In determining the importance of criteria in the management of fisheries, two key issues stand out-the definition of a succinct set of criteria and the determination of which interest groups play a defining role in the management development process. This is indeed the case for all natural resource management problems, and many other environmental problems as well. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) provides an effective framework for such an analysis. The AHP is generally used to evaluate importance amongst criteria based on the concept of paired comparison. This paper considers the development of a representative criteria hierarchy, and uses data obtained from a pairwise comparison survey based on the UK fisheries of the English Channel to investigate priorities that exist among different interest groups in the fisheries. The implementation of the AHP in this application provides a useful tool for analysis of criteria amongst groups involved in the management process with diverse interests.