No abstract

The loss of biodiversity, including the collapse of fish stocks, affects the vulnerability of social-ecological systems (SESs) and threatens local livelihoods. Incorporating community-centered indicators and SES drivers and exposures of change into coastal management can help anticipate and mitigate human and/or coastal vulnerability. We have proposed a new index to measure the socialecological vulnerability of coastal fishing communities (Index of Coastal Vulnerability [ICV]) based on species, ecosystem, and social indicators. The ICV varies from 0 (no vulnerability) to 1 (very high vulnerability) and is composed of 3 components: species vulnerability, i.e., fish biological traits; ecosystem vulnerability, i.e., environmental indicators of ecosystem health; and adaptive capacity, i.e., human ability to cope with changes. We tested the ICV of Brazil's 17 coastal states. The average ICV for the Brazilian coast was 0.77, and variation was low among states. More than half of the coastal states revealed very high vulnerability (> 0.8). The ecosystem vulnerability values were worse than the adaptive capacity and species vulnerability values, and the North and Northeast regions were revealed to be vulnerable hot spots. Additionally, we investigated how the ICV related to specific anthropogenic risks, i.e., fish landing richness, fishery instability, market, coastal extension, and coastal population, and found that states with fewer species landings and higher coastal populations presented higher ICVs. At a time when human impacts are overtaking natural processes, understanding how these impacts lead to coastal vulnerability can help improve conservation policies. For this case study, we suggest both fisheries management measures and restoration of sensitive habitats to protect species and decrease vulnerability. The integrated evaluation developed here could be used as a baseline for coastal monitoring and conservation planning and be applied to coastal regions in which governments evaluate both social and biological aspects.

Small-cale fisheries are important for livelihoods, food security, jobs and income worldwide. However, they face major challenges, including the increasing effects of climate change that pose serious risks to coastal ecosystems and fishing communities. Although scientific research on climate change impacts has increased in recent years, few studies have explored the social impacts on small-scale fisheries. Using Galicia (Spain) as a case study, we investigated individual and household-level adaptive responses to climate change among fishers in three fishing guilds (Cambados, Campelo, and Redondela). Specifically, we estimated the economic vulnerability of shellfishers and assessed the diversity of social adaptive responses used to deal with climate change. Although fishers’ income strongly depends on shellfishing in all studied areas, our findings show that less fishing experience and lower engagement in fisher associations tend to increase the economic vulnerability of the fishers. The fishers’ vulnerability decreases as the size of households increases, while fishers who pay a mortgage and who live in households with fewer active members tend to be more vulnerable. The findings also show that Galician shellfishers have developed a wide range of adaptation strategies to anticipate and respond to climate change impacts, namely harvesting pricier and more abundant species, reducing household expenses and increasing social involvement in shellfishery associations. Although the adaptive strategies have helped Galician fishers to deal with climate change impacts, several threats to the sustainability of shellfisheries remain, such as a decrease in the abundance of key native shellfish species, and a high dependence on public and private aid to ensure reasonable incomes for shellfisheries. These findings are of interest and relevance to other similar small-scale fisheries around the world facing similar climate change challenges.

No abstract