Resilience and Social Adaptation to Climate Change Impacts in Small-Scale Fisheries

Abstract

Small-cale fisheries are important for livelihoods, food security, jobs and income worldwide. However, they face major challenges, including the increasing effects of climate change that pose serious risks to coastal ecosystems and fishing communities. Although scientific research on climate change impacts has increased in recent years, few studies have explored the social impacts on small-scale fisheries. Using Galicia (Spain) as a case study, we investigated individual and household-level adaptive responses to climate change among fishers in three fishing guilds (Cambados, Campelo, and Redondela). Specifically, we estimated the economic vulnerability of shellfishers and assessed the diversity of social adaptive responses used to deal with climate change. Although fishers’ income strongly depends on shellfishing in all studied areas, our findings show that less fishing experience and lower engagement in fisher associations tend to increase the economic vulnerability of the fishers. The fishers’ vulnerability decreases as the size of households increases, while fishers who pay a mortgage and who live in households with fewer active members tend to be more vulnerable. The findings also show that Galician shellfishers have developed a wide range of adaptation strategies to anticipate and respond to climate change impacts, namely harvesting pricier and more abundant species, reducing household expenses and increasing social involvement in shellfishery associations. Although the adaptive strategies have helped Galician fishers to deal with climate change impacts, several threats to the sustainability of shellfisheries remain, such as a decrease in the abundance of key native shellfish species, and a high dependence on public and private aid to ensure reasonable incomes for shellfisheries. These findings are of interest and relevance to other similar small-scale fisheries around the world facing similar climate change challenges.

Assessment of Risks Associated with Extreme Climate Events in Small-Scale Bivalve Fisheries: Conceptual Maps for Decision-Making Based on a Review of Recent Studies

“…Shellfish are also very important for local communities from a socioeconomic point of view. In the case of the Galician shellfisheries, these resources are especially important for women, who constitute the majority of workers in the intertidal zone [15] and who help to sustain local economies by direct and indirect employment, representing over 60% of the total population employed in the fisheries sector [2].…”

“…In order to mitigate these effects, fishery management organizations, fisher's guilds, producer organizations, cooperatives, researchers and policy-makers all have a role to play in the future of the sector. Galician shellfishers have developed adaptation strategies to anticipate and respond to climate change impacts, such as harvesting more valuable and more abundant species or increasing social involvement in shellfishery associations [2].…”

“…Small-scale fisheries (SSFs), i.e., small-scale, spatially structured fisheries targeting sedentary resources with artisanal gear, sensu [1], are considered key actors in the governance of ocean sustainability. Artisanal shellfisheries are SSFs that provide important socioeconomic benefits to coastal communities [2,3] and that have a low environmental impact, as bivalves feed on naturally occurring phytoplankton in the ecosystem [4]. Bivalves are also important components of the sedimentary ecosystem [5], as their infaunal activities enhance primary productivity [6,7] and can be considered for habitat restoration [8].…”

“…These shellfisheries work under a comanagement system involving cofradías (fisher's guilds) and fisheries authorities and are based on territorial use rights for fishing (TURFs) over a large area and on the associated resources [14,15]. The entire process, from harvesting to processing of the final product, is of great socioeconomic importance [2,3,16], and it is mostly performed by women, which enhances the social value of the activity [17]. Overall, this activity makes a significant contribution to the sustainable development of coastal areas [3,18].…”

“…Galician shellfishers, like other fishing communities [67], have developed adaptation strategies to deal with the impacts of climate change [2]; however, several threats to the sustainability of shellfisheries remain, such as a decrease in the abundance of key native shellfish species. In addition, the adaptation strategies also depend on other important Galician shellfishers, like other fishing communities [67], have developed adaptation strategies to deal with the impacts of climate change [2]; however, several threats to the sustainability of shellfisheries remain, such as a decrease in the abundance of key native shellfish species. In addition, the adaptation strategies also depend on other important stakeholders (fishers' guilds, fisheries administrations and the scientific community) providing accurate, comprehensible information.…”