DOI: 10.25349/d9h04q
title: Perceptions of seaweed aquaculture in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties

description: Marine seaweed aquaculture provides sustainable forms of food,
 fertilizers, and pharmaceuticals while potentially contributing to
 nutrient mitigation, habitat creation, and short-term carbon
 sequestration. The industry in the United States is underdeveloped due to
 a combination of economic, social, and regulatory constraints. These
 constraints exist in California where there is an insufficient
 understanding of how the public and key stakeholder groups perceive
 seaweed aquaculture, which appears to limit political support for or
 against further developing the industry. Our study conducted a public
 survey and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholder groups to
 determine perceptions of seaweed aquaculture and whether it has a Social
 License to Operate (SLO) in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Survey
 results indicate less public opposition to seaweed aquaculture than
 described in the scientific literature and by stakeholders associated with
 the industry, with a majority (56.8%) of residents in support of seaweed
 aquaculture expansion and relatively few (8.8%) in opposition. Many
 residents are unfamiliar with the implications, benefits, and impacts of
 the industry. Communication strategies to inform stakeholder groups should
 provide clear and accessible information to stakeholders so they will be
 more likely to form positive perceptions of seaweed aquaculture and
 support future projects. Interview analysis suggests that offshore seaweed
 aquaculture in southern California has a conditional SLO. Despite
 widespread support from the scientific community and public, and general
 acceptance from federal agencies, the industry has not shown
 accountability to environmental non- governmental organizations (ENGOs)
 and state agencies. Pilot projects can build interactional trust with
 influential ENGOs and the fishing industry.
description: <strong>Survey Data & Analysis</strong>
 <br><br>An online survey was developed to understand public
 perceptions and support for expanding seaweed aquaculture in Santa Barbara
 and Ventura counties. The survey questionnaire was created using
 Qualtrics’ web-based survey interface and consisted of 22 questions (all
 closed- ended except for one open-ended) and 11 demographic questions (see
 Appendix B2 for survey matrix). The survey took an average of eight
 minutes to complete. Human Subjects protocol required all survey questions
 be optional and thus we could not force a response to any question in the
 survey. An anonymous online consent form required the participant to
 select whether they accept or decline participation before beginning the
 survey. The statement included our survey’s purpose, confidentiality, and
 anonymity. <br><br>Survey responses from the paid and
 self-distributed surveys were compiled into an Excel (.csv) spreadsheet
 and analyzed in R using RStudio version 4.1.2. Survey analyses were coded
 and created reproducibly in R using RStudio and stored on an open-source
 GitHub repository. All data files and R markdown documents (.Rmd) are
 publicly available on our team’s GitHub repository. Survey data and metadata files are also archived in the UCSB library. <br><br><strong>Interview Data & Analysis</strong><br><br>Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with subject matter experts in five key stakeholder groups: government agencies, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), commercial and recreational fishers, aquaculturists, and the scientific community. Interviewers followed an interview guide created to guide questions and topics of discussion while giving researchers the flexibility to explore topics introduced by the interviewee and ask for clarification, explanation, or examples (see Appendix C1 for interview guide). Interviews were conducted over Zoom, a video teleconferencing software program. Each interview lasted 30 to 60 minutes and were attended by two to four researchers. Participants signed consent forms indicating their voluntary participation and willingness to be recorded (see Appendix C3 for consent form). At the beginning of each interview, researchers verbally confirmed the participants’ voluntary participation and consent to be recorded. Interview audio and video recordings were stored in a secure cloud-based Box folder until transcribed using the word-to-text program Descript 29.1.2. Interview transcriptions are not included in the project’s publicly accessible data. As stated in the participant consent form, interviewee names and affiliations are required to remain anonymous.<br><br><strong>*For complete methodology, refer to methods section in Final Report pdf document.</strong>
description: Files attached: README.txt
 Description of project dataset 
 survey_data.csv Survey response
 dataset used in analyses 
 survey_metadata.csv Column descriptions for
 survey_data.csv 
 KelpWanted_Final_Report_and_Appendices.pdf 
 Master's thesis, with appendices 
 KelpWanted_Executive_Summary.pdf 
 Executive summary of master's thesis