New directions in Maritime and Fisheries Anthropology:
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179028 , vital:40101 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1111/aman.13380
- Description: Maritime and fisheries anthropology is a mixture of different themes couched under various theoretical frameworks that straddle the humanities and the sciences. In this subject survey, I explore different thematic and theoretical strands of maritime and fisheries anthropology and illustrate broader changes in this subdiscipline since around the mid‐1990s. I also review developing and future thematic and theoretical research frontiers, and discuss their potential contribution to a public and actionable anthropology/scholarship that can better inform fisheries management and conservation. This is important because in the twenty‐first century, coastal peoples are facing socioeconomic and environmental challenges that are increasingly becoming hazardous. To create a more actionable discipline, anthropology needs to be more accessible, inform innovation, and recapture a more pluralistic scholarship that champions interdisciplinary work. This will require the consilience between the humanities and natural sciences for studying human–marine interactions more broadly and for protecting the marine environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179028 , vital:40101 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1111/aman.13380
- Description: Maritime and fisheries anthropology is a mixture of different themes couched under various theoretical frameworks that straddle the humanities and the sciences. In this subject survey, I explore different thematic and theoretical strands of maritime and fisheries anthropology and illustrate broader changes in this subdiscipline since around the mid‐1990s. I also review developing and future thematic and theoretical research frontiers, and discuss their potential contribution to a public and actionable anthropology/scholarship that can better inform fisheries management and conservation. This is important because in the twenty‐first century, coastal peoples are facing socioeconomic and environmental challenges that are increasingly becoming hazardous. To create a more actionable discipline, anthropology needs to be more accessible, inform innovation, and recapture a more pluralistic scholarship that champions interdisciplinary work. This will require the consilience between the humanities and natural sciences for studying human–marine interactions more broadly and for protecting the marine environment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Scientific frontiers in the management of coral reefs
- Aswani, Shankar, Mumby, Peter J, Baker, Andrew, Christie, Patrick, McCook, Laurence J, Steneck, Robert S, Richmond, Robert H
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Mumby, Peter J , Baker, Andrew , Christie, Patrick , McCook, Laurence J , Steneck, Robert S , Richmond, Robert H
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70582 , vital:29677 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2015.00050
- Description: Coral reefs are subjected globally to a variety of natural and anthropogenic stressors that often act synergistically. Today, reversing ongoing and future coral reef degradation presents significant challenges and countering this negative trend will take considerable efforts and investments. Scientific knowledge can inform and guide the requisite decision-making process and offer practical solutions to the problem of protection as the effects of climate change exacerbate. However, implementation of solutions presently lags far behind the pace required to reverse global declines, and there is a need for an urgent and significant step-up in the extent and range of strategies being implemented. In this paper, we consider scientific frontiers in natural and social science research that can help build stronger support for reef management and improve the efficacy of interventions. We cover various areas including: (1) enhancing the case for reef conservation and management, (2) dealing with local stressors on reefs, (3) addressing global climate change impacts, (4) and reviewing various approaches to the governance of coral reefs. In sum, we consider scientific frontiers in natural and social science that will require further attention in coming years as managers work toward building stronger support for reef management and improve the efficacy of local interventions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Mumby, Peter J , Baker, Andrew , Christie, Patrick , McCook, Laurence J , Steneck, Robert S , Richmond, Robert H
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70582 , vital:29677 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2015.00050
- Description: Coral reefs are subjected globally to a variety of natural and anthropogenic stressors that often act synergistically. Today, reversing ongoing and future coral reef degradation presents significant challenges and countering this negative trend will take considerable efforts and investments. Scientific knowledge can inform and guide the requisite decision-making process and offer practical solutions to the problem of protection as the effects of climate change exacerbate. However, implementation of solutions presently lags far behind the pace required to reverse global declines, and there is a need for an urgent and significant step-up in the extent and range of strategies being implemented. In this paper, we consider scientific frontiers in natural and social science research that can help build stronger support for reef management and improve the efficacy of interventions. We cover various areas including: (1) enhancing the case for reef conservation and management, (2) dealing with local stressors on reefs, (3) addressing global climate change impacts, (4) and reviewing various approaches to the governance of coral reefs. In sum, we consider scientific frontiers in natural and social science that will require further attention in coming years as managers work toward building stronger support for reef management and improve the efficacy of local interventions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Marine resource management and conservation in the Anthropocene
- Aswani, Shankar, Basurto, Xavier, Ferse, Sebastian, Glaser, Marion, Campbell, Lisa, Cinner, Joshua E, Dalton, Tracey, Jenkins, Lekelia D, Miller, Marc L, Pollnac, Richard, McGill University, Christie, Patrick
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Basurto, Xavier , Ferse, Sebastian , Glaser, Marion , Campbell, Lisa , Cinner, Joshua E , Dalton, Tracey , Jenkins, Lekelia D , Miller, Marc L , Pollnac, Richard , McGill University , Christie, Patrick
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124987 , vital:35716 , https://doi.10.1017/S0376892917000431
- Description: Because the Anthropocene by definition is an epoch during which environmental change is largely anthropogenic and driven by social, economic, psychological and political forces, environmental social scientists can effectively analyse human behaviour and knowledge systems in this context. In this subject review, we summarize key ways in which the environmental social sciences can better inform fisheries management policy and practice and marine conservation in the Anthropocene. We argue that environmental social scientists are particularly well positioned to synergize research to fill the gaps between: (1) local behaviours/needs/worldviews and marine resource management and biological conservation concerns; and (2) large-scale drivers of planetary environmental change (globalization, affluence, technological change, etc.) and local cognitive, socioeconomic, cultural and historical processes that shape human behaviour in the marine environment. To illustrate this, we synthesize the roles of various environmental social science disciplines in better understanding the interaction between humans and tropical marine ecosystems in developing nations where issues arising from human–coastal interactions are particularly pronounced. We focus on: (1) the application of the environmental social sciences in marine resource management and conservation; (2) the development of ‘new’ socially equitable marine conservation; (3) repopulating the seascape; (4) incorporating multi-scale dynamics of marine social–ecological systems; and (5) envisioning the future of marine resource management and conservation for producing policies and projects for comprehensive and successful resource management and conservation in the Anthropocene.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Basurto, Xavier , Ferse, Sebastian , Glaser, Marion , Campbell, Lisa , Cinner, Joshua E , Dalton, Tracey , Jenkins, Lekelia D , Miller, Marc L , Pollnac, Richard , McGill University , Christie, Patrick
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124987 , vital:35716 , https://doi.10.1017/S0376892917000431
- Description: Because the Anthropocene by definition is an epoch during which environmental change is largely anthropogenic and driven by social, economic, psychological and political forces, environmental social scientists can effectively analyse human behaviour and knowledge systems in this context. In this subject review, we summarize key ways in which the environmental social sciences can better inform fisheries management policy and practice and marine conservation in the Anthropocene. We argue that environmental social scientists are particularly well positioned to synergize research to fill the gaps between: (1) local behaviours/needs/worldviews and marine resource management and biological conservation concerns; and (2) large-scale drivers of planetary environmental change (globalization, affluence, technological change, etc.) and local cognitive, socioeconomic, cultural and historical processes that shape human behaviour in the marine environment. To illustrate this, we synthesize the roles of various environmental social science disciplines in better understanding the interaction between humans and tropical marine ecosystems in developing nations where issues arising from human–coastal interactions are particularly pronounced. We focus on: (1) the application of the environmental social sciences in marine resource management and conservation; (2) the development of ‘new’ socially equitable marine conservation; (3) repopulating the seascape; (4) incorporating multi-scale dynamics of marine social–ecological systems; and (5) envisioning the future of marine resource management and conservation for producing policies and projects for comprehensive and successful resource management and conservation in the Anthropocene.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Design of realistic hybrid marine resource management programs in Oceania
- Aswani, Shankar, Ruddle, Kenneth
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ruddle, Kenneth
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70615 , vital:29681 , https://doi.org/10.2984/67.3.11
- Description: This review article synthesizes the authors' several decades of multidisciplinary natural and social science and applied marine resource management experience in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the strengthening of coastal and marine resource management and conservation using alliances between local communities and external institutions. The objective is to assist the design of resource management and conservation programs that enhance the capacity of coastal communities in Oceania to confront both diminishing marine resources and the effects of climate change by providing guidelines for protecting marine biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystem functions. This article describes a management framework that hybridizes local beliefs and institutions expressed in customary management (CM) with such modern management concepts as marine protected areas (MPAs) and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Hybrid management accommodates the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of Oceanic communities and, compared with recent or conventional management approaches, can therefore better address fundamental local concerns such as coastal degradation, climate change, sea level rise, weak governance, corruption, limited resources and staff to manage and monitor marine resources, and increasing poverty. Research on the hybridization of management systems demonstrates opportunities to establish context-appropriate EBM and/or other managerial arrangements that include terrestrial and adjacent coastal-marine ecosystems. Formal and informal CM systems are widespread in Oceania and in some parts of Southeast Asia, and if appropriate strategies are employed rapid progress toward hybrid CM-EBM could be enabled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ruddle, Kenneth
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70615 , vital:29681 , https://doi.org/10.2984/67.3.11
- Description: This review article synthesizes the authors' several decades of multidisciplinary natural and social science and applied marine resource management experience in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the strengthening of coastal and marine resource management and conservation using alliances between local communities and external institutions. The objective is to assist the design of resource management and conservation programs that enhance the capacity of coastal communities in Oceania to confront both diminishing marine resources and the effects of climate change by providing guidelines for protecting marine biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystem functions. This article describes a management framework that hybridizes local beliefs and institutions expressed in customary management (CM) with such modern management concepts as marine protected areas (MPAs) and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Hybrid management accommodates the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of Oceanic communities and, compared with recent or conventional management approaches, can therefore better address fundamental local concerns such as coastal degradation, climate change, sea level rise, weak governance, corruption, limited resources and staff to manage and monitor marine resources, and increasing poverty. Research on the hybridization of management systems demonstrates opportunities to establish context-appropriate EBM and/or other managerial arrangements that include terrestrial and adjacent coastal-marine ecosystems. Formal and informal CM systems are widespread in Oceania and in some parts of Southeast Asia, and if appropriate strategies are employed rapid progress toward hybrid CM-EBM could be enabled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Variation in perception of environmental change in nine Solomon Islands communities: implications for securing fairness in community-based adaptation
- Ensor, Jonathan Edward, Abernethy, Kirsten Elizabeth, Hoddy, Eric Timothy, Aswani, Shankar, Albert, Simon, Vaccaro, Ismael, Benedict, Jason Jon, Beare, Douglas James
- Authors: Ensor, Jonathan Edward , Abernethy, Kirsten Elizabeth , Hoddy, Eric Timothy , Aswani, Shankar , Albert, Simon , Vaccaro, Ismael , Benedict, Jason Jon , Beare, Douglas James
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145380 , vital:38433 , DOI: 10.1007/s10113-017-1242-1
- Description: Community-based approaches are pursued in recognition of the need for place-based responses to environmental change that integrate local understandings of risk and vulnerability. Yet the potential for fair adaptation is intimately linked to how variations in perceptions of environmental change and risk are treated. There is, however, little empirical evidence of the extent and nature of variations in risk perception in and between multiple community settings. Here, we rely on data from 231 semi-structured interviews conducted in nine communities in Western Province, Solomon Islands, to statistically model different perceptions of risk and change within and between communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Ensor, Jonathan Edward , Abernethy, Kirsten Elizabeth , Hoddy, Eric Timothy , Aswani, Shankar , Albert, Simon , Vaccaro, Ismael , Benedict, Jason Jon , Beare, Douglas James
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145380 , vital:38433 , DOI: 10.1007/s10113-017-1242-1
- Description: Community-based approaches are pursued in recognition of the need for place-based responses to environmental change that integrate local understandings of risk and vulnerability. Yet the potential for fair adaptation is intimately linked to how variations in perceptions of environmental change and risk are treated. There is, however, little empirical evidence of the extent and nature of variations in risk perception in and between multiple community settings. Here, we rely on data from 231 semi-structured interviews conducted in nine communities in Western Province, Solomon Islands, to statistically model different perceptions of risk and change within and between communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Insights from experimental economics on local cooperation in a small-scale fishery management system:
- Aswani, Shankar, Gurney, Georgina G, Mulville, Sara, Matera, Jaime, Gurven, Michael
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Gurney, Georgina G , Mulville, Sara , Matera, Jaime , Gurven, Michael
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145437 , vital:38438 , DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.08.003
- Description: Cooperation is central to collective management of small-scale fisheries management, including marine protected areas. Thus an understanding of the factors influencing stakeholders’ propensity to cooperate to achieve shared benefits is essential to accomplishing successful collective fisheries management. In this paper we study stakeholders’ cooperative behavioral disposition and elucidate the role of various socio-economic factors in influencing it in the Roviana Lagoon, Western Solomon Islands. We employed a Public Goods Game from experimental economics tailored to mimic the problem of common pool fisheries management to elucidate peoples’ cooperative behavior. Using Ostrom's framework for analyzing social-ecological systems to guide our analysis, we examined how individual-scale variables (e.g., age, education, family size, ethnicity, occupational status, personal norms), in the context of village-scale variables (e.g., village, governance institutions, group coercive action), influence cooperative behavior, as indexed by game contribution. Ostrom's framework provides an effective window for conceptually peeling back the various socio-economic and governance layers which influence cooperation within these communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Gurney, Georgina G , Mulville, Sara , Matera, Jaime , Gurven, Michael
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145437 , vital:38438 , DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.08.003
- Description: Cooperation is central to collective management of small-scale fisheries management, including marine protected areas. Thus an understanding of the factors influencing stakeholders’ propensity to cooperate to achieve shared benefits is essential to accomplishing successful collective fisheries management. In this paper we study stakeholders’ cooperative behavioral disposition and elucidate the role of various socio-economic factors in influencing it in the Roviana Lagoon, Western Solomon Islands. We employed a Public Goods Game from experimental economics tailored to mimic the problem of common pool fisheries management to elucidate peoples’ cooperative behavior. Using Ostrom's framework for analyzing social-ecological systems to guide our analysis, we examined how individual-scale variables (e.g., age, education, family size, ethnicity, occupational status, personal norms), in the context of village-scale variables (e.g., village, governance institutions, group coercive action), influence cooperative behavior, as indexed by game contribution. Ostrom's framework provides an effective window for conceptually peeling back the various socio-economic and governance layers which influence cooperation within these communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Keeping food on the table: responses and changing coastal fisheries in Solomon Islands
- Albert, Simon, Aswani, Shankar, Fisher, Paul L, Albert, Joelle
- Authors: Albert, Simon , Aswani, Shankar , Fisher, Paul L , Albert, Joelle
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70593 , vital:29678 , https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130800
- Description: Globally the majority of commercial fisheries have experienced dramatic declines in stock and catch. Likewise, projections for many subsistence fisheries in the tropics indicate a dramatic decline is looming in the coming decades. In the Pacific Islands coastal fisheries provide basic subsistence needs for millions of people. A decline in fish catch would therefore have profound impacts on the health and livelihoods of these coastal communities. Given the decrease in local catch rates reported for many coastal communities in the Pacific, it is important to understand if fishers have responded to ecological change (either by expanding their fishing range and/or increasing their fishing effort), and if so, to evaluate the costs or benefits of these responses. We compare data from fish catches in 1995 and 2011 from a rural coastal community in Solomon Islands to examine the potentially changing coastal reef fishery at these time points. In particular we found changes in preferred fishing locations, fishing methodology and catch composition between these data sets. The results indicate that despite changes in catch rates (catch per unit effort) between data collected in 2011 and 16 years previously, the study community was able to increase gross catches through visiting fishing sites further away, diversifying fishing methods and targeting pelagic species through trolling. Such insight into local-scale responses to changing resources and/ or fisheries development will help scientists and policy makers throughout the Pacific region in managing the region’s fisheries in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Albert, Simon , Aswani, Shankar , Fisher, Paul L , Albert, Joelle
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70593 , vital:29678 , https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130800
- Description: Globally the majority of commercial fisheries have experienced dramatic declines in stock and catch. Likewise, projections for many subsistence fisheries in the tropics indicate a dramatic decline is looming in the coming decades. In the Pacific Islands coastal fisheries provide basic subsistence needs for millions of people. A decline in fish catch would therefore have profound impacts on the health and livelihoods of these coastal communities. Given the decrease in local catch rates reported for many coastal communities in the Pacific, it is important to understand if fishers have responded to ecological change (either by expanding their fishing range and/or increasing their fishing effort), and if so, to evaluate the costs or benefits of these responses. We compare data from fish catches in 1995 and 2011 from a rural coastal community in Solomon Islands to examine the potentially changing coastal reef fishery at these time points. In particular we found changes in preferred fishing locations, fishing methodology and catch composition between these data sets. The results indicate that despite changes in catch rates (catch per unit effort) between data collected in 2011 and 16 years previously, the study community was able to increase gross catches through visiting fishing sites further away, diversifying fishing methods and targeting pelagic species through trolling. Such insight into local-scale responses to changing resources and/ or fisheries development will help scientists and policy makers throughout the Pacific region in managing the region’s fisheries in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Incorporating surrogate species and seascape connectivity to improve marine conservation outcomes
- Olds, Andrew D, Connolly, Rod M, Pitt, Kylie A, Maxwell, Paul S, Aswani, Shankar, Albert, Simon
- Authors: Olds, Andrew D , Connolly, Rod M , Pitt, Kylie A , Maxwell, Paul S , Aswani, Shankar , Albert, Simon
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124722 , vital:35655 , https://doi.10.1111/cobi.12242
- Description: Conservation focuses on maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, but gaps in our knowledge of species biology and ecological processes often impede progress. For this reason, focal species and habitats are used as surrogates for multispecies conservation, but species-based approaches are not widely adopted in marine ecosystems. Reserves in the Solomon Islands were designed on the basis of local ecological knowledge to conserve bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) and to protect food security and ecosystem functioning. Bumphead parrotfish are an iconic threatened species and may be a useful surrogate for multispecies conservation. They move across tropical seascapes throughout their life history, in a pattern of habitat use that is shared with many other species. We examined their value as a conservation surrogate and assessed the importance of seascape connectivity (i.e., the physical connectedness of patches in the seascape) among reefs, mangroves, and seagrass to marine reserve performance. Reserves were designed for bumphead parrotfish, but also enhanced the abundance of other species. Integration of local ecological knowledge and seascape connectivity enhanced the abundance of 17 other harvested fish species in local reserves. This result has important implications for ecosystem functioning and local villagers because many of these species perform important ecological processes and provide the foundation for extensive subsistence fisheries. Our findings suggest greater success in maintaining and restoring marine ecosystems may be achieved when they are managed to conserve surrogate species and preserve functional seascape connections.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Olds, Andrew D , Connolly, Rod M , Pitt, Kylie A , Maxwell, Paul S , Aswani, Shankar , Albert, Simon
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124722 , vital:35655 , https://doi.10.1111/cobi.12242
- Description: Conservation focuses on maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, but gaps in our knowledge of species biology and ecological processes often impede progress. For this reason, focal species and habitats are used as surrogates for multispecies conservation, but species-based approaches are not widely adopted in marine ecosystems. Reserves in the Solomon Islands were designed on the basis of local ecological knowledge to conserve bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) and to protect food security and ecosystem functioning. Bumphead parrotfish are an iconic threatened species and may be a useful surrogate for multispecies conservation. They move across tropical seascapes throughout their life history, in a pattern of habitat use that is shared with many other species. We examined their value as a conservation surrogate and assessed the importance of seascape connectivity (i.e., the physical connectedness of patches in the seascape) among reefs, mangroves, and seagrass to marine reserve performance. Reserves were designed for bumphead parrotfish, but also enhanced the abundance of other species. Integration of local ecological knowledge and seascape connectivity enhanced the abundance of 17 other harvested fish species in local reserves. This result has important implications for ecosystem functioning and local villagers because many of these species perform important ecological processes and provide the foundation for extensive subsistence fisheries. Our findings suggest greater success in maintaining and restoring marine ecosystems may be achieved when they are managed to conserve surrogate species and preserve functional seascape connections.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Assessing a social norms approach for improving recreational fisheries compliance
- Bova, Christopher S, Halse, S J, Aswani, Shankar, Potts, Warren M
- Authors: Bova, Christopher S , Halse, S J , Aswani, Shankar , Potts, Warren M
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123122 , vital:35408 , https://doi.10.1111/fme.12218
- Description: This study aimed to assess the suitability of the Berkowitz’ (2005) social norms approach (SNA) for improving compliance behaviour amongst recreational fishers. A total of 138 recreational shore anglers were interviewed in Eastern Cape, South Africa and asked about their compliance, attitudes towards compliance, perceptions of compliance and the attitudes of other anglers. Results indicate that angler compliance for individual regulations was relatively high (75%–90%). Attitudes of anglers towards compliance was positive, with >80% feeling that “breaking any regulation is wrong.” Yet, as predicted by the SNA, interviewees often overestimated the non-compliance and negative attitudes of other anglers, particularly as their social proximity decreased. Interviewees with the greatest misperceptions were also less compliant. The social norms present in the Eastern Cape rock and surf fishery fulfil the criteria required for the application of the SNA, suggesting that this approach may provide a suitable normative intervention for improving compliance to be used in conjunction with instrumental approaches in recreational fisheries.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Bova, Christopher S , Halse, S J , Aswani, Shankar , Potts, Warren M
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123122 , vital:35408 , https://doi.10.1111/fme.12218
- Description: This study aimed to assess the suitability of the Berkowitz’ (2005) social norms approach (SNA) for improving compliance behaviour amongst recreational fishers. A total of 138 recreational shore anglers were interviewed in Eastern Cape, South Africa and asked about their compliance, attitudes towards compliance, perceptions of compliance and the attitudes of other anglers. Results indicate that angler compliance for individual regulations was relatively high (75%–90%). Attitudes of anglers towards compliance was positive, with >80% feeling that “breaking any regulation is wrong.” Yet, as predicted by the SNA, interviewees often overestimated the non-compliance and negative attitudes of other anglers, particularly as their social proximity decreased. Interviewees with the greatest misperceptions were also less compliant. The social norms present in the Eastern Cape rock and surf fishery fulfil the criteria required for the application of the SNA, suggesting that this approach may provide a suitable normative intervention for improving compliance to be used in conjunction with instrumental approaches in recreational fisheries.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
An integrated framework for assessing coastal community vulnerability across cultures, oceans and scales
- Aswani, Shankar, Howard, J A E, Gasalla, Maria A, Jennings, Sarah, Malherbe, W, Martins, I M, Salim, Shyam S
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Howard, J A E , Gasalla, Maria A , Jennings, Sarah , Malherbe, W , Martins, I M , Salim, Shyam S
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123063 , vital:35402 , https://doi.10.1080/17565529.2018.1442795
- Description: Across the globe, many coastal communities rely on marine resources for their food security (FS), income and livelihoods and with predicted trends in human populations, the number of people reliant on these resources is likely to increase (FAO, 2012). However, the effects of climate change including increased variability are already being experienced by coastal communities and appear to be accelerating (Doney et al., 2012). Depending on a range of factors, including location, these changes are having mild to severe impacts on communities both in direct and indirect ways (Miller et al., 2010). Communities in coastal areas, for instance, are particularly at risk due to sea level rise but also through their dependence on marine resources that are impacted by multiple climate change pressures. A change in the availability and condition of marine resources has consequences on the livelihoods of fishing populations or those who depend directly on fishing as a source of food (Badjeck, Allison, Halls, & Dulvy, 2010).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Howard, J A E , Gasalla, Maria A , Jennings, Sarah , Malherbe, W , Martins, I M , Salim, Shyam S
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123063 , vital:35402 , https://doi.10.1080/17565529.2018.1442795
- Description: Across the globe, many coastal communities rely on marine resources for their food security (FS), income and livelihoods and with predicted trends in human populations, the number of people reliant on these resources is likely to increase (FAO, 2012). However, the effects of climate change including increased variability are already being experienced by coastal communities and appear to be accelerating (Doney et al., 2012). Depending on a range of factors, including location, these changes are having mild to severe impacts on communities both in direct and indirect ways (Miller et al., 2010). Communities in coastal areas, for instance, are particularly at risk due to sea level rise but also through their dependence on marine resources that are impacted by multiple climate change pressures. A change in the availability and condition of marine resources has consequences on the livelihoods of fishing populations or those who depend directly on fishing as a source of food (Badjeck, Allison, Halls, & Dulvy, 2010).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Customary management as TURFs: social challenges and opportunities
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145403 , vital:38435 , DOI: 10.5343/bms.2015.1084
- Description: There is a growing interest in working with customary management (CM) systems to effectively manage benthic resources and small-scale fisheries. The underlying notion is that CM institution as territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFs) can be sufficiently adaptive and dynamic to create the local incentives that are necessary for promoting sustainable fishing practices and marine conservation more generally in a given region. This paper reviews the social opportunities and challenges of working with CM systems as a form of TURF, particularly in Oceania. A key conclusion is that policy makers and managers not only need to recognize natural interconnectivity in any one marine space, but also consider the social interconnectivity of stakeholders that covers customary TURFs. Only by recognizing and working with the existing social networks that overlay any given marine territory can the operational principles of CM (as reviewed in this paper) be effectively deployed for achieving some kind of bioeconomic efficiency and creating an equitable rights-based fisheries management system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145403 , vital:38435 , DOI: 10.5343/bms.2015.1084
- Description: There is a growing interest in working with customary management (CM) systems to effectively manage benthic resources and small-scale fisheries. The underlying notion is that CM institution as territorial use rights in fisheries (TURFs) can be sufficiently adaptive and dynamic to create the local incentives that are necessary for promoting sustainable fishing practices and marine conservation more generally in a given region. This paper reviews the social opportunities and challenges of working with CM systems as a form of TURF, particularly in Oceania. A key conclusion is that policy makers and managers not only need to recognize natural interconnectivity in any one marine space, but also consider the social interconnectivity of stakeholders that covers customary TURFs. Only by recognizing and working with the existing social networks that overlay any given marine territory can the operational principles of CM (as reviewed in this paper) be effectively deployed for achieving some kind of bioeconomic efficiency and creating an equitable rights-based fisheries management system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Tools to enrich vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning for coastal communities in data-poor regions: application to a case study in Madagascar
- Cochrane, Kevern L, Rakotondrazafy, H, Aswani, Shankar, Chaigneau, T, Downey-Breedt, Nicola, Lemahieu, Anne, Paytan, Adina, Pecl, Gretta, Plagányi, Éva, Popova, Elizaveta, Van Putten, Ingrid E, Sauer, Warwick H H, Byfield, Val, Gasalla, Maria A, Van Gennip, Simon J, Malherbe, Willem, Rabary, Andriantsilavo, Rabeariso, Ando, Ramaroson, N, Randrianarimanana, V, Scott, Lucy E P, Tsimanaoraty, P M
- Authors: Cochrane, Kevern L , Rakotondrazafy, H , Aswani, Shankar , Chaigneau, T , Downey-Breedt, Nicola , Lemahieu, Anne , Paytan, Adina , Pecl, Gretta , Plagányi, Éva , Popova, Elizaveta , Van Putten, Ingrid E , Sauer, Warwick H H , Byfield, Val , Gasalla, Maria A , Van Gennip, Simon J , Malherbe, Willem , Rabary, Andriantsilavo , Rabeariso, Ando , Ramaroson, N , Randrianarimanana, V , Scott, Lucy E P , Tsimanaoraty, P M
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145347 , vital:38430 , DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00505
- Description: Here we describe an interdisciplinary and multi-country initiative to develop rapid, participatory methods to assess the vulnerability of coastal communities and facilitate adaptation to climate change in data-poor regions. The methods were applied in Madagascar as a case study. The initiative centered on an exploratory research exercise in two communities in the south-west of Madagascar, a workshop held in Antananarivo in June 2016, combined with a component on communicating ocean science and climate change to stakeholders. It utilized innovative and rapid approaches to combine global and local skills and information on adaptation and resilience building, taking cognizance of national policies, and was based on the principles of a holistic, integrated and participatory approach. This paper summarizes the activities undertaken and assesses how effective they were in achieving the project goals, as well as presenting examples of the outputs obtained.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Cochrane, Kevern L , Rakotondrazafy, H , Aswani, Shankar , Chaigneau, T , Downey-Breedt, Nicola , Lemahieu, Anne , Paytan, Adina , Pecl, Gretta , Plagányi, Éva , Popova, Elizaveta , Van Putten, Ingrid E , Sauer, Warwick H H , Byfield, Val , Gasalla, Maria A , Van Gennip, Simon J , Malherbe, Willem , Rabary, Andriantsilavo , Rabeariso, Ando , Ramaroson, N , Randrianarimanana, V , Scott, Lucy E P , Tsimanaoraty, P M
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145347 , vital:38430 , DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00505
- Description: Here we describe an interdisciplinary and multi-country initiative to develop rapid, participatory methods to assess the vulnerability of coastal communities and facilitate adaptation to climate change in data-poor regions. The methods were applied in Madagascar as a case study. The initiative centered on an exploratory research exercise in two communities in the south-west of Madagascar, a workshop held in Antananarivo in June 2016, combined with a component on communicating ocean science and climate change to stakeholders. It utilized innovative and rapid approaches to combine global and local skills and information on adaptation and resilience building, taking cognizance of national policies, and was based on the principles of a holistic, integrated and participatory approach. This paper summarizes the activities undertaken and assesses how effective they were in achieving the project goals, as well as presenting examples of the outputs obtained.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Understanding characteristics that define the feasibility of conservation actions in a common pool marine resource governance system
- Mills, Morena, Pressey, Robert L, Ban, Natalie C, Foale, Simon, Aswani, Shankar, Knight, Andrew T
- Authors: Mills, Morena , Pressey, Robert L , Ban, Natalie C , Foale, Simon , Aswani, Shankar , Knight, Andrew T
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70603 , vital:29680 , https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12025
- Description: Effective conservation requires people to make choices about how they interact with the environment. Social characteristics influence the likelihood of establishing conservation actions with strong compliance (hereafter “feasibility”), but are rarely considered in conservation planning. Our study makes two contributions to understand feasibility. First, we explicitly test the associations between social characteristics and the presence and form of resource management. Second, we compare the ability of different types of data to elucidate feasibility. We use Ostrom’s (2007) thinking on social–ecological systems and literature on resource management in Melanesia to create a context-specific framework to identify social characteristics that influence feasibility for conservation management. We then apply this framework and test for associations between the presence and form of management on one hand and social characteristics on the other, using data collected at different resolutions. We found that conservation feasibility was associated with characteristics of the governance system, users, and the social, economic, and political setting. Villages with different forms of management were more similar to each other socially than to villages without management. Social data collected at the resolution of households accounted for over double the variation in the form and presence of management compared to data at the resolution of villages. Our methods can be adapted to conservation planning initiatives in other socioeconomic settings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Mills, Morena , Pressey, Robert L , Ban, Natalie C , Foale, Simon , Aswani, Shankar , Knight, Andrew T
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70603 , vital:29680 , https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12025
- Description: Effective conservation requires people to make choices about how they interact with the environment. Social characteristics influence the likelihood of establishing conservation actions with strong compliance (hereafter “feasibility”), but are rarely considered in conservation planning. Our study makes two contributions to understand feasibility. First, we explicitly test the associations between social characteristics and the presence and form of resource management. Second, we compare the ability of different types of data to elucidate feasibility. We use Ostrom’s (2007) thinking on social–ecological systems and literature on resource management in Melanesia to create a context-specific framework to identify social characteristics that influence feasibility for conservation management. We then apply this framework and test for associations between the presence and form of management on one hand and social characteristics on the other, using data collected at different resolutions. We found that conservation feasibility was associated with characteristics of the governance system, users, and the social, economic, and political setting. Villages with different forms of management were more similar to each other socially than to villages without management. Social data collected at the resolution of households accounted for over double the variation in the form and presence of management compared to data at the resolution of villages. Our methods can be adapted to conservation planning initiatives in other socioeconomic settings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Social capital reduces vulnerability in rural coastal communities of Solomon Islands:
- Malherbe, Willem, Sauer, Warwick H H, Aswani, Shankar
- Authors: Malherbe, Willem , Sauer, Warwick H H , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150230 , vital:38951 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105186
- Description: Rural island communities are generally regarded as the most vulnerable groups affected by climate change. This perception arises due to them often being in less developed areas with high levels of exposure to stressors, while reportedly lacking the means to cope with these stressors. Studies which use developed-country yardsticks, such as those used in past IPCC-based assessments, when measuring vulnerability in less developed states will however inevitably over-pronounce its effects in such areas. The sustainable livelihoods approach provides an alternate means of determining vulnerability using capital assets such as social capital. The presence of these assets enables communities to pursue diverse livelihood strategies which ultimately serve to reduce their vulnerability. This study seeks to measure attributes of social capital in five marine dependent communities of Solomon Islands.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Malherbe, Willem , Sauer, Warwick H H , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150230 , vital:38951 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105186
- Description: Rural island communities are generally regarded as the most vulnerable groups affected by climate change. This perception arises due to them often being in less developed areas with high levels of exposure to stressors, while reportedly lacking the means to cope with these stressors. Studies which use developed-country yardsticks, such as those used in past IPCC-based assessments, when measuring vulnerability in less developed states will however inevitably over-pronounce its effects in such areas. The sustainable livelihoods approach provides an alternate means of determining vulnerability using capital assets such as social capital. The presence of these assets enables communities to pursue diverse livelihood strategies which ultimately serve to reduce their vulnerability. This study seeks to measure attributes of social capital in five marine dependent communities of Solomon Islands.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Indigenous People’s Detection of Rapid Ecological Change
- Lauer, Matthew, Aswani, Shankar
- Authors: Lauer, Matthew , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124811 , vital:35699 , https://doi.10.1111/cobi.12250
- Description: When sudden catastrophic events occur, it becomes critical for coastal communities to detect and respond to environmental transformations because failure to do so may undermine overall ecosystem resilience and threaten people’s livelihoods. We therefore asked how capable of detecting rapid ecological change following massive environmental disruptions local, indigenous people are. We assessed the direction and periodicity of experimental learning of people in the Western Solomon Islands after a tsunami in 2007. We compared the results of marine science surveys with local ecological knowledge of the benthos across 3 affected villages and 3 periods before and after the tsunami. We sought to determine how people recognize biophysical changes in the environment before and after catastrophic events such as earthquakes and tsunamis and whether people have the ability to detect ecological changes over short time scales or need longer time scales to recognize changes. Indigenous people were able to detect changes in the benthos over time. Detection levels differed between marine science surveys and local ecological knowledge sources over time, but overall patterns of statistically significant detection of change were evident for various habitats. Our findings have implications for marine conservation, coastal management policies, and disaster-relief efforts because when people are able to detect ecological changes, this, in turn, affects how they exploit and manage their marine resources.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Lauer, Matthew , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124811 , vital:35699 , https://doi.10.1111/cobi.12250
- Description: When sudden catastrophic events occur, it becomes critical for coastal communities to detect and respond to environmental transformations because failure to do so may undermine overall ecosystem resilience and threaten people’s livelihoods. We therefore asked how capable of detecting rapid ecological change following massive environmental disruptions local, indigenous people are. We assessed the direction and periodicity of experimental learning of people in the Western Solomon Islands after a tsunami in 2007. We compared the results of marine science surveys with local ecological knowledge of the benthos across 3 affected villages and 3 periods before and after the tsunami. We sought to determine how people recognize biophysical changes in the environment before and after catastrophic events such as earthquakes and tsunamis and whether people have the ability to detect ecological changes over short time scales or need longer time scales to recognize changes. Indigenous people were able to detect changes in the benthos over time. Detection levels differed between marine science surveys and local ecological knowledge sources over time, but overall patterns of statistically significant detection of change were evident for various habitats. Our findings have implications for marine conservation, coastal management policies, and disaster-relief efforts because when people are able to detect ecological changes, this, in turn, affects how they exploit and manage their marine resources.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The small pelagic fishery of the Pemba Channel, Tanzania: what we know and what we need to know for management under climate change
- Sekadende, Baraka, Scott, Lucy E P, Anderson, Jim, Aswani, Shankar, Francis, Julius, Jacobs, Zoe, Jebri, Fatma, Jiddawi, Narriman, Kamukuru, Albogast T, Kelly, Stephen, Kizenga, Hellen, Kuguru, Baraka, Kyewalyanga, Margareth, Noyon, Margaux, Nyandwi, Ntahondi, Painter, Stuart C, Palmer, Matthew, Raitsos, Dionysios, Roberts, Michael, Sailley, Sévrine F, Samoilys, Melita, Sauer, Warwick H H, Shayo, Salome, Shaghude, Yohana, Taylor, Sarah F W, Wihsgott, Juliane, Ekaterina Popova
- Authors: Sekadende, Baraka , Scott, Lucy E P , Anderson, Jim , Aswani, Shankar , Francis, Julius , Jacobs, Zoe , Jebri, Fatma , Jiddawi, Narriman , Kamukuru, Albogast T , Kelly, Stephen , Kizenga, Hellen , Kuguru, Baraka , Kyewalyanga, Margareth , Noyon, Margaux , Nyandwi, Ntahondi , Painter, Stuart C , Palmer, Matthew , Raitsos, Dionysios , Roberts, Michael , Sailley, Sévrine F , Samoilys, Melita , Sauer, Warwick H H , Shayo, Salome , Shaghude, Yohana , Taylor, Sarah F W , Wihsgott, Juliane , Ekaterina Popova
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178986 , vital:40102 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105322
- Description: Small pelagic fish, including anchovies, sardines and sardinellas, mackerels, capelin, hilsa, sprats and herrings, are distributed widely, from the tropics to the far north Atlantic Ocean and to the southern oceans off Chile and South Africa. They are most abundant in the highly productive major eastern boundary upwelling systems and are characterised by significant natural variations in biomass. Overall, small pelagic fisheries represent about one third of global fish landings although a large proportion of the catch is processed into animal feeds. Nonetheless, in some developing countries in addition to their economic value, small pelagic fisheries also make an important contribution to human diets and the food security of many low-income households. Such is the case for many communities in the Zanzibar Archipelago and on mainland Tanzania in the Western Indian Ocean. Of great concern in this region, as elsewhere, is the potential impact of climate change on marine and coastal ecosystems in general, and on small pelagic fisheries in particular. This paper describes data and information available on Tanzania's small pelagic fisheries, including catch and effort, management protocols and socio-economic significance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Sekadende, Baraka , Scott, Lucy E P , Anderson, Jim , Aswani, Shankar , Francis, Julius , Jacobs, Zoe , Jebri, Fatma , Jiddawi, Narriman , Kamukuru, Albogast T , Kelly, Stephen , Kizenga, Hellen , Kuguru, Baraka , Kyewalyanga, Margareth , Noyon, Margaux , Nyandwi, Ntahondi , Painter, Stuart C , Palmer, Matthew , Raitsos, Dionysios , Roberts, Michael , Sailley, Sévrine F , Samoilys, Melita , Sauer, Warwick H H , Shayo, Salome , Shaghude, Yohana , Taylor, Sarah F W , Wihsgott, Juliane , Ekaterina Popova
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178986 , vital:40102 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105322
- Description: Small pelagic fish, including anchovies, sardines and sardinellas, mackerels, capelin, hilsa, sprats and herrings, are distributed widely, from the tropics to the far north Atlantic Ocean and to the southern oceans off Chile and South Africa. They are most abundant in the highly productive major eastern boundary upwelling systems and are characterised by significant natural variations in biomass. Overall, small pelagic fisheries represent about one third of global fish landings although a large proportion of the catch is processed into animal feeds. Nonetheless, in some developing countries in addition to their economic value, small pelagic fisheries also make an important contribution to human diets and the food security of many low-income households. Such is the case for many communities in the Zanzibar Archipelago and on mainland Tanzania in the Western Indian Ocean. Of great concern in this region, as elsewhere, is the potential impact of climate change on marine and coastal ecosystems in general, and on small pelagic fisheries in particular. This paper describes data and information available on Tanzania's small pelagic fisheries, including catch and effort, management protocols and socio-economic significance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Governance mapping: a framework for assessing the adaptive capacity of marine resource governance to environmental change
- Dutra, Leo X C, Sporne, Ilva, Haward, Marcus, Aswani, Shankar, Cochrane, Kevern L, Frusher, Stewart, Gasalla, Maria A, Gianesella, Sônia M F, Grant, Tanith, Hobday, Alistair J, Jennings, Sarah, Plagányi, Éva, Pecl, Gretta, Salim, Shyam S, Sauer, Warwick H H, Taboada, Manuela B, Van Putten, Ingrid E
- Authors: Dutra, Leo X C , Sporne, Ilva , Haward, Marcus , Aswani, Shankar , Cochrane, Kevern L , Frusher, Stewart , Gasalla, Maria A , Gianesella, Sônia M F , Grant, Tanith , Hobday, Alistair J , Jennings, Sarah , Plagányi, Éva , Pecl, Gretta , Salim, Shyam S , Sauer, Warwick H H , Taboada, Manuela B , Van Putten, Ingrid E
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145336 , vital:38429 , DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2018.12.011
- Description: Marine social-ecological systems are influenced by the way humans interact with their environment, and external forces, which change and re-shape the environment. In many regions, exploitation of marine resources and climate change are two of the primary drivers shifting the abundance and distribution of marine living resources, with negative effects on marine-dependent communities. Governance systems determine ‘who’ makes decisions, ‘what’ are their powers and responsibilities, and ‘how’ they are exercised. Understanding the connections between the actors comprising governance systems and influences between governance and the environment is therefore critical to support successful transitions to novel forms of governance required to deal with environmental changes. The paper provides an analytical framework with a practical example from Vanuatu, for mapping and assessment of the governance system providing for management of coral reef fish resources. The framework enables a rapid analysis of governance systems to identify factors that can encourage, or hinder, the adaptation of communities to changes in abundance or availability of marine resources.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Dutra, Leo X C , Sporne, Ilva , Haward, Marcus , Aswani, Shankar , Cochrane, Kevern L , Frusher, Stewart , Gasalla, Maria A , Gianesella, Sônia M F , Grant, Tanith , Hobday, Alistair J , Jennings, Sarah , Plagányi, Éva , Pecl, Gretta , Salim, Shyam S , Sauer, Warwick H H , Taboada, Manuela B , Van Putten, Ingrid E
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145336 , vital:38429 , DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2018.12.011
- Description: Marine social-ecological systems are influenced by the way humans interact with their environment, and external forces, which change and re-shape the environment. In many regions, exploitation of marine resources and climate change are two of the primary drivers shifting the abundance and distribution of marine living resources, with negative effects on marine-dependent communities. Governance systems determine ‘who’ makes decisions, ‘what’ are their powers and responsibilities, and ‘how’ they are exercised. Understanding the connections between the actors comprising governance systems and influences between governance and the environment is therefore critical to support successful transitions to novel forms of governance required to deal with environmental changes. The paper provides an analytical framework with a practical example from Vanuatu, for mapping and assessment of the governance system providing for management of coral reef fish resources. The framework enables a rapid analysis of governance systems to identify factors that can encourage, or hinder, the adaptation of communities to changes in abundance or availability of marine resources.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Can perceptions of environmental and climate change in island communities assist in adaptation planning locally?
- Aswani, Shankar, Vaccaro, Ismael, Abernethy, Kirsten Elizabeth, Albert, Simon, de Pablo, Javier Fernández-López
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Vaccaro, Ismael , Abernethy, Kirsten Elizabeth , Albert, Simon , de Pablo, Javier Fernández-López
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123310 , vital:35426 , https://doi.10.1007/s00267-015-0572-3
- Description: Local perceptions of environmental and climate change, as well as associated adaptations made by local populations, are fundamental for designing comprehensive and inclusive mitigation and adaptation plans both locally and nationally. In this paper, we analyze people’s perceptions of environmental and climate-related transformations in communities across the Western Solomon Islands through ethnographic and geospatial methods. Specifically, we documented people’s observed changes over the past decades across various environmental domains, and for each change, we asked respondents to identify the causes, timing, and people’s adaptive responses. We also incorporated this information into a geographical information system database to produce broad-scale base maps of local perceptions of environmental change. Results suggest that people detected changes that tended to be acute (e.g., water clarity, logging intensity, and agricultural diseases). We inferred from these results that most local observations of and adaptations to change were related to parts of environment/ecosystem that are most directly or indirectly related to harvesting strategies. On the other hand, people were less aware of slower insidious/chronic changes identified by scientific studies. For the Solomon Islands and similar contexts in the insular tropics, a broader anticipatory adaptation planning strategy to climate change should include a mix of local scientific studies and local observations of ongoing ecological changes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Vaccaro, Ismael , Abernethy, Kirsten Elizabeth , Albert, Simon , de Pablo, Javier Fernández-López
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123310 , vital:35426 , https://doi.10.1007/s00267-015-0572-3
- Description: Local perceptions of environmental and climate change, as well as associated adaptations made by local populations, are fundamental for designing comprehensive and inclusive mitigation and adaptation plans both locally and nationally. In this paper, we analyze people’s perceptions of environmental and climate-related transformations in communities across the Western Solomon Islands through ethnographic and geospatial methods. Specifically, we documented people’s observed changes over the past decades across various environmental domains, and for each change, we asked respondents to identify the causes, timing, and people’s adaptive responses. We also incorporated this information into a geographical information system database to produce broad-scale base maps of local perceptions of environmental change. Results suggest that people detected changes that tended to be acute (e.g., water clarity, logging intensity, and agricultural diseases). We inferred from these results that most local observations of and adaptations to change were related to parts of environment/ecosystem that are most directly or indirectly related to harvesting strategies. On the other hand, people were less aware of slower insidious/chronic changes identified by scientific studies. For the Solomon Islands and similar contexts in the insular tropics, a broader anticipatory adaptation planning strategy to climate change should include a mix of local scientific studies and local observations of ongoing ecological changes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Detecting change in local ecological knowledge: an application of an index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in the Solomon Islands
- Aswani, Shankar, Ferse, Sebastian C A, Stäbler, Moritz, Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ferse, Sebastian C A , Stäbler, Moritz , Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179059 , vital:40103 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106865
- Description: The global accelerating loss of biodiversity is having immediate repercussions for ecosystems and human wellbeing, particularly in areas where people depend intimately on their natural environment for their livelihoods. Dovetailing this loss is the demise of local/traditional knowledge systems resulting from factors such as changing lifestyle and the transformation of local belief systems. While the importance of local ecological knowledge (LEK) for documentation of biodiversity and environmental change and development of management responses is well established, quantitative tools to analyze and systematically compare LEK are scarce. In this research, we analyze the complexity of local ecological knowledge used by respondents to classify locally-recognized marine species. We do so by applying a modified index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in coastal communities in the Solomon Islands. In addition, we assess simple taxonomic diversity (richness in locally-recognized species names) by comparing taxonomies collected in 1992–1995 and 2014–2015.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ferse, Sebastian C A , Stäbler, Moritz , Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179059 , vital:40103 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106865
- Description: The global accelerating loss of biodiversity is having immediate repercussions for ecosystems and human wellbeing, particularly in areas where people depend intimately on their natural environment for their livelihoods. Dovetailing this loss is the demise of local/traditional knowledge systems resulting from factors such as changing lifestyle and the transformation of local belief systems. While the importance of local ecological knowledge (LEK) for documentation of biodiversity and environmental change and development of management responses is well established, quantitative tools to analyze and systematically compare LEK are scarce. In this research, we analyze the complexity of local ecological knowledge used by respondents to classify locally-recognized marine species. We do so by applying a modified index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in coastal communities in the Solomon Islands. In addition, we assess simple taxonomic diversity (richness in locally-recognized species names) by comparing taxonomies collected in 1992–1995 and 2014–2015.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Planning adaptation to climate change in fast-warming marine regions with seafood-dependent coastal communities
- Hobday, Alistair J, Cochrane, Kevern, Howard, James, Aswani, Shankar, Byfield, Val, Duggan, Greg, Duna, Elethu, Dutra, Leo X, Frusher, Stewart D, Fulton, Elizabeth A, Gammage, Louise, Gasalla, Maria A, Griffiths, Chevon, Guissamulo, Almeida, Haward, Marcus, Jarre, Astrid, Jennings, Sarah M, Jordan, Tia, Joyner, Jessica, Ramani, Narayana K, Shanmugasundaram, Swathi L P, Malherbe, Willem, Ortega-Cisneros, Kelly, Paytan, Adina, Pecl, Gretta T, Plagányi, Éva E, Popova, Ekaterina E, Razafindrainibe, Haja, Roberts, Michael, Rohit, Prathiba, Sainulabdeen, Shyam S, Sauer, Warwick H H, Valappil, Sathianandan T, Zacharia, Paryiappanal U, Van Putten, E Ingrid
- Authors: Hobday, Alistair J , Cochrane, Kevern , Howard, James , Aswani, Shankar , Byfield, Val , Duggan, Greg , Duna, Elethu , Dutra, Leo X , Frusher, Stewart D , Fulton, Elizabeth A , Gammage, Louise , Gasalla, Maria A , Griffiths, Chevon , Guissamulo, Almeida , Haward, Marcus , Jarre, Astrid , Jennings, Sarah M , Jordan, Tia , Joyner, Jessica , Ramani, Narayana K , Shanmugasundaram, Swathi L P , Malherbe, Willem , Ortega-Cisneros, Kelly , Paytan, Adina , Pecl, Gretta T , Plagányi, Éva E , Popova, Ekaterina E , Razafindrainibe, Haja , Roberts, Michael , Rohit, Prathiba , Sainulabdeen, Shyam S , Sauer, Warwick H H , Valappil, Sathianandan T , Zacharia, Paryiappanal U , Van Putten, E Ingrid
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125675 , vital:35806 , https://doi.10.1007/s11160-016-9419-0
- Description: Many coastal communities rely on living marine resources for livelihoods and food security. These resources are commonly under stress from overfishing, pollution, coastal development and habitat degradation. Climate change is an additional stressor beginning to impact coastal systems and communities, but may also lead to opportunities for some species and the people they sustain. We describe the research approach for a multi-country project, focused on the southern hemisphere, designed to contribute to improving fishing community adaptation efforts by characterizing, assessing and predicting the future of coastal-marine food resources, and codeveloping adaptation options through the provision and sharing of knowledge across fast-warming marine regions (i.e. marine ‘hotspots’). These hotspots represent natural laboratories for observing change and concomitant human adaptive responses, and for developing adaptation options and management strategies. Focusing on adaptation options and strategies for enhancing coastal resilience at the local level will contribute to capacity building and local empowerment in order to minimise negative outcomes and take advantage of opportunities arising from climate change. However, developing comparative approaches across regions that differ in political institutions, socio-economic community demographics, resource dependency and research capacity is challenging. Here, we describe physical, biological, social and governance tools to allow hotspot comparisons, and several methods to evaluate and enhance interactions within a multi-nation research team. Strong partnerships within and between the focal regions are critical to scientific and political support for development of effective approaches to reduce future vulnerability. Comparing these hotspot regions will enhance local adaptation responses and generate outcomes applicable to other regions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Hobday, Alistair J , Cochrane, Kevern , Howard, James , Aswani, Shankar , Byfield, Val , Duggan, Greg , Duna, Elethu , Dutra, Leo X , Frusher, Stewart D , Fulton, Elizabeth A , Gammage, Louise , Gasalla, Maria A , Griffiths, Chevon , Guissamulo, Almeida , Haward, Marcus , Jarre, Astrid , Jennings, Sarah M , Jordan, Tia , Joyner, Jessica , Ramani, Narayana K , Shanmugasundaram, Swathi L P , Malherbe, Willem , Ortega-Cisneros, Kelly , Paytan, Adina , Pecl, Gretta T , Plagányi, Éva E , Popova, Ekaterina E , Razafindrainibe, Haja , Roberts, Michael , Rohit, Prathiba , Sainulabdeen, Shyam S , Sauer, Warwick H H , Valappil, Sathianandan T , Zacharia, Paryiappanal U , Van Putten, E Ingrid
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125675 , vital:35806 , https://doi.10.1007/s11160-016-9419-0
- Description: Many coastal communities rely on living marine resources for livelihoods and food security. These resources are commonly under stress from overfishing, pollution, coastal development and habitat degradation. Climate change is an additional stressor beginning to impact coastal systems and communities, but may also lead to opportunities for some species and the people they sustain. We describe the research approach for a multi-country project, focused on the southern hemisphere, designed to contribute to improving fishing community adaptation efforts by characterizing, assessing and predicting the future of coastal-marine food resources, and codeveloping adaptation options through the provision and sharing of knowledge across fast-warming marine regions (i.e. marine ‘hotspots’). These hotspots represent natural laboratories for observing change and concomitant human adaptive responses, and for developing adaptation options and management strategies. Focusing on adaptation options and strategies for enhancing coastal resilience at the local level will contribute to capacity building and local empowerment in order to minimise negative outcomes and take advantage of opportunities arising from climate change. However, developing comparative approaches across regions that differ in political institutions, socio-economic community demographics, resource dependency and research capacity is challenging. Here, we describe physical, biological, social and governance tools to allow hotspot comparisons, and several methods to evaluate and enhance interactions within a multi-nation research team. Strong partnerships within and between the focal regions are critical to scientific and political support for development of effective approaches to reduce future vulnerability. Comparing these hotspot regions will enhance local adaptation responses and generate outcomes applicable to other regions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016