Managing Small-Scale Commercial Fisheries for Adaptive Capacity: Insights from Dynamic Social-Ecological Drivers of Change in Monterey Bay

Abstract

Globally, small-scale fisheries are influenced by dynamic climate, governance, and market drivers, which present social and ecological challenges and opportunities. It is difficult to manage fisheries adaptively for fluctuating drivers, except to allow participants to shift effort among multiple fisheries. Adapting to changing conditions allows small-scale fishery participants to survive economic and environmental disturbances and benefit from optimal conditions. This study explores the relative influence of large-scale drivers on shifts in effort and outcomes among three closely linked fisheries in Monterey Bay since the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 1976. In this region, Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax), northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax), and market squid (Loligo opalescens) fisheries comprise a tightly linked system where shifting focus among fisheries is a key element to adaptive capacity and reduced social and ecological vulnerability. Using a cluster analysis of landings, we identify four modes from 1974 to 2012 that are dominated (i.e., a given species accounting for the plurality of landings) by squid, sardine, anchovy, or lack any dominance, and seven points of transition among these periods. This approach enables us to determine which drivers are associated with each mode and each transition. Overall, we show that market and climate drivers are predominantly attributed to dominance transitions. Model selection of external drivers indicates that governance phases, reflected as perceived abundance, dictate long-term outcomes. Our findings suggest that globally, small-scale fishery managers should consider enabling shifts in effort among fisheries and retaining existing flexibility, as adaptive capacity is a critical determinant for social and ecological resilience.

Adaptive capacity: from assessment to action in coastal social-ecological systems

“…Adaptive capacity assessments that focus on climate change have been applied in many contexts, including forestry (Pramova et al 2012), agriculture , Wang et al 2013, fisheries (Kalikoski et al 2010, Cinner 2011, Aguilera et al 2015, conservation (McClanahan et al 2008, Mcleod et al 2016, and disasters (Adger et al 2005b, Cutter et al 2008, Taylor 2011, Henly-Shepard et al 2015. Several important points emerge from this literature and the broader literature and case studies on adaptive capacity.…”

“…Integrated social-ecological approaches consider a set of bridging adaptive capacity concepts that apply to both social and ecological systems or that incorporate the feedbacks and interactions between ecological and social systems by incorporating metrics of both. For example, when flexibility is assessed in both social and natural systems, it is possible to describe how social groups (e.g., fishers) respond to changes in natural conditions (e.g., fisheries abundance) as well as to changes in governance or other social structures , Aguilera et al 2015.…”

“…1). Large-scale approaches based on large-scale ecological (Aguilera et al 2015) or social indicators (e.g., Allison et al 2009, Himes-Cornell and, ecological modeling-based studies , Gattuso et al 2015, and governance analyses , Armitage and Plummer 2010 provide rapid comparative results for policy decisions and, in some cases, may be operationalized more quickly than in-depth assessments at smaller scales. However, a limitation of large-scale studies is that they do not incorporate local, traditional, or cultural knowledge, address household or individual capacities, and, because of their large scale and coarse approach, often do not allow for local validation of results or vetting of recommendations.…”

Integrating fisheries and agricultural programs for food security

“…Similarly, if coastal fish stocks are decline, then improved agricultural conditions and programs in the same area could buffer against such shocks. This ability of managers and stakeholders to adapt to changing socioecological conditions has been shown to be critical for long-term ecological resilience (e.g., see [45]). …”

Actor-Based Design of a Management System for the Elephant Marsh Fishery in Malawi

“…The IAD framework has been a reference point for later propositions such as that of Pahl-Wostl (2007), who proposes social learning for adaptive management. Adaptive capacity (the ability of the actors to live with changing external drivers such as market forces) has been found to be a critical determinant of institutional resilience (Aguilera et al 2015). Indeed, if a new management system is designed for the Elephant Marsh Fishery, the ability of actors to live with change will be crucial for the resilience of the resultant institution.…”