Fisheries Connectivity Networks to Measure the Adaptive Capacity of Small-Scale Fisheries in Baja, Mexico

Keiko Nomura1, Jameal Samhouri2, Steven J J Dundas3, Alfredo Giron4, Andrew F Johnson5 and James Roger Watson1, (1)Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States, (2)NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, United States, (3)Oregon State University, Department of Applied Economics, Corvallis, United States, (4)National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, CA, United States, (5)MarFishEco, United States
Abstract:
Fishermen who rely on the ocean for a living continually adapt to weather conditions, market fluctuations, policy changes, and more. Indeed, changing ocean conditions may alter marine communities and the assemblages of fisheries species available to catch. One common adaptive behavior is to harvest a variety of species to create multiple sources of income. Fishermen with a diverse fishing portfolio should be less vulnerable to environmental change since they have more opportunities to continue fishing in the event of an environmental shock. Identifying the portfolio of income options of fishermen is therefore a fundamental step towards measuring the socioeconomic vulnerability of fishing livelihoods.

Small-scale fisheries in the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico (Baja), have long significantly contributed to national fisheries production and employment. The region’s oceanographic conditions are greatly influenced by seasonal fluctuations (e.g., upwelling, sea surface temperature) and decadal oscillations (e.g., El Niño). As a result, fishermen here naturally diversify their catch portfolios, providing an ideal context to measure the responses of small-scale fishing portfolios to environmental change.

In this study, fisheries connectivity networks describe fishing portfolios in Baja in order to quantify the overall stability and adaptive capacity of the small-scale fisheries system. Ocean conditions were assessed alongside these networks to identify which parameters may relate to fishermen’s harvest portfolios.

Initial results indicate that rapid increases in sea surface temperature positively affect catch diversity but negatively affect the overall adaptive capacity. Further analyses will also investigate the effects of primary productivity on fisheries connectivity networks. Such knowledge of spatiotemporal trends in small-scale fisheries and oceanographic conditions in Baja will further our understanding of fishermen’s responses to environmental variability and shed light on their adaptive capacity.

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