Untangling a Gordian knot that must not be cut: Social-ecological systems research for management of southern Benguela fisheries

Jarre, Astrid; Shannon, Lynne J.; Cooper, Rachel; Duggan, GL; Gammage, LC; Lockerbie, Emma Margaret; McGregor, ES; Ragaller, SM; Visser, Natascha; Ward, Catherine; Watermeyer, Katherine; Weller, FG; Ommer, Rosemary E.

doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2018.01.004

Cited by 21 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Previous research carried out in the context of the Southern Cape Interdisciplinary Fisheries Research (SCIFR) project (Jarre et al 2018, SCIFR 2019 described the drivers of change and fishers' responses to the resulting pressures (Gammage et al 2017a(Gammage et al , 2017b. Major stressors comprised policy and regulation, climate variation, and other fishing sectors; mid-range stressors comprise policy enforcement, economics (capital), political issues, and socioeconomic issues.…”

Section: Methods and Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper we present scenario planning stories conducted with the community of fishers from the town of Melkhoutfontein in South Africa's southern Cape region as an initial step in a transformative scenario planning process. This research, conducted at the small scale as a case study, explores a possible tool to support implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries management in South Africa (Jarre et al 2018, Gammage and. It is characterized by an interactive and iterative process that is inductive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Failing to plan is planning to fail: lessons learned from a small-scale scenario planning process with marginalized fishers from South Africa’s southern Cape

Gammage¹,

Jarre²,

Mather³

2021

E&S

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Scenario-planning, a management tool used for addressing challenges in complex and uncertain social-ecological systems (SES), offers a helpful way to facilitate responses to complex change by stakeholders at all scales of the SES. This is facilitated through imagining possible futures in pursuit of a pre-determined and common goal. Environmental variability, together with a failure to recognize the integrated nature of marine SES, are two drivers of change that have contributed to the depletion of ocean resources and stressed fishing communities, including in the southern Benguela system off South Africa's west and south coasts. Here, we present a scenario planning process, informed by transformative scenario planning, conducted with the community of fishers from the town of Melkhoutfontein in the southern Cape region. Together with the fishers, we developed four stories of the future of Melkhoutfontein within the context of an overarching theoretical approach to support the implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAF). These stories incorporate scenarios on key driving forces identified by participants, complemented by key driving forces identified through a related process using problem structuring tools. The stories contrast situations with (no) access to fishing rights and (un-)favorable economics. They are backdropped by two potential future ecosystem types (warm temperate versus subtropical) and knowledge acquired from strategic planning at the national scale. We discuss the insights gained from the scenario-building process, emphasizing lessons learned from this small-scale process with marginalized fishers and how this may contribute to the over-arching scenario-based approach.

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Section: Methods and Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Failing to plan is planning to fail: lessons learned from a small-scale scenario planning process with marginalized fishers from South Africa’s southern Cape

Gammage¹,

Jarre²,

Mather³

2021

E&S

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“…All three BCC states are members of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) which promotes coherence in fisheries management and monitoring and ecosystem approaches to fisheries management. The three party states have also acknowledged the need to implement an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (Shannon et al, 2004;Cochrane et al, 2009;Jarre et al, 2018;Kainge et al, 2020).…”

Section: The Governance Structure Of the Benguela Current Conventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polycentric Regional Ocean Governance Opportunity in the Benguela Current Convention

Naidoo¹,

Hamukuaya²,

Hara

2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

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The Benguela Current Convention (BCC) has been operational for a decade and has emerged from the precursor natural and fisheries science large marine ecosystem programs. This regional ocean governance institution emerged indigenously as an intergovernmental working arrangement across the Republics of Angola, Namibia, and South Africa. The Convention has been described as a Centralized Authority mode of regional ocean governance. This paper explores this description with reference to the ecosystem-based approach to marine management. The study is focused on the level of working arrangements within the Convention and its Commission across the national and regional scales. It finds that the BCC does meet the theoretical criteria of a polycentric governance mechanism at the resolution of its operations. Polycentric ocean governance mechanisms are valued in regional ocean governance as they potentially offer greater impact through higher levels of coordination, codesign, and integration. Polycentric governance systems incorporate multiple centers of authority that operate at different scales. Existing instances and further opportunities for polycentric governance mechanisms within the working arrangements of the Convention are identified for the Southeast Atlantic.

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“…However, this knowledge is necessary to anticipate the impact of long‐term climate variability and trends for this fishery, and subsequently, for the successful implementation of the EAF. Bordering a fast‐warming marine region (Hobday et al, 2016), the Agulhas Bank ecosystem has increasingly become the focus of social‐ecological systems research (Jarre et al, 2018; Southern Cape Interdisciplinary Fisheries Research project, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of high‐resolution modelled wave heights along the South African south coast suggests recent deterioration of sea state

Lyttle

Rautenbach

Backeberg

et al. 2021

Fisheries Oceanography

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Understanding climate variability and change together with fishing activities through high‐resolution scientific information and local observations can help implement and sustain improved coastal marine management strategies. Ethnographic data collected between 2010 and 2016 during previous studies with traditional handline fishers on South Africa's south coast suggest that fishers recently observed a deterioration in sea state and a reduction in sea days. Many fishers attributed this deterioration to increased climate variability. The fishers also suggested experiencing increased difficulty when leaving the nearshore through river mouths due to higher waves and stronger winds. The current study investigated these oceanic changes in terms of wave height variability and trends, using high resolution modelled wave data of the south coast for the period 1997–2013. Considering the fishers' perspectives, wave heights near their main launch sites during their main fishing season (austral summer) were focussed on. During the mid‐to‐late 2000s, a positive regime shift of summer nearshore wave heights occurred along the south coast and a statistically significant positive trend in summer nearshore wave heights occurred during the study period. These results support the local fishers’ observations suggesting that the sea state had been deteriorating, in terms of higher summer nearshore waves. While the magnitude of the observed change is not critical to small‐boat fisheries in the area at present, it may contribute to the decrease in available sea days and hence, adds to the stressors in the commercial and small‐scale sectors, further increasing their vulnerability to change.

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Untangling a Gordian knot that must not be cut: Social-ecological systems research for management of southern Benguela fisheries

Cited by 21 publications

References 55 publications

Failing to plan is planning to fail: lessons learned from a small-scale scenario planning process with marginalized fishers from South Africa’s southern Cape

Failing to plan is planning to fail: lessons learned from a small-scale scenario planning process with marginalized fishers from South Africa’s southern Cape

Polycentric Regional Ocean Governance Opportunity in the Benguela Current Convention

An analysis of high‐resolution modelled wave heights along the South African south coast suggests recent deterioration of sea state

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Untangling a Gordian knot that must not be cut: Social-ecological systems research for management of southern Benguela fisheries

Cited by 21 publications

References 55 publications

Failing to plan is planning to fail: lessons learned from a small-scale scenario planning process with marginalized fishers from South Africa&#8217;s southern Cape

Failing to plan is planning to fail: lessons learned from a small-scale scenario planning process with marginalized fishers from South Africa&#8217;s southern Cape

Polycentric Regional Ocean Governance Opportunity in the Benguela Current Convention

An analysis of high‐resolution modelled wave heights along the South African south coast suggests recent deterioration of sea state

Contact Info

Product

Resources

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Failing to plan is planning to fail: lessons learned from a small-scale scenario planning process with marginalized fishers from South Africa’s southern Cape

Failing to plan is planning to fail: lessons learned from a small-scale scenario planning process with marginalized fishers from South Africa’s southern Cape