Final published version
Licence: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Diversification insulates fisher catch and revenue in heavily exploited tropical fisheries
AU - Robinson, James P. W.
AU - Robinson, Jan
AU - Gerry, Calvin
AU - Govinden, Rodney
AU - Freshwater, Cameron
AU - Graham, Nicholas A. J.
PY - 2020/2/21
Y1 - 2020/2/21
N2 - Declines in commercial landings and increases in fishing fleet power have raised concerns over the continued provisioning of nutritional and economic services by tropical wild fisheries. Yet, because tropical fisheries are often data-poor, mechanisms that might buffer fishers to declines are not understood. This data scarcity undermines fisheries management, making tropical fishing livelihoods particularly vulnerable to changes in marine resources. We use high-resolution fisheries data from Seychelles to understand how fishing strategy (catch diversification) influences catch rates and revenues of individual fishing vessels. We show that average catch weight decreased by 65% over 27 years, with declines in all nine species groups coinciding with increases in fishing effort. However, for individual vessels, catch diversity was associated with larger catches and higher fishing revenues and with slower catch declines from 1990 to 2016. Management strategies should maximize catch diversity in data-poor tropical fisheries to help secure nutritional security while protecting fishing livelihoods.
AB - Declines in commercial landings and increases in fishing fleet power have raised concerns over the continued provisioning of nutritional and economic services by tropical wild fisheries. Yet, because tropical fisheries are often data-poor, mechanisms that might buffer fishers to declines are not understood. This data scarcity undermines fisheries management, making tropical fishing livelihoods particularly vulnerable to changes in marine resources. We use high-resolution fisheries data from Seychelles to understand how fishing strategy (catch diversification) influences catch rates and revenues of individual fishing vessels. We show that average catch weight decreased by 65% over 27 years, with declines in all nine species groups coinciding with increases in fishing effort. However, for individual vessels, catch diversity was associated with larger catches and higher fishing revenues and with slower catch declines from 1990 to 2016. Management strategies should maximize catch diversity in data-poor tropical fisheries to help secure nutritional security while protecting fishing livelihoods.
KW - SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES
KW - FOOD SECURITY
KW - FISHING COMMUNITIES
KW - MARINE FISHERIES
KW - DIPOLE MODE
KW - PACIFIC
KW - EVENTS
KW - ACCESS
KW - OCEAN
U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.aaz0587
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aaz0587
M3 - Journal article
VL - 6
JO - Science Advances
JF - Science Advances
SN - 2375-2548
IS - 8
M1 - 0587
ER -