Social theory and fisheries co-management

The conservation community is increasingly focusing on the monitoring and evaluation of management, governance, ecological, and social considerations as part of a broader move toward adaptive management and evidence-based conservation. Evidence is any information that can be used to come to a conclusion and support a judgment or, in this case, to make decisions that will improve conservation policies, actions, and outcomes. Perceptions are one type of information that is often dismissed as anecdotal by those arguing for evidence-based conservation. In this paper, I clarify the contributions of research on perceptions of conservation to improving adaptive and evidence-based conservation. Studies of the perceptions of local people can provide important insights into observations, understandings and interpretations of the social impacts, and ecological outcomes of conservation; the legitimacy of conservation governance; and the social acceptability of environmental management. Perceptions of these factors contribute to positive or negative local evaluations of conservation initiatives. It is positive perceptions, not just objective scientific evidence of effectiveness, that ultimately ensure the support of local constituents thus enabling the long-term success of conservation. Research on perceptions can inform courses of action to improve conservation and governance at scales ranging from individual initiatives to national and international policies. Better incorporation of evidence from across the social and natural sciences and integration of a plurality of methods into monitoring and evaluation will provide a more complete picture on which to base conservation decisions and environmental management.

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Using perceptions as evidence to improve conservation and environmental management

Contribution of Fisheries and Aquaculture to Food Security and Poverty Reduction: Assessing the Current Evidence

The concept of ecosystem services (ES), the benefits humans derive from ecosystems, is increasingly applied to environmental conservation, human well-being and poverty alleviation, and to inform the development of interventions. Payments for ecosystem services (PES) implicitly recognize the unequal distribution of the costs and benefits of maintaining ES, through monetary compensation from ‘winners’ to ‘losers’. Some research into PES has examined how such schemes affect poverty, while other literature addresses trade-offs between different ES. However, much evolving ES literature adopts an aggregated perspective of humans and their well-being, which can disregard critical issues for poverty alleviation. This paper identifies four issues with examples from coastal ES in developing countries. First, different groups derive well-being benefits from different ES, creating winners and losers as ES, change. Second, dynamic mechanisms of access determine who can benefit. Third, individuals' contexts and needs determine how ES contribute to well-being. Fourth, aggregated analyses may neglect crucial poverty alleviation mechanisms such as cash-based livelihoods. To inform the development of ES interventions that contribute to poverty alleviation, disaggregated analysis is needed that focuses on who derives which benefits from ecosystems, and how such benefits contribute to the well-being of the poor. These issues present challenges in data availability and selection of how and at which scales to disaggregate. Disaggregation can be applied spatially, but should also include social groupings, such as gender, age and ethnicity, and is most important where inequality is greatest. Existing tools, such as stakeholder analysis and equity weights, can improve the relevance of ES research to poverty alleviation.

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Applying the ecosystem services concept to poverty alleviation: the need to disaggregate human well-being

http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/149479.pdf

The engagement of stakeholders in the marine spatial planning process

Coral reef management has focused traditionally on the biophysical aspects of coral reefs, but today reefs are coming under increasing pressures from human activities. Understanding the socioeconomic context of reef stakeholders is essential for assessing, predicting and managing reef use. This manual will assist coral reef managers around the world in making basic socioeconomic assessments in their communities.

Socioeconomic Manual for Coral Reef Management

Fishery policy and job satisfaction in three southeast Asian fisheries

This article examines the structure of job satisfaction among New England fishermen using three different measures. The various measures of job satisfaction were found to be complexly related to other sociocultural variables such as age, education, years of fishing experience, type of fishing, ethnicity, and home port. The policy implications of these findings are discussed as they relate to fishery development and management.

The Structure of Job Satisfaction Among New England Fishermen and Its Application to Fisheries Management Policy

Job satisfaction provides us with a window to view the psycho-cultural adaptations of individuals in communities. In this case we are looking at three maritime occupations in two highly fishing-dependent communities in Southeast Alaska. A great deal of research has linked job satisfaction to individual attributes such as mental health and longevity; and social problems such as family violence, absenteeism, and job performance. Job satisfaction, in turn, is related to aspects of the occupation that can be impacted by changes resulting from development and/or management. The paper examines aspects of job satisfaction among commercial fishers, charter boat operators and fish plant workers in Petersburg and Craig, Southeast Alaska. Respondents were requested to rate 21 aspects of their present occupation in terms of their relative satisfaction. Analysis of the data resulted in a component structure very similar to that found among fishers in Nova Scotia, New England, and the Mid-Atlantic coast. Inclusion of non-commercial fishers in the sample gives this research a dimension that was missing in the earlier work. Interrelationships between job satisfaction data, aspects of the occupation (e.g., fishing type, crew size, etc.), and individual characteristics (e.g., age, years experience, fishing family origin, etc.) are examined and discussed in the paper in relationship to management and technological changes in the fishery. Overall, the paper provides an increment to our understanding of the theory of job satisfaction in the fishery.

Richard B. Pollnac

Papers

Socioeconomic Manual for Coral Reef Management

Fishery policy and job satisfaction in three southeast Asian fisheries

The Structure of Job Satisfaction Among New England Fishermen and Its Application to Fisheries Management Policy

Job Satisfaction in the Fishery in Two Southeast Alaskan Towns

Evaluating factors contributing to the success of community-based coastal resource management: the Central Visayas Regional Project-1, Philippines