Creating a common ground for the implementation of a community-based Marine Protected Area – a case study in Algarve, Portugal

Towards Sustainability: A Framework for Evaluating Portuguese Small-Scale Fisheries

“…Hence, policymakers have to shift their strategies towards adaptation and mitigation measures in order to provide flexibility for ecosystem changes [95,96]. It is increasingly recognized that the success of effective fishery management relies on a strong interaction between resources, policies, and the communities, as seen by the co-management committee of the octopus fishery in Algarve, to be officially implemented in 2024, and represents the first one designated for a regional fishery in Portugal with the support of the major stakeholders of this fishery, including research, administration, non-governmental environmental organizations, civil society, and all the fishing associations in the area [36,44,53,71].…”

“…Information on participatory processes, including workshops for fishers regarding several aspects of the sector's sustainability, was retrieved from a diversity of peer-review articles. Horta e Costa et al [70] and Guimarães et al [71] performed multi-stakeholder workshops to discuss several aspects, including governance of marine-protected areas. In Sonderblohm et al [40] and Rangel et al [36], a participatory process to analyze several aspects of the Algarve's octopus' fishery is described; and Pita et al [33] presents data on meetings and workshops with fishers and their representatives, also of the Algarve's octopus' fishery.…”

Assessing the viability of Stakeholders’ Engagement in Marine Spatial Planning and its Implications for a Sustainable Blue Economy

“…In the EU, MSP is viewed as a political tool [31], [32] focusing on, among other topics, the holistic involvement of all users in the development of the ICZM principles, e.g., around the Mediterranean Sea area [7]. These include the responsible growth of Europe's coastal areas and marine space in the interest of environmental health and marine restoration [31] and the embrace of nature-based solutions (NBSs), which promote marine ecosystem resilience by connecting all coastal activities, resources, and all users [33] to enhance ocean monitoring environments for adequate management and marine conservation policies [9].…”

“…In Spain, an increased focus on MSP was initiated approximately 2005 around Marine Natural Parks [34]. In Portugal, MSP efforts gained more momentum approximately 2008, focusing on designing and implementing plans that not only coincide with MPAs but also biodiversity hotspots where several human activities, e.g., tourism and sheries, interact/exist [32]. In South America, MSP efforts have been made, especially in shery zones, e.g., of Rio Formoso in Brazil [41].…”

“…Another signi cant gap is the paucity of studies reporting on the process of developing a common vision among stakeholders in the MSP process in the literature [32]. This gap suggests that even when MSP processes are well designed and executed [66], [67], unfair and unequal conditions are likely to reduce the effectiveness of participatory processes [28].…”