Report on social indicators to evaluate the social impacts of management strategies

Fisheries are deeply embedded within wider social systems, involving fishers, coastal communities, policymakers, and a range of other stakeholders. Understanding and anticipating how fishers and their respective communities will respond to new fisheries management measures is intrinsic to their success. Though this is the case, fisheries research and management across Europe still tends to focus on the ecological, leaving social dimensions broadly overlooked. 

Collating several strands of research, SEAwise researchers, working under our Social and Economic Effects theme, investigated key social impacts of fisheries and their management, which in combination contribute to informed Social Impact Assessments (SIAs), to estimate the potential social ramifications of regulatory change. Understanding these impacts, and collecting and incorporating social data on stakeholder perspectives, enhances the legitimacy and acceptance of fisheries policy and management processes, and is therefore essential to SEAwise’s work operationalising Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM).

SEAwise Research:

Utilising a mixed-methods approach, SEAwise researchers explored the social dynamics surrounding fisheries management and the perceptions of different stakeholder groups on how fisheries management impacts their livelihoods – incorporating the views of fishers, industry representatives, policymakers, and community members. 

Through this research, several issues were considered across the SEAwise Case Study regions encompassing social aspects at individual, fleet, and community levels, including:

  • Understanding and predicting fisher behaviour through improving and developing new behavioural sub-models which incorporate decision-making and behavioural drivers, including the BEMTOOL (Central Mediterranean), OSMOSE (North Sea), and FLBEIA (Western Waters) models. 
  • Identifying and mapping fishing communities by linking them to specific fleets, ports, and regional industries, and developing community profiles which account for cultural and historical characteristics. Mapping these communities further demonstrates the many associated impacts of fisheries which connect fishing at sea to life on land.
  • Outlining social vulnerability indices, encompassing employment, education, income, and other factors to help identify communities that are highly dependent on fishing and, therefore, more susceptible to the impacts of regulatory change. 
  • Exploring the perceived socio-economic impacts of environmental change affecting fisheries, relating to both the extent of impact and attitudes towards this impact (i.e. who is responsible for remedying the effects of or mitigating this).

The findings of this report, and its incorporation of stakeholder views, outlines the complex and far-reaching impacts of fishing which encompass more than solely the processes and effects that take place at sea. In line with this, this research emphasises the importance of undertaking management in a collaborative way, where decision-making is shared between authorities, fishers, and the communities they play such a key role in shaping.

What happens next?

This report evidences the broad suite of topics that would need to be considered for the evaluation of fisheries management strategies to be comprehensive and effective. Notably, this research provides useful findings which can be integrated within ongoing work to operationalise the social objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy. Drawing from these findings, in particular the behavioural models and integration of social data, allows for greater foresight on potential unintended management consequences and, therefore, the potential for policy developments to be more equitable and inclusive.

Read the full report here.

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