Analizying socioecological conflict in a community-based mangrove management area in the Gulf of Guayaquil, Ecuador
by Sara Doolittle Llanos, Anna-Katharina Hornidge and César Giraldo Herrera
ZMT | DIE | ZMT
Mangrove forests provide ecosystem services and functions of global relevance but are threatened by a wide range of anthropogenic actions. As a response to mangrove degradation, academics and governing agencies around the world have advocated for Community-Based Mangrove Management (CBMM) to shift mangrove and resource protection from governments to local communities, with mixed outcomes of successes and failures. I studied the socio-ecological conflicts in a CBMM area in the Gulf of Guayaquil, Ecuador, where ancestral communities hold the legal rights of natural resource extraction. Communities have struggled for the past 20 years with resource ownership and effective exclusion of external actors, exacerbated by resource scarcity of the most valuable fishery, red crab (Ucides occidentalis). I used a mixed-method qualitative approach, including participatory mapping workshops, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews to describe resource use of different stakeholders. I recorded a variety of resource use practices within and around the concession area, changes to practices in recent years, and the challenges different stakeholders face. Findings suggest the CBMM ’s focus on crabbing has resulted in a geographical mismatch between the management framework and the social-ecological processes taking place. Social-ecological conflicts stem from ecological knowledge gaps, concession area border placement, and the disconnect of management circles from the rest of the communities and broader issues in the gulf such as pollution, poverty, market insecurity, and climate change. The success of community organizations in natural resource management strongly depends on their flexibility to include all possible stakeholders, and their ability to adapt to a constantly changing environment. A strong compromise to diversify livelihood strategies, involve a wider range of stakeholders in decision making, and invest in the education of younger generations might help build resilience in these communities in the case that legal or environmental changes render old practices and forms of income obsolete.
Opportunities and Challenges in addressing vulnerability and building resilience in Small Scale Fisheries, Bangladesh
by Samiya Ahmed Selim and Marion Glaser
WG Social-ecological SystemsAnalysis | WG Social-ecological Systems Analysis
Small-scale fisheries (SSF), including artisanal fisheries, employ more than 90 percent of the world’s capture fishers and provide many local communities in the developing world with a source of food security and livelihoods. In Bangladesh, SSF plays a crucial role in society as 60 percent of protein comes from fish. The overall marine and inland fishery sector contributes about 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), as well as full-time employment for 1.2 million people and part-time income for an additional 11 million people. However, small scale fisher folk continue to be marginalized and remain vulnerable to various natural and manmade (economic) shocks to the system. These fishers face cross-generation poverty, food insecurity, lack of education, gender inequity, and inequitable resource allocation. Their livelihoods and occupational continuity are further threatened by blue economy initiatives that prioritize the economic interests over sustainable resource use. Adaptive ocean governance is fundamental for ensuring a fair and sustainable use of marine resources. This process requires a robust social-ecological approach focusing on social and environmental justice, equity, participatory decision-making and power sharing.
This study aims to identify the key barriers and opportunities for addressing vulnerability and building resilience in SSF. In this study, we triangulated the findings from 55 in-depth interviews with fisherfolk, boat owners and a workshop with cross-sectional stakeholders including NGOs, academics, private sector, and grassroots organizations.
We explored income opportunities, ownership, risks associated the profession (e.g. disaster, pirates, and waste of catch), intergenerational aspects, perception on fishing ban, (technological issues) and other aspects of vulnerability and resilience. Our results highlight the high economic vulnerability of these SSF communities, with a lack of diversity in household incomes. There is a clear tension between the objectives of fish -stock conservation through an annual 3- month fishing ban imposed by national law, and wellbeing within these communities.
The effects of environmental changes on SSF in India – the current and potential role of fisheries policies
by Isobomuwa Saint Iriabe and Eike Holzkämper
Social-ecological systems analysis group | Social-ecological systems analysis group
The majority of Indian fishers is working in the low-tech, labour-intensive small-scale fisheries (SSF), which is the backbone of the fisheries sector and often also of food security for the marginalized poor. The livelihoods of fishers are threatened by the combined pressure from decades of overexploitation, environmental degradation and increasing environmental changes. Recently, the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic have further imperiled fishers’ existence. Fishworker representatives and scholars argue that the importance of SSF in India is underestimated in political narratives and not mirrored in fishery policies. Policies and development approaches for Indian fisheries are centred around the “blue economy” paradigm and do not address the concerns of SSF. By conducting a structured literature review, this study assesses the impacts of environmental changes on the livelihoods of SSF in India and evaluates if and how Indian fisheries policies target this issue. It further investigates the potential of social networks to support policy-making in favour of SSF in India. This recently started research is conducted in the course of a Master thesis of the ISATEC program/University of Bremen. It is associated to the WG Social-ecological systems analysis of the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research in Bremen, Germany. The M.Sc. project links to and enriches a current PhD project on the role of social networks for adaptation to environmental changes.
Reef passages in Fiji and New Caledonia
by Annette Breckwoldt
ZMT
The importance of coral reefs for Small Island States in the tropics has long been undisputed. Healthy and protected reefs help island systems (cultural, ecological, social, physical…) thrive and survive. With this research focus on ‘reef passages’, a thematic embedded in the DFG-ANR funded project SOCPacific, we intend to highlight the multi-facetted importance of these special openings in fringing reefs that connect inshore and offshore areas even at very low tides. Every day, living and non-living, human and non-human objects ‘pass’ through these openings in various ways. This can be sediments from an island’s hinterland, fish in spawning mode, predators such as sharks (juvenile/adult), or fishers. Reef passages are like ‘communication zones’ between inshore coastal and open waters and showcase a number of transboundary issues that need to be better understood, e.g. for MPA planning, supporting fisheries or protecting marine biodiversity. Such knowledge could also contribute to the efforts around the so-called ‘ridge-to-reef’ approach to coastal conservation and management. We first develop a definition – what are reef passages/channels/breaks/entrances – moving towards a classification system for reef passages as overview, looking at different categories in detail, including their individual and overlapping features, as well as stating exemptions. In addition, local/vernacular terms referring to these openings will be investigated on this background. From an ecological and even more so from a social-ecological focus there has been surprisingly little focus on recognizing reef passages in their own right for their (not only biological) significance, for which MPA status would clearly be relevant (Yvonne Sadovy de Mitcheson, pers. comm. 2020). This research therefore intends to generate data for the much needed recognition of an incredible diversity of life that live from, live at, visit or just pass through reef passages, in a way that highlights the complex interactions and benefits they stand for/produce.
Effect of fishing pressure on mangrove crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda) in Fiji
by Karl G. T. Schrader
Uni Bremen, ZMT
Crustacea, such as shrimps, prawns, lobsters and crabs play an important role for small-scale and subsistence fisheries in rural areas of Fiji. The Mud crab Scylla serrata and different sesarmid mangrove crabs account for a large part of the catch throughout the year and are frequently sold on local markets. This study focused on fisheries impacts on those two taxa in the Rewa River delta near Suva. The delta is one of Fiji’s largest mangrove forest areas. The different villages in the delta vary in their reliance on crab fisheries. Based on the number of active fishermen and fishing frequency, areas of different fishing pressures were identified.
Between January and March 2020 eight different sites were repeatedly sampled for S. serrata, locally called Qari, and sesarmid crabs, known as Kuka. Four sites were categorized according to low vs. high fishing pressure. Four sites with low fishing pressure area were subjected to a closure for crab fisheries in February and March as a test for potential protection measures.
Catch data show a trend of negative impact of intensive crab fisheries on the size of S. serrata, while catch per unit effort was not affected by fishing pressure. When comparing the catch data between sites closed for crab fisheries and sites unaffected from the closure, a positive effect of reduced fishing pressure becomes evident for the catch per unit effort of S. serrata.
For sesarmid crabs, different species compositions at different sampling sites indicate a strong influence of environmental factors on crab distribution and abundance. Recaptures of marked individuals indicate a high site fidelity. Crab collection by local fishermen in those areas is also highly site-selective. However, no relationship between crab abundances and fishing pressure was evident for catch per unit effort or size of the different taxa.
Comparative food web analysis of two Peruvian bay systems along a spatio-temporal gradient: role of fisheries, aquaculture and the environmental envelope
by Alonso Del Solar, Lotta Clara Kluger and Matthias Wolff
ZMT Bremen | ZMT Bremen | ZMT Bremen
The Northern Humboldt Current Upwelling System (NHCUS) is one of the most productive marine ecosystems in terms of fisheries. Coastal areas within the NHCUS are highly influenced by its cold upwelling waters and pronounced climatic variability while being important for small-scale fisheries. This work uses two sites in the Peruvian coast that are very productive but differ in their ecosystem features and socio-economic dynamics: Sechura (~4°S), within the ecotone of Humboldt and tropical waters; and Independencia (~14°S), under typical upwelling conditions. Artisanal fisheries are multi-species and multi-gear, with target species differing between the two sites. Both bays sustain important stocks of the Peruvian bay scallop Argopecten purpuratus, a highly valuable species that is targeted by a diving fishery and cultivated mainly in bottom systems. During El Niño warming events, the impacts are very different at the two sites, leading to diverging sets of ecological and socio-economic changes. To explore the response of each system to environmental and anthropogenic stressors, food web models were developed using the trophic modelling approach of Ecopath with Ecosim, for the purpose of inter-bay comparison, placing emphasis on indicators and drivers related to fisheries and aquaculture. In contrast to previous models, these were developed for the coldest period in ~50 years: La Niña 2007. Through the analysis of environmental and fisheries trends, and the inclusion of expert and traditional knowledge, simulation scenarios will be used to explore future climate-change and resource use configurations under which ecological tipping points might occur. We shall then explore the influence on these systems of medium-to-long-term management strategies and of local and global fisheries and aquaculture markets. In the face of possible social-ecological tipping points, these models are intended to provide insight into developing and improving the framework and tools required for adaptive ecosystem-based management of these coastal systems.