Vulnerability of fishery-based livelihoods to climate variability and change in a tropical island: insights from small-scale fishers in Seychelles

Daniel Etongo,Lyn Arrisol

doi:10.1007/s43621-021-00057-4

Abstract

While climate shocks and stressors are not unique to developing countries, their impacts are expected to be most acute here due to limitations in the assets and infrastructure required for adaptation. This study assesses the vulnerability of fishery-based livelihoods to the impacts of climate variability and change across two major islands in Seychelles based on 80 household surveys and three shared dialogue workshops (SDWs) with small-scale fishers. Results showed that the percentage of fishers’ households that depend mainly on fisheries as a source of income was 95% and 97% for Mahe and Praslin respectively with alternative income streams along the fishing value chain such as transportation, fish mongers and processor. Fishers on Mahe Island had a dependency ratio index that was slightly higher than those on Praslin. Overall, fishing households on Mahe showed greater vulnerability on socio-demographic profile index compared to their counterparts on Praslin. However, greater livelihood diversification was recorded for householders on Mahe than Praslin as fishers earned income from tourism-related activities such as guest house, car rental, boat ride, and sales of coconuts as mentioned during the SDWs. Fishers on Mahe struggled to find fish for 3 months during the southeast monsoon season compared to 2 months for those on Praslin given that access is granted to fish in the lagoon during this season. More importantly, the voluntary closure of some fishing zones between the months of November to April on Praslin is a sustainability strategy that witnessed an increase in size and number for both rabbit and parrotfish. Further studies are needed in two key areas as follows: the role of subsidies and sustainable fisheries management, and a value-chain approach to vulnerability of small-scale fishers within the fishery sector in Seychelles.

Highlights

While most of the indicators were similar, the overall climate disaster and climate variability vulnerability score was relatively higher for Praslin when compared to the fishing community on Mahe Island
They had closure zones at specific which resulted to increase in size and number of two important fish species after seven months of closure—a sustainability strategy that has the potential improve the adaptive capacity of small-scale fishers especially under a fast changing climate
Fishers on both islands had other sources of income within and outside the fishery sector, those on Mahe had greater opportunity for diversification given the level of development and population size of the main island

Summary

Introduction

Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) account for more than 90% of the world’s capture fishers and provide livelihoods and food security for millions of individuals around the globe [1, 2]. Small-scale fisheries are exposed to a range of natural and anthropogenic stressors, such as growing competition for natural resource, economic and financial uncertainty and policy that require changes in their behaviour to mitigate damages and to take advantage of opportunities [5, 6]. Climate change is another stressor that affects food security and employment especially those livelihood activities considered to be climate sensitive by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) such as agriculture, fisheries and tourism [7,8,9,10,11]. According to Barange et al [13], loss of production and infrastructure arising from the increased occurrence of extreme weather events such as floods, cyclones and droughts are some of the short-term climate change impacts on SSFs

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Conclusion