A new study shows that regulations have the strongest impact on fishing strategies. While this has contributed to the recovery of the Baltic Sea cod stock, there are long-term risks with a “command-and-control”-type of management leaving fishers more specialised and inflexible.
A new study by researchers at the Stockholm Resilience Center an the Swedish University of Agricultural try to answer what it is that drives change in the tactics and targets of fishing fleets, which us one of the fundamental questions to ask when trying to understand how a marine social-ecological system develops. Using the Baltic Sea as their case study, they looked at how regulations, fish stocks and price fluctuations influence the fishers and evaluate the consequences of their adaptations.
“Our study represents a first attempt to empirically integrate detailed and longitudinal data on fishing behaviour with representations of economic, social and ecological data to analyse drivers behind fisheries,” lead author Jonas Hentati-Sundberg explains.
“The majority of management measures described in this study have been focused on micro-management through catch quotas, gear regulations and limitations of flexibility in target species and areas. This type of management creates fisheries are easy to control but low on legitimacy and compliance. A more dedicated fleet-management policy coupled with better diversity and flexibility from the point-of-view of the fishers would be more resilient to various social and ecological disturbances,” the researchers conclude.
To read the full summary of the study and for request of publication, click here.