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.
Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, University of Miami, 1365 Memorial Drive, Ungar Building 230M, Coral Gables, FL 33124, United States of America;Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, 120 Oceanview Blvd., Pacific Grove, CA 93950, United States of America;Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, 120 Oceanview Blvd., Pacific Grove, CA 93950, United States of America;Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, 99 Pacific Street, Suite 555E, Monterey, CA 93940, United States of America;School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada;Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Long Marine Lab, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States of America;Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Queensland 4811, Australia;Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, 120 Oceanview Blvd., Pacific Grove, CA 93950, United States of America;Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, 99 Pacific Street, Suite 555E, Monterey, CA 93940, United States of America;Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES) & Centro de Conservacion Marina, Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Chile;Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, 99 Pacific Street, Suite 555E, Monterey, CA 93940, United States of America;Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Queensland 4811, Australia;Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, 99 Pacific Street, Suite 555E, Monterey, CA 93940, United States of America;Conservation International, Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Science and Oceans, 7192 Kalanianaole Hwy, Ste G-230, Honolulu, Hawaii 96825, United States of America;Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, 99 Pacific Street, Suite 555E, Monterey, CA 93940, United States of America;Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Long Marine Lab, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States of America;University of California Sea Grant Extension Program and Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Center for Ocean Health, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States of America;University of California Sea Grant Extension Program, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, California 95039, United States of America;McGill School of Environment, McGill University, 3534 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2A7, Canada;Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Long Marine Lab, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, United States of America;Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, University of Miami, 1365 Memorial Drive, Ungar Building 230M, Coral Gables, FL 33124, United States of America
Recommended Citation:
Stacy E. Aguilera,Jennifer Cole,Elena M. Finkbeiner,et al. Managing Small-Scale Commercial Fisheries for Adaptive Capacity: Insights from Dynamic Social-Ecological Drivers of Change in Monterey Bay[J]. PLOS ONE,2015-01-01,10(3)