Spatial diversification as a mechanism to adapt to environmental changes in small-scale fisheries
Abstract
© 2020 The Authors Small-scale fisheries’ actors increasingly face new challenges,
including climate driven shifts in marine resource distribution and productivity.
Diversification of target species and fishing locations is a key mechanism to adapt
to such changes and maintain fisheries livelihoods. Here we explore environmental
and institutional factors mediating how patterns of spatial diversification (i.e.,
utilization of alternative fishing grounds) and target species diversification change
over time. Using small-scale fisheries in Baja California Sur (Mexico) as a case study,
we adopt a social-ecological network approach to conduct a spatially explicit analysis
of fisheries landings data (2008–2016). This approach quantifies relative patterns
of diversification, and when combined with a qualitative analysis of existing literature,
enables us to illuminate institutional and environmental factors that may influence
diversification strategies. Our results indicate that interannual changes in spatial
diversification are correlated with regional oceanographic change, while illustrating
the heterogeneity and dynamism of diversification strategies. Rather than acting in
isolation, we hypothesize that environmental drivers likely operate in combination
with existing fisheries regulations and local socioeconomic context to mediate spatial
diversification. We argue that small-scale fisheries policies need to better account
such linkages as we move towards an increasingly variable environment. Overall, our
results highlight spatial diversification as a dynamic process and constitute an important
step towards understanding and managing the complex mechanisms through which environmental
changes affect small-scale fisheries.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/22285Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.envsci.2020.11.006Publication Info
Gonzalez-Mon, B; Bodin, Ö; Lindkvist, E; Frawley, TH; Giron-Nava, A; Basurto, X; ...
Schlüter, M (2021). Spatial diversification as a mechanism to adapt to environmental changes in small-scale
fisheries. Environmental Science and Policy, 116. pp. 246-257. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.11.006. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/22285.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Xavier Basurto
Truman and Nellie Semans/Alex Brown & Sons Associate Professor
I am interested in the fundamental question of how groups (human and non-human) can
find ways to self-organize, cooperate, and engage in successful collective action
for the benefit of the common good. To do this I strive to understand how the institutions
(formal and informal rules and norms) that govern social behavior, interplay with
biophysical variables to shape social-ecological systems. What kind of institutions
are better able to govern complex-adaptive systems? and how can societies (la

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