four individuals who played distinct roles in the problem-solving process to shed light on how to more effectively introduce conservation technologies in the future by taking into account expertise and experience.
Jenkins, L.D. 2007. Key factors in the invention of marine conservation technology: A case study of TEDs. In: Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. eds. Mast, R.B., Hutchinson, B.J., and Hutchinson, A.H. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-267: 73.
Although substantial money has been spent on the invention and diffusion of conservation technologies, such as TEDs, little attention has been paid to the process by which these tools are adopted. This case study examines the use of TEDs within the U.S. shrimp trawl fisheries to more fully understand how users learn about and begin to use these types of conservation technologies.
Jenkins, L.D. 2002. The science and policy behind proposed sea turtle conservation measures. Endangered Species Update. 19:35-40.
This article contextualizes two major actions that potentially could change the landscape of sea turtle conservation and ignite controversy: the October 2001 proposal by National Marine Fisheries Service’s to substantially amend the TED regulations and the petition filed jointly by two environmental groups on January 10, 2002, to list certain subpopulations of loggerhead sea turtles as endangered. Both the petition and the proposal result from public concern and scientific evidence that existing conservation measures were not sufficient to allow recovery of some sea turtle populations, mostly likely loggerhead and perhaps leatherback and green turtles as well.