Small-scale fisheries around the world are increasingly facing pressures from a range of environmental, economic, and social sources. In order to sustain the societal benefits of small-scale fisheries, it is imperative to understand how fishing
communities adapt to disturbances. Fishermen often catch multiple different species as an adaptation technique because diversifying one’s harvest portfolio like this creates multiple sources of income in case one species becomes unavailable. This research applies fisheries' connectivity network analysis to characterize the harvest portfolios and timing of landings of dozens of small-scale fisheries in the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico.

Researchers found that network metrics like modularity and density varied by region and through time. The Pacific coast of Baja California displayed increasingly modular fisheries connectivity networks over the study period. This indicates that fisheries landings became less co-varied with one another, implying an increased capacity to adapt by targeting species that are uncorrelated with each other through time. The remaining three regions showed the opposite trend, where the covariance between fisheries increases over time. Differences in regional catch compositions also reflected the diversity of species caught around the Baja California Peninsula. A network perspective of small-scale fisheries landings provides insight into the resilience of multi-species fishing communities.

Authors: 
Nomura, Keiko
Product Number: 
ORESU-Y-20-004
Year of Publication: 
2020
Length: 
60 pages
Department/University: 
College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University
Degree: 
Master of Science in Marine Resource Management