Above and Below the Water: Social/Ecological Transformation in Northwest Newfoundland

Hamilton, Lawrence C.; Haedrich, Richard L.; Duncan, Cynthia M.

doi:10.1007/s11111-004-4484-z

Cited by 45 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Sudden transitions in exploited ecosystems can be economically and socially devastating to fishing communities (Hamilton et al, 2004). If high temperatures and low SLP do persist in the Gulf of Alaska, understanding the ecological effects of the climate change will be an important management goal.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate regime shifts and community reorganization in the Gulf of Alaska: how do recent shifts compare with 1976/1977?

Litzow

2006

ICES Journal of Marine Science

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Climate regime shifts have recently occurred in the North Pacific (1998–1999) and the Arctic (2000), but the nature of biological reaction to these events is poorly understood. An index of local climate (1960–2005), and data from commercial fishery catches (1960–2004) and from small-mesh trawl surveys (1972–2005) are used to assess the impacts of these climate events in the Subarctic Gulf of Alaska. Non-linear regression showed that survey catch composition strongly responded to local climate at lags of 2 and 4 years, providing evidence of rapid ecological response to climate change in the system. A sequential regime shift detection method identified rapid change in local climate, and in survey and commercial catches following the well-documented regime shift to a positive state of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) in 1976/1977. However, the analysis failed to detect the 1998/1999 regime shift in local climate, or in survey or commercial catches. This result is consistent with the view that the 1998/1999 climate regime shift did not represent a reversion to a negative PDO state. Local temperature increased and local sea level pressure decreased in the Gulf of Alaska during the years 2001–2005, consistent with anthropogenic warming and recent spatial reorganization in Arctic climate. There was no evidence of community reorganization following this climate event. Further observation will be required to evaluate the persistence of this new climate pattern, and the nature of community reaction to it.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate regime shifts and community reorganization in the Gulf of Alaska: how do recent shifts compare with 1976/1977?

Litzow

2006

ICES Journal of Marine Science

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“…From a social-ecological systems perspective, such a regime shift is a collapse if it occurs involuntary (e.g. the collapse of Newfoundland cod which led to the loss of thousands of jobs and depopulation of coastal settlements, Hamilton, Haedrich, and Duncan 2004) or a transformation if it is the result of directed action. 4 Whereas it is easier in theory than in practice to separate processes of adaptation, transformation and collapse, adaptation can be seen as related primarily to system resilience (i.e.…”

Section: Identified Mechanisms For Adaptation and Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring adaptability through learning layers and learning loops

Löf¹

2010

Environmental Education Research

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Adaptability in social-ecological systems results from individual and collective action, and multi-level interactions. It can be understood in a dual sense as a system's ability to adapt to disturbance and change, and to navigate system transformation. Inherent in this conception, as found in resilience thinking, are the concepts of learning and governance. Without learning, or unlearning, neither adaptation nor transformation is possible, and without governance we neither collectively act on nor institutionally embed learning experiences. This paper provides an attempt at synthesising and structuring this conceptual mapping and understanding of adaptability by adding insights from governance theory and using learning layers and learning loops as bridging concepts. As the overview demonstrates, the resilience-learning-governance interface provides some fruitful insights for the conceptual and theoretical understanding of adaptability, adaptation and transformation in resilience theory. Whereas resilience answers to why the adaptation-transformation distinction is important in the first place, learning provides the necessary link between the individual and system level, while governance brings further insights into the different potential mechanisms available for institutionally implementing adaptation and transformation. This exploration points to the need to develop a framework for understanding adaptability that: (1) identifies social-ecological systems in terms of structure, process and outcome, and particularly self-reinforcing feedbacks; (2) adds an institutional framework including formal and informal decision-making arenas;(3) explicitly addresses norms, values and ideas; (4) emphasises power, negotiation and facilitation; and (5) emphasises the importance of deliberate learning and transformation strategies.

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“…These trends are occurring across the range of situations examined with (somewhat) different management approaches and different ecological realities (though with important variations in structures and processes). Indeed, these trends are not unique to the study areas and some or all of them can be seen in other areas of the North Atlantic (Hamilton et al, 2003;Hamilton and Haedrich, 1999;Hamilton and Otterstad, 1998). While in a direct sense each of these systems continues to provide socio-cultural and economic benefits, these changes in social-ecological interactions have reshaped social structures and processes in certain ways, dramatically affecting how and where these benefits flow.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Social‐Ecological Restructuring and Implications for Social Values

Murray

2011

World Fisheries

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Designing appropriate coping strategies for North American traditional fishing communities in the face of global climate change demands, among other things, that we:1. identify, characterize, and document the full range of values and services flowing from and shaped by these ecosystems; and 2. understand how these values are shaped by interactive processes of global change.This chapter addresses these demands through a focus on fishing communities dependent on the marine social-ecological systems of the Canadian Provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia, and the American State of New Jersey. In recent decades these systems have undergone dramatic processes of restructuring, and have moved in directions defined by new ecological realities, harvesting technologies, and management paradigms focused on conservation and economic rationality. While in a direct sense these systems continue to provide socio-cultural and economic benefits, this chapter highlights how new types of social-ecological interactions have re-shaped associated social structures and processes within and between these communities, including size and connection with fishing industry, age structures, dislocation to urban areas, internal stratification, and corporatization of the fishery. It next explores how these changes appear to have affected some of the social values associated with these systems. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how these findings might inform the development of appropriate coping strategies.

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Above and Below the Water: Social/Ecological Transformation in Northwest Newfoundland

Cited by 45 publications

References 10 publications

Climate regime shifts and community reorganization in the Gulf of Alaska: how do recent shifts compare with 1976/1977?

Climate regime shifts and community reorganization in the Gulf of Alaska: how do recent shifts compare with 1976/1977?

Exploring adaptability through learning layers and learning loops

Social‐Ecological Restructuring and Implications for Social Values

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