Abstract
The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) management, recognising complexity, aims for the holistic, sustainable management of fisheries to promote healthy marine ecosystems and sustainable livelihoods. Effective implementation of the EAF has been problematic as we continue to grapple with issues of scale, knowledge integration and meaningful stakeholder engagement. Scenario-planning approaches in marine social ecological systems (SES) can address some of these challenges. Using systems-thinking, scenario-planning presents the opportunity to address challenges simultaneously at different scales of interaction by addressing the needs at smaller and larger decision-making scales. We here present a prototype scenario-based approach in which we used structured decision-making tools (SDMTs) in an iterative and interactive research process with marginalised stakeholders in a small-scale fishery in South Africa’s southern Cape. Using this approach presented an opportunity for fishers to consider pathways for future responses to change while enhancing personal and local adaptive capacity. At the same time, these marginalised fishers were provided with an important opportunity to freely air their views while engaging with tools new to them. The process did not only benefit fishers, but also provided valuable insights into how they view and experience their marine SES. The use of these tools has provided a means to integrate different knowledge streams, identifying ways in which challenges presented by scale in SES is better addressed. As a next step in the prototype development, expansion to more diverse stakeholders in the biogeographical region relevant for this fishery is recommended. We highlight how this approach can contribute to multi-level governance. When considering EAF implementation, we highlight how engaging marginalised stakeholders need not mean losing the reproducible, transparent processes required for modern management. Lastly, we discuss how multi-scalar flow of information could improve the implementation of an EAF in a developing society, such as that of South Africa.
Highlights
Fisheries, complex adaptive marine social-ecological systems (SESs), already beset by inherent complexity, are becoming increasingly uncertain due to escalating anthropogenic pressures on a global scale (e.g., Tegner and Dayton, 2000; Jackson et al, 2001; Scheffer et al, 2005; Halpern et al, 2008; HoeghGuldberg and Bruno, 2010; Poloczanska et al, 2013)
The question that arises is: are there inclusive methods that can be applied at the smallest scales of operation of a fishery, which can at the same time inform large-scale decision-making to promote management approaches such as an ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAF)?
Complexity and uncertainty in marine SESs hamper effective decision-making at all scales
Summary
Complex adaptive marine social-ecological systems (SESs), already beset by inherent complexity, are becoming increasingly uncertain due to escalating anthropogenic pressures on a global scale (e.g., Tegner and Dayton, 2000; Jackson et al, 2001; Scheffer et al, 2005; Halpern et al, 2008; HoeghGuldberg and Bruno, 2010; Poloczanska et al, 2013). The process demonstrates the value of continued engagement with fishers and other stakeholders to create enabling conditions such as spaces for active dialogue and learning (Gammage and Jarre, 2020) – a requirement for active participation of all stakeholders in a decision-making context The implementation of both the causal maps and the BBN have provided insights into how human dimensions of marine SES can be better integrated into an EAF in South Africa, by offering a possible methodological blueprint for future multistakeholder processes at larger scales of operation, while at the same time promoting mutual learning and capacity building at the local scale. For multi-scalar processes, this is demonstrated by the ability to build local adaptive capacity, through learning, at the scale of the individual or town while at the same time engaging in processes that can inform larger-scale decision making (see Gammage, 2019; Gammage and Jarre, 2020; Gammage et al, in review)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
