Andrew M. Song

How to Capture Small-Scale Fisheries’ Many Contributions to Society? – Introducing the ‘Value-Contribution Matrix’ and Applying It to the Case of a Swimming Crab Fishery in South Korea

To facilitate a systematic and comprehensive capturing of small-scale fisheries’ societal contributions, this chapter proposes a ‘value-contribution matrix’ and applies it to the case of a swimming crab fishery in South Korea. In the matrix, objective, subjective, and relational values are identified for the major stakeholder categories such as fishers, a coastal community and the wider society. Through consideration of these values, multifaceted contributions of the swimming crab fishery were examined and their governance implications drawn. Around the world, small-scale fisheries have been unduly dismissed in policy despite their ubiquity. This analytical tool could prove to be an accessible and pragmatic heuristic for highlighting their varied (both positive and negative) contributions. Learning about which values are being emphasized or neglected, and for whom, and the consequences they generate for stakeholders’ wellbeing, could point to alternate ways of creating a more governable fishery and help to alleviate fishery sustainability challenges.

Grand Challenges in the Management and Conservation of North American Inland Fishes and Fisheries

Even with long-standing management and extensive science support, North American inland fish and fisheries still face many conservation and management challenges. We used a grand challenges approach to identify critical roadblocks that if removed would help solve important problems in the management and long-term conservation of North American inland fish and fisheries. We identified seven grand challenges within three themes (valuation, governance, and externalities) and 34 research needs and management actions. The major themes identified are to (1) raise awareness of diverse values associated with inland fish and fisheries, (2) govern inland fish and fisheries to satisfy multiple use and conservation objectives, and (3) ensure productive inland fisheries given nonfishing sector externalities. Addressing these grand challenges will help the broader community understand the diverse values of inland fish and fisheries, promote open forums for engagement of diverse stakeholders in fisheries management, and...

Using Transdisciplinary Research Solutions to Support Governance in Inland Fisheries

The diverse nature of internal and external threats and fishery attributes in inland fisheries indicates that the development of long-term solutions to governance issues will require interaction among multiple disciplines and actors. Pollution, habitat alteration, invasive species, and hydropower development are widespread problems that are often external to threats imposed by inland fisheries, but greatly impact fishery productivity. Within inland fisheries, challenges of overfishing, equitable access, conflict, and an overall lack of political will to sustain inland fisheries at the regional, national, and international policy levels serve to pressure the sector further. Power dynamics, governance systems, and regulations play a role in determining the perspectives from which solutions to these issues are viewed, and thereby the perspectives from which they are defined as a success. Promoting transdisciplinary research in inland fisheries can support development of successful governance solutions by providing relevant insights to identify and inform these perspectives. Here, we offer examples of redefined governance problems and potential strategies for addressing them using transdisciplinary research approaches. We conclude by offering suggestions for improving transdisciplinary research in inland fisheries.

Transdisciplinary Engagement to Address Transboundary Challenges for Small-Scale Fishers

Small-scale fisheries and their governance are increasingly affected by natural, social, and political issues that originate outside their immediate control and locality. This chapter explores how researchers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and fisher organizations can collaborate in the pursuit of empowerment small-scale fisheries vis-a-vis such ‘external’ dynamics, with a focus on maritime boundaries. To do so, we first analyse how transboundary maritime issues complicate the operation and welfare of small-scale fishers and may further their marginalization. Second, we explore how transdisciplinary engagement can be key to better understanding and addressing such transboundary challenges. Taking an action-oriented approach, we analyse the opportunities and pitfalls of transdisciplinary collaboration to empower small-scale fishers through five types of intervention strategies: capacity building (strengthening fisher organizations), institution building (building bridges between disparate actors), discourse (reframing the nature of the problem), law (appealing to national or international courts), and mobilization (mobilizing fishers to confront power). Each type of intervention is illustrated with a case study from various parts of the world. We argue that despite potentially conflicting incentives, interests, and accountabilities, transdisciplinary engagement can be both a meaningful and effective practice to empower small-scale fishers vis-a-vis transboundary challenges.

Broadening the Knowledge Base of Small-Scale Fisheries through a Food Systems Framework: A Case Study of the Lake Superior Region

Lake Superior is the largest and northernmost of the Great Lakes of North America. It supports a diversity of wildlife and fish species, along with commercial, recreational, and Indigenous fisheries that make vital contributions to nutrition, livelihoods, cultures, and food systems. However, this diversity of social and cultural values is not fully reflected in management practices that tend towards a ‘resourcist’ approach. This chapter seeks to ‘broaden the scope’, proposing a food systems framework as a way of grappling with the wicked problem of Lake Superior fisheries governance. Using a food systems framework, we look at the different values associated with fisheries, including the objective, subjective, and relational contributions they make to Lake Superior food systems. We explore these food-related values attached to fisheries by presenting three illustrative examples: The fisheries of Batchewana First Nation; Eat the Fish, a small business marketing local fish through alternative food networks in Northwestern Ontario; and Bodin’s Fisheries in Wisconsin, a regional fish processor and retail outlet. We conclude by identifying ways of strengthening fisheries contributions to regional food systems and offer a set of transdisciplinary questions on fishery-food system linkages that may assist others in ‘broadening the scope’ of fisheries governance.

Policy Coherence with the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines: Analysing Across Scales of Governance in Pacific Small-Scale Fisheries

Concerns about the sustainability of small-scale fisheries, and the equitable distribution of fisheries benefits, are wide-spread within government agencies, non-government organizations, and rural fishing communities throughout Pacific Island Countries and Territories. Addressing these concerns was given renewed impetus in recent years with the completion and adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines). This global document enters a complex policy landscape within the Pacific region. In anticipation of its region-wide implementation, this chapter focuses on policy coherence; using Solomon Islands as a case we investigate the potential interplay of the SSF Guidelines with priority policies at the regional, national, and sub-national levels. We first examine the SSF Guidelines to identify 22 dominant themes, including human rights, adaptive capacity, and tenure rights. We then focus in on 11 on policy instruments known to directly influence small-scale fisheries governance; we examine to what extent and in which direction the small-scale fisheries themes are represented in these 11 regional, national, and sub-national policies. We find areas of incoherence in addition to nine themes that are relatively poorly represented (‘gaps’) in the current policy landscape. More positively, however, we also observe a large-scale overlap on many of the key themes. While our analysis is specific in its application to Solomon Islands, our approach to diagnose areas of incoherence and gaps is easily applicable to other countries. This type of policy-based analysis is a useful first step to understanding priorities and strategies for implementation, and in particular opportunities for the SSF Guidelines to prompt adjustment and transformation of existing policies.

On Developing an Inter-Agency Trust Scale for Assessing Governance Networks in the Public Sector

ABSTRACT This article presents the development and validation of a psychometric scale for assessing public sector inter-agency trust. The instrument is grounded in contemporary trust theory and methodologically adapted from a measure developed for private sector alliances. Tested using four discrete studies of governance networks, each addressing transboundary environmental issues such as climate change and fisheries, the scale exhibits reasonably valid psychometric properties while also enabling visualized analysis of networked trust distributions. Based on this work, we outline further research needs with a view to stimulating greater trust research in governance networks and facilitating more collaborative and innovative policy outcomes in the public sector.