Shocks within a Pacific island fishery: A historic study of events impacting the mother-of-pearl fishery in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Local, regional, and global events have potential to disturb fisheries systems embedded within international trade networks. Events associated with sudden and unexpected disturbances, or shocks, in fisheries systems are of particular concern because of their potential to adversely impact the livelihoods and well-being of coastal communities. For these communities in the Pacific region, export-oriented mother-of-pearl (MoP) fisheries have been, and remain, of great economic importance with additional dietary benefits. A lack of information and understanding of events associated with shocks in MoP production and trade, however, limits the ability to predict reactions and to develop appropriate responses to future economic, environmental, or political change. We conducted an integrated assessment of historic MoP export data from 1888 until present (2020) for the largest producer in the Pacific region, Papua New Guinea, to detect shocks and identify associated events. Absence of a trend in the frequency or magnitude of detected shocks and the range of associated events identified suggest that shocks are intrinsic to MoP fisheries systems, and that shocks occur due to varied, often multiple synchronous, events. Critically, legislated policy changes to gear restrictions, licensing, ports of export, size limits, and spatial limits were never associated with shocks, while changes to permitted taxa and export tariffs were implicated in triggering, or contributing to, shocks in MoP exports. The historical assessment of shocks undertaken in this study may aid management agencies in identifying potential risks and appropriate responses to build resilience in MoP fisheries systems, and in artisanal fisheries systems more broadly.