Small-scale Artisanal Fisheries Research Articles

Climate risk assessment of the fisheries in Namibia

AbstractIn Namibia, fisheries are important for food security and protein provisioning, income generation and trade; but they are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Not only does climate change impact the marine living resources crucial to fisheries; but changes in weather, currents and storminess are affecting the safety and effectiveness of fishing. Here we ask: What are the key risks from climate change to the eight large-scale fishery sectors of Namibia, and for the recreational and small-scale (artisanal) fisheries? For each fishery sector, we assessed three main risk components: (1) climate hazard exposure; (2) fish species sensitivity; and (3) socio-economic vulnerability. In combination, these three risk components are then used to calculate the overall climate risk for each fishery. Climate hazard exposure was assessed as highest for the small-scale, recreational, and rock lobster fisheries. Species sensitivities were highest for the rock lobster and crab fisheries, followed by monkfish trawlers, hake liners and hake trawlers. Socio-economic vulnerability was highest for the small pelagic fishery (linked to the collapse of pilchard). The overall climate risk emerged as greatest for the rock lobster fishery, followed by the (highly marginalised) small-scale artisanal fishery. The key risks by sector emerging from this assessment, informed five stakeholder workshops held across Namibia in 2023, attended by representatives of each sector and aimed at exploring options for climate adaptation. Based on these, we discuss potential adaptation measures that could reduce risk and minimise consequences, in support of improved climate resilience in Namibian fisheries.

Temporal changes in a small-scale artisanal reef fishery in Brazil: Coastal development and its impacts

Small-scale artisanal fisheries perform great economic, social, cultural, and ecological roles worldwide. For fishers in adverse scenarios, resorting to alternatives such sustainable tourism is widely proposed. In this study, we investigate the long-term sustainability (1998–2020) of a small-scale artisanal fishery in Northeast Brazil, where transformations including intense coastal development, the establishment of a marine protected area, and the expansion of tourism occurred in addition to the region’s economic growth and the global trend of technological advancements. This study aims to understand how this fishery has changed over the last two decades while investigating a range of possible threats for its survival. Results demonstrated the impacts of technological innovation on fishing practices, such as the use of spearguns and small outboard motors; an increase in opportunistic fishing associated with a growing coastal population; fading of certain traditional fishing practices that often require fishers with greater experience; a shift for a fishery made up of more opportunistic amateur fishers, as artisanal, small-scale fishers switched to other income sources such as tourism. Although there are benefits from those transformations, which include the possibility of an alternative source of income and the use of technology, fisheries traditions have been affected negatively in terms of social and cultural aspects, and traditional fishing communities are left vulnerable in the absence of national fishery monitoring programs, reliable fishing data, and institutional instability. Local initiatives and empowerment of traditional fishing communities to strengthen fisher identity and participation in fisheries policy decision-making should be strongly encouraged.

A alta biodiversidade de organismos bentônicos em um ecossistema costeiro revelada por uma abordagem integrativa

Abstract Increasing habitat modification and species loss demand consistent efforts to describe and understand biodiversity patterns. The BIOTA/FAPESP Program was created in this context and it has been a successful initiative to promote studies on biodiversity and conservation in Brazil. The BIOTA/Araçá is an interdisciplinary project that provided a detailed evaluation of the biodiversity of Araçá Bay, a coastal seascape located on the North coast of the state of São Paulo, Southeast Brazil. The bay encompasses multiple habitats, such as beaches, mangroves, rocky shores, and a tidal flat, and provides important ecosystem services. Unfortunately, the bay is the subject of complex social-environmental conflicts that oppose economic, social, and environmental demands (i.e., the expansion of neighboring harbor activities vs. small-scale artisanal fisheries and protection of biodiversity). The present study presents a survey of the benthic species occurring in the different habitats of Araçá Bay, including data obtained during the BIOTA/Araçá project and previous assessments of the area. The benthic species play an important role in marine environments and studying the diversity of these organisms that live associated with the bottom is indispensable for comprehending the environment’s functioning. The macrofauna, meiofauna, and microorganisms associated with soft and hard bottom were listed, and additional information, such as the habitat and geographical distribution, were provided for each species. The checklist includes 826 species, almost 70% recorded during the BIOTA/Araçá project. The most speciose taxa were the annelids (225 spp.), mollusks (194 spp.), and crustaceans (177 spp.). Seven benthic species are endemic to Araçá Bay, 14 are considered threatened, and seven are economically exploited. Furthermore, the bay is the type locality of many taxa, and 11 new benthic species were described based on specimens sampled during the project. This project shows the importance of Araçá Bay as a unique biologically rich environment and highlights the need for conservation efforts in light of the current threats.

Limited gastropod abundances call for selective, small scale artisanal fisheries in a Patagonian marine protected area

Marine gastropods are key items in small-scale fisheries worldwide, generating employment and high economic value in international markets. In North Patagonian Gulfs (Southwestern Atlantic), gastropods are landed as by-catch in bivalve artisanal fisheries, and thus no official statistics are reported. Recently, the first regulation of marine gastropod catches was established based on size at maturity for some edible species. However, additional biological-fishery data are necessary for developing a management plan if a regulated small-scale fishery is to be established. We provide the first preliminary estimation of the harvestable stock and other basic biological parameters of gastropods in the San José Gulf (SJG), a Natural Protected Area in Northern Patagonia. Density assessments are usually carried out using dredges or trawl nets that damage marine substrata, and thus we used data from non-destructive, drifting underwater visual census in transects, integrated with a Geographic Information System. We estimated the biomass, density, CPUE and the harvestable stock of Odontocymbiola magellanica and Buccinanops cochlidium, the main species currently landed in SJG. Visual surveys were conducted in 85,000 m2, where both species were present in depths ranging from 5 to 20 m depth. For O. magellanica, the maximum densities were 0.02–0.04 individuals m−2 with maximum CPUE of 12.8 kg diver−1 15 min−1 and estimated harvestable biomass of 837.05 kg (S.D. = 189.96), whereas for B. cochlidium densities were 0.32–0.60 individuals m−2 with maximum CPUE of 9.25 kg diver−1 15 min−1 and 365.12 kg (S.D. = 81.86) of harvestable biomass. The delayed maturity and reproductive strategies of both species, among other biological parameters, require a precautionary approach. The total exploitable biomass estimated in our work clearly highlights the need for a very selective, small-scale fishery, operating under a well enforced management plan regulating their capture to ensure its sustainability in a Natural Protected Area.

Constraint analysis of major problems facing the marine fisheries sector in accordance with the national fisheries policy of Pakistan

Pakistan is endowed with abundant fisheries resources that have significant economic potential. Capture fisheries contribute a comparatively vital role to the national economy. However, poverty, environmental degradation and political instability are major problems for the Pakistani people, and no effective steps have been taken to handle this socio-economically important sector efficiently in the past. Furthermore, the fisheries sector faced its own set of challenges, including the emergence of small-scale artisanal fisheries, the nonexistence of technologies, deficiency of institutional development, an absence of infrastructure, insufficient human resource skill, and a lack of responsiveness among fishing societies, all of which contributed to the sector's demise. The National Fisheries Policy (NFP) was formulated to address these problems in the fisheries sector. Potential efforts have been made by the Government of Pakistan to solve these constraints under various plans of objectives and strategy axes of the policy. Our findings indicate that despite these efforts, the fisheries sector does not show significant growth to achieve the policy goals. So, it is necessary to re-evaluate and re-orient this policy for further development of this sector. It is also essential to achieve the aim of Government of Pakistan Vision 2025 to become one of the 25 th largest economies in the world.

Small-scale fisheries in Madeira: recreational vs artisanal fisheries

Small-scale recreational and artisanal fisheries are popular activities in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, and to date no information is available on their impact on regional coastal ecosystems. Through fishers’ surveys and official registers of fish landings, we described and characterized these fisheries in Madeira, comparing artisanal and recreational fisheries. In 2017, artisanal boats landed 91 species in fishing ports, while recreational catches landed 58 species. The most frequent catches were Dentex gibbosus, Phycis phycis and Pagrus pagrus for artisanal fishery and P. pagrus, Serranus atricauda and Diplodus spp. for recreational fishery. Comparing the same techniques, artisanal fishery always showed higher catch per unit effort values than recreational boat fishery. Nevertheless, the low number of artisanal fishery boats in comparison with the recreational ones reflected the lower total landings of the artisanal fishery, which in 2017 were 62.3 t, compared with the 509.8 t estimated catches for the recreational fishery. Though the estimated recreational fishing data were based on surveys and thus subject to various biases, this activity seems to negatively affect coastal ecosystems and, together with artisanal fishing, exerts a combined pressure on targeted species. Improved legislation for both fisheries is essential for an appropriate management of resources.

Small-scale artisanal fisheries and its networks: The case of Arte Xávega in Portugal.

This paper examines the management process of the Arte Xávega related to the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the Portuguese artisanal fishing regulation. This study looks at a formal normativity and seeks to discern how it is achieved. The methodology is based on the analysis of European and national legal documents collected until 2017 and mobilises a reticular approach, which directs our gaze at the complex interactions guided by contingency and heterogeneity. It is argued that the local governance of the Arte Xávega is a highly wide-ranging and diverse process and simultaneously a local and global one through which diverse types of appropriations and translations occur. Throughout this interconnected process between different actors and scales as they seek to implement policies, the different actors’ interests are re-represented and re-ordered in the national legislation and norms. Considering this perspective, governance of artisanal fishing is highly contested and unpredictable, shaped by tensions, negotiations, and entangled networks crossing national and transnational scales and perceptions.

Fisheries decline, local livelihoods and conflicted governance: An Indonesian case

This study investigates the social and environmental impacts of the rise and decline of the fishing industry in an Indonesian coastal community as a case study of the conflicted role of governance in marine resource management. It analyses the relationship between two distinct but intersecting fisheries in west Bali: the traditional small-scale artisanal fishery targeting diverse near shore species for the local market, and the large-scale commercial purse seine fleet that exploits the once rich Bali Strait sardine fishery. The recent collapse of the sardine fishery has had a marked impact on the livelihoods of fishers in both the artisanal and commercial sectors. A significant issue for the future of fisheries dependent communities is the need to raise the priority of equity and sustainability in resource governance. The failure of regulatory regimes to control overfishing is found to be a key factor in the unravelling of the local economy and presents an instructive case for analysing the wider implications of a fundamental conflict in the political economy of the global system between unevenly matched market-driven resource use and sustainable development practices. Methodologically, the research combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to compensate for the dearth of data available for the artisanal and commercial fishery sectors respectively. Catch statistics on the rise and decline of the commercial sardine fishery are linked to qualitative information from a longitudinal study on the livelihood impacts of resource decline in a community engaged in both fisheries. In connecting interview data on village level livelihood issues with commercial fishery data, the study highlights the imperative of good governance across scales for policy makers and development practitioners concerned with equity and sustainability of fisheries as a critically important component of global food security.

Подмосковные Фили в 1920-е годы.

The author examines socio-economic and cultural provisions of the Fili, located in the Western suburb of Moscow of during the nep. Topic for the study area in scientific and local history the literature was practically not studied. The source base was documents extracted from archives Moscow and newly introduced in scientific - research agreements, protocol, statements, resolutions and instructions to deputies. Sources allow you to determine features of peasant occupations agriculture, small scale artisanal fisheries, trade. Special attention is paid to on the establishment of industrial production, its industry focus. Documents reflecting the activities at Fili concession of enterprise the firm Junkers, let us find out the forms and methods governance and relationships foreign companies with Soviet power. The article also explains the state of improvement, life and leisure local population. The conclusion of the article emphasizes the temporary the nature of the nep and its collapse by the late 1920s.

Identification of artisanal fishing territories and associated conflicts in the middle and lower Paraná River (Argentina) through participatory mapping

Small-scale fisheries exhibit diverse territorial conflicts with other users and productive activities coexistent in fluvial environments, which usually are difficult to handle by management agencies. The aim of this study is to identify and spatialize the conflicts which most affect small-scale artisanal fisheries on the Middle and Lower Paraná River, as well as to expand the fishing territory concept for large rivers through the development of a participatory mapping (PM) process along with artisanal fishers. PM was performed in different fishing communities of the Middle and Lower Paraná River. The information gathered was processed by the Quantum GIS software and local fishing maps were drawn up. Livestock represented the main conflictive factor in terms of limiting fishing activity. Shore use and occupancy were identified as one of the main sources of conflict for fishers, due to the reduction of mooring and landing areas that have been lost or allocated for other purposes. The ‘sustainable fishing territory’ was proposed as a new concept, based on integration of the fishing territory idea and the areas of ecological value, proposing such framework as an umbrella area for conservation purposes. Differences in attributes used for developing the fishing territories suggested that PM was effective in recognizing local characteristics on a small scale. Although PM remains still poorly explored for large floodplain rivers, it provides an opportunity to understand the complexity of fishing territories within a context of fisheries management and territorial planning. In this context, PM represents also an effective tool for dealing with conflicts between stakeholders who share the fluvial space through different productive and recreational activities.

Switching Gillnets to Longlines: An Alternative to Mitigate the Bycatch of Franciscana Dolphins (Pontoporia blainvillei) in Argentina

The franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) is considered the most threatened cetacean in the South Western Atlantic due to bycatch in gillnet fisheries of Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. As gillnet fisheries operate in the same areas inhabited by dolphins, methods and strategies to reduce bycatch require particular attention. This study investigated the potential of switching gillnets to bottom longlines to reduce franciscana bycatch rates while maintaining economic returns in a small-scale artisanal fishery in Argentina. Trials were conducted in Bahía Samborombón and Cabo San Antonio between October 2004 and January 2007, in cooperation with artisanal fishermen who simultaneously fished using bottom longlines and gillnets. Target and non-target catch composition, fishing yield, catch size distribution and quality of catch, as well as bycatch of dolphins, sea turtles and interaction with sea lions were compared between the two fishing methods. An economic analysis of the fishery was performed to evaluate the potential to assess the profitability of switching fishing gears. Hauls of both gear types deployed simultaneously in the same locations showed similar fish catch composition and catch size with both gears but reduced catch of juvenile fishes in longlines. Bycatch of franciscana in bottom longlines was limited to only one dolphin in three consecutive years of trials, and no direct interaction between turtles and hooks were recorded. interaction with sea lions and sea turtles was reduced. The economic analysis showed financially acceptable perspectives under a five-year scenario. Reducing gillnet effort by switching to bottom longlines appears a practical approach to creating a sustainable fishery that could result in significant mitigation of current bycatch of franciscana dolphins in Argentina. However, implementation requires acceptance and compliance by the artisanal gillnet fishery.

Socio-economic valuation of seagrass meadows in the Pulai River Estuary, Peninsular Malaysia, through a wellbeing lens

Ecosystem-service valuation is a useful tool for assessing potential costs of a development, from potential habitat-rehabilitation costs or habitat-value losses. Such an assessment can help avoid or mitigate cost implications from such losses. Furthermore, most environmental-impact assessments focus solely on ecological services, without considering the socio-ecological-economic relationships that provide a more holistic assessment of a habitat by incorporating socio-economic values. This study combines the benefit-transfer approach with significant anthropological and local-knowledge inputs to determine a more complete assessment of the value of seagrass meadows in Mukim Tanjung Kupang, Johor, Malaysia. We collected data that are site-specific and relevant to a small-scale artisanal fishery in this area, which include often-excluded measures such as reported catch landings, gleaning, tourism and downstream economic values. This study determined a seagrass habitat value of US$57731.80 (RM242473.58) ha–1 year–1. However, this figure is highly underestimated owing to the number of unavailable ecosystem-service values, as well as an uncertain future for the area. The research has shown that there are many more components to economic assessments of natural habitats than has previously been realised.

Contribution to the study of sustainability of small-scale artisanal fisheries in Chile

The present work aims to advance the study of sustainability in the small-scale fishing sector by exploring the relationships between the four pillars (economic, social, environmental and institutional) of sustainable development, based on a set of proxy indicators for each one. Faced with a lack of calibrated indicators for the artisanal fishing sector in Chile, the first stage was to identify a set of sustainability indicators that could be used to this end. Subsequently, using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the relationships of causality between the pillars were explored, and finally, from the scores obtained for each pillar through structural equation modelling, a sustainability index was determined for each fishing community. This index will provide an indicator with which to measure and compare the relative sustainability of the fishing communities found within three different zones. The results obtained show important differences between the sustainability indices of the three zones, with fishing communities in the northern zone having a lower sustainability index, while those in the central and southern zones have a higher sustainability index. Several causal relationships between the pillars were detected.

Ecosystem health in coastal areas targeted by small-scale artisanal fisheries: Insights on monitoring and assessment

The assessment of the status of marine ecosystems is still a major challenge, because in general we lack well-established ecosystem-based monitoring programs. The coast of central Chile is subjected to moderate but historic fishing pressure by small-scale fisheries. In spite of the increasing evidences of the impact of fishing beyond target species, there is a lack of systematic ecosystem-based assessments. We focused on this problem with the goal of identifying community components, based on a Biological Traits Analysis, that respond to fishing activities to ultimately define ecosystem health. We sampled a set of study sites subjected to benthic invertebrate gathering, and more recently to kelp harvesting. Sites included paired fishery restricted and open access areas where mobile invertebrates and sessile benthos were surveyed. In addition, kelp density and size structure were assessed in two sites subjected to kelp harvesting (also pairing restricted and open access areas). Target species exhibited higher densities in fishery-restricted areas. Fisheries restricted-areas also showed overall higher richness and redundancy of biological traits. Otherwise, we observed high variability in the structure of sessile benthos linked to small-scale heterogeneity of the seabed. The areas subjected to kelp harvesting exhibited variability in mobile invertebrates’ composition between fishing access regimes, whereas no effects could be detected by only considering target species. Current monitoring efforts seem to be well-suited to address target species but fail to inform on ecosystem health in an area with increasing signs of community-wide effects from fishing. Therefore, we recommend future monitoring schemes targeting community components, beyond commercial species’ densities, at different scales.

Estimating common dolphin bycatch in the pole-and-line tuna fishery in the Azores.

Small-scale artisanal fisheries can have a significant negative impact in cetacean populations. Cetacean bycatch has been documented in the pole-and-line tuna fishery in the Azores with common dolphins being the species more frequently taken. Based on data collected by observers on ∼50% of vessels operating from 1998 to 2012, we investigate the influence of various environmental and fisheries-related factors in common dolphin bycatch and calculate fleet-wide estimates of total bycatch using design-based and model-based methods. Over the 15-year study dolphin bycatch occurred in less than 0.4% of the observed fishing events. Generalized additive modelling results suggest a significant relationship between common dolphin bycatch and duration of fishing events, sea surface temperature and location. Total bycatch calculated from the traditional stratified ratio estimation approach was 196 (95% CI: 186–205), while the negative binomial GAM estimated 262 (95% CI: 249–274) dolphins. Bycatch estimates of common dolphin were similar using statistical approaches suggesting that either of these methods may be used in future bycatch assessments for this fishery. Our work shows that rates of common dolphin bycatch in the pole-and-line tuna fishery in the Azores are low, despite considerable variations between years. Dolphins caught were released alive although the fate of these individuals is unknown. Continued monitoring will provide a better understanding of dolphin bycatch and more accurate estimates essential in the development of potential mitigation measures.

Fishers' perception: An alternative source of information to assess the data-poor benthic small-scale artisanal fisheries of central Chile

Many artisanal fisheries lack of conventional scientific data for stock assessment and decision making, which might explain the overexploitation and collapse of many small-scale fish stocks. Fishers' perception has a great potential to be an alternative source of information as it is present in every fishery, is inexpensive and allows analysis at large spatial scales. However, fishers' perception is influenced by psychological factors that can generate bias. This study compares fishers' perception and direct assessment of current and historical abundances of two benthic species that are targeted in the artisanal fishery of Central Chile (the loco and the keyhole limpet), in order to assess the value of the method for artisanal fisheries. The analysis also considered different management regimes (open access areas and areas with territorial rights) and two periods of time (approximately 15 years apart) to determine the (a) the consistency of fishers' perception for assessment of current abundance and (b) the potential use for retrospective assessment. We also compared official landing reports with direct assessments in order to assess the reliability of fisheries data. Fishers' perception of loco abundance generally agreed with direct assessment in fishing villages, management regimes and periods of time. In the case of the keyhole limpet, fishers perceived abundances higher than those registered in direct assessments. The different patterns observed between resources can be related to the relative importance of each fishery. Fishers were not accurate in recalling past abundances retrospectively and official reports showed dramatic mismatches with direct assessment in catch abundance and composition. Fishers' perception is a potential source of information to assess the current abundance of targeted species. However, it requires case by case investigation and evaluation before it can be applied and the information properly integrated in fisheries management practices.

Assessing the ecosystem-level consequences of a small-scale artisanal kelp fishery within the context of climate-change.

Coastal communities worldwide rely on small-scale artisanal fisheries as a means of increasing food security and alleviating poverty. Even small-scale fishing activities, however, are prone to resource depletion and environmental degradation, which can erode livelihoods in the long run. Thus, there is a pressing need to identify viable and resilient artisanal fisheries, and generate knowledge to support management within the context of a rapidly changing climate. We examined the ecosystem-level consequences of an artisanal kelp fishery (Macrocystis pyrifera), finding small-scale harvest of this highly productive species poses minimal impacts on kelp recovery rates, survival, and biomass dynamics, and abundances of associated commercial and culturally important fish species. These results suggest that small-scale harvest poses minimal trade-offs for the other economic benefits provided by these ecosystems, and their inherent, spiritual, and cultural value to humans. However, we detected a negative impact of warmer seawater temperatures on kelp recovery rates following harvest, indicating that the viability of harvest, even at small scales, may be threatened by future increases in global ocean temperature. This suggests that negative impacts of artisanal fisheries may be more likely to arise in the context of a warming climate, further highlighting the widespread effects of global climate change on coastal fisheries and livelihoods.

Estimation of density and abundance of the blue land crab, Cardisoma guanhumi Latreille, 1828, in the Imburana peninsula, northern Brazil

The blue land crab (Cardisoma guanhumi Latreille, 1828) supports extensive small-scale artisanal fisheries in the tropical western Atlantic, including Brazil. Land surveys were conducted on a peninsula in a northeastern Brazilian estuary in 2014-2015 in order to evaluate density and abundance. The study area (26 700 m2) was dividied into three subareas with a total of 30 sampling points. In all, 529 burrows were registered of which 71.7% were open (indicating activity), 22.1% were closed (indicating moulting) and 6.2% were empty (fishermen catch). Burrow diameter ranged from 12 to 174 mm (mean: 62.05 ± 3.01 mm; 95% confidence interval). The highly significant correlation between mean burrow diameter and mean carapace length (n = 7; R2 = 0.8968, ) shows that one is a good proxy for the other. The estimated total population size in the study area was 10 362 individuals, with a mean density of 0.39 individuals/m2 (stock of 7347 kg).

Growth, productivity and relative extinction risk of a data-sparse devil ray

Devil rays (Mobula spp.) face intensifying fishing pressure to meet the ongoing international demand for gill plates. The paucity of information on growth, mortality, and fishing effort for devil rays make quantifying population growth rates and extinction risk challenging. Furthermore, unlike manta rays (Manta spp.), devil rays have not been listed on CITES. Here, we use a published size-at-age dataset for the Spinetail Devil Ray (Mobula japanica), to estimate somatic growth rates, age at maturity, maximum age, and natural and fishing mortality. We then estimate a plausible distribution of the maximum intrinsic population growth rate (rmax) and compare it to 95 other chondrichthyans. We find evidence that larger devil ray species have low somatic growth rate, low annual reproductive output, and low maximum population growth rates, suggesting they have low productivity. Fishing rates of a small-scale artisanal Mexican fishery were comparable to our estimate of rmax, and therefore probably unsustainable. Devil ray rmax is very similar to that of manta rays, indicating devil rays can potentially be driven to local extinction at low levels of fishing mortality and that a similar degree of protection for both groups is warranted.

Predicting <em>Pollicipes pollicipes</em> (Crustacea: Cirripedia) abundance on intertidal rocky shores of SW Portugal: a multi-scale approach based on a simple fetch-based wave exposure index

Understanding and predicting patterns of distribution and abundance of marine resources is important for conservation and management purposes in small-scale artisanal fisheries and industrial fisheries worldwide. The goose barnacle (Pollicipes pollicipes) is an important shellfish resource and its distribution is closely related to wave exposure at different spatial scales. We modelled the abundance (percent coverage) of P. pollicipes as a function of a simple wave exposure index based on fetch estimates from digitized coastlines at different spatial scales. The model accounted for 47.5% of the explained deviance and indicated that barnacle abundance increases non-linearly with wave exposure at both the smallest (metres) and largest (kilometres) spatial scales considered in this study. Distribution maps were predicted for the study region in SW Portugal. Our study suggests that the relationship between fetch-based exposure indices and P. pollicipes percent cover may be used as a simple tool for providing stakeholders with information on barnacle distribution patterns. This information may improve assessment of harvesting grounds and the dimension of exploitable areas, aiding management plans and supporting decision making on conservation, harvesting pressure and surveillance strategies for this highly appreciated and socio-economically important marine resource.