The rebuilding imperative in fisheries: Clumsy solutions for a wicked problem?

Abstract

There is mounting evidence that global fisheries are in crisis and about 25–30% of fish stocks are over exploited, depleted or recovering. Fish landings are increasingly coming from fully-exploited and over-exploited fisheries, and from intensive aquaculture that often relies indirectly on reduction fisheries. This poses severe challenges for marine ecosystems as well as food security and the livelihoods of resource-dependent coastal communities. Growing awareness of these social, economic and ecological consequences of overfishing is reflected in an expanding literature which shows that reducing fishing effort to allow fish stocks to recover has been the main focus of management efforts, but successful examples of stock recovery are few. An alternative, less explored social-ecological approach focuses on rebuilding entire ‘fish chains’ from oceans to plate. This paper supports this alternative approach. A review and synthesis of stock rebuilding initiatives worldwide suggests effective governance is central to rebuilding, and fisheries governance is a wicked problem. Wicked problems are complex, persistent or reoccurring and hard to fix because they are linked to broader social, economic and policy issues. This review and analysis implies that, due to socioeconomic and sociopolitical concerns, fisheries governance challenges are particularly wicked when dealing with collapsed fisheries and rebuilding efforts. The paper concludes that rebuilding might benefit from experimenting with clumsy solutions. Clumsy solutions are exploratory, include inputs from a broad range of stakeholders along the fish chain, and require information sharing, knowledge synthesis, and trust building. Moreover, clumsy solutions that address power relations, collective action dilemmas, and the fundamental question of ‘rebuilding for whom’ are essential for stewardship, equity and long-term resource sustainability.