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. 2015. Resilience strategies in the face of short-and long-term change: out-migration and fisheries regulation in Alaskan fishing communities. Ecology and Society 20(2): 9. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES- ResearchResilience strategies in the face of short-and long-term change: outmigration and fisheries regulation in Alaskan fishing communities Amber Himes-Cornell 1 and Kristin Hoelting 2 ABSTRACT. Historically, communities persisted in remote, isolated areas of Alaska in large part because of the abundance of marine and terrestrial resources, as well as the ability of local people to opportunistically access those resources as they became available. Species switching and the ability to shift effort away from fisheries during poor years allowed local residents to diversify their livelihoods in the face of uncertainties and ecological change. The advent of modern fisheries management, which views Alaskan fisheries as the property of all citizens of the United States, has fundamentally altered the relationship of place-based communities to fishery resources. Local access to fisheries has been particularly affected by the development of transferable fishing privileges, making it possible for fishing rights to leave place-based communities through the choices of individual community members to sell or to move away. When fishing communities in Alaska lose active fishing businesses, over time the loss of various types of community capital will follow, including human, social, cultural, technical, and financial capital. In some cases, communities are able to adapt or transform through diversification of their local economies. In other cases, no alternatives to a fishery-based economy are accessible. We have used resilience theory to explore drivers of change affecting Alaskan fishing communities. Emphasis was placed on two primary change drivers, the regulatory environment and rural out-migration, as well as their interconnections and their impacts on individuals, communities, and the larger social-ecological system. We summarized several government programs that have been implemented to support the continued participation of communities in Alaskan fisheries. In addition, we reviewed informal and private-sector efforts to generate resilience strategies that can facilitate new entry into fisheries or retain fishing businesses and fishing rights within communities, as well as respond to increasing uncertainty related to the global market and climate changes.

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Community vulnerability is increasingly evaluated through quantitative social indices, typically developed using secondary data sources rather than primary data collection. It is necessary to understand the validity of these indices if they will be used to inform policy and decision making. This paper presents a ground-truthing effort to validate quantitative indices that characterize the well-being of Alaska fishing communities. We utilized ethnographic data collected from 13 representative communities and a capital assets framework to ground-truth the indices, in which qualitative ranks of vulnerability were compared against quantitative indices. The majority (73.8%) of ranks were in complete or moderate agreement and the results indicate that most of the indices are representative of community vulnerability; yet some variables utilized to create the indices could be modified to better reflect realities in Alaska. Indices of commercial fishery engagement and reliance appeared to be more reliable than socioeconomic indicators, particularly for smaller fishing communities. We also confirmed that the indices do not capture political, or ecological factors that affect levels of community vulnerability. We conclude that quantitative indices of community vulnerability are useful rapid assessment tools; however, they should be validated, and complemented with ethnographic data prior to their implementation as policy making and management tools.

This article presents results of a study intended to paint a broad picture and uncover general trends in collaboration within the Puget Sound marine and nearshore research community. Survey results showed that natural scientists dominate the network, representing 80% of all actors in the sample. Relational contingency analysis revealed high internal rates of collaboration among social scientists and among interdisciplinary scientists. The lowest rates of collaboration were observed between natural scientists and social scientists (p < .001). Cohesion metrics were examined within sub-networks of individuals working on a variety of topical focus areas. In general, sub-networks focused on human dimensions-related topics had higher fragmentation scores (lower cohesion) than sub-networks focused on ecological, biological, or physical processes. These less cohesive sub-networks are identified as areas of opportunity for strategic network interventions to support and foster new collaborations. Results of qualitative analysis highlight factors that facilitate or inhibit success of collaborative research efforts, such as leadership, incentives, and long-term adequate funding. Additionally, the degree to which a collaborative research model can be linked to "high-impact," policy-informing research outcomes is addressed.

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