Economic, sociocultural and ecological dimensions of fishing capacity : a mix-methods approach to Northwestern Mediterranean fisheries
The aim of this paper is to evaluate fishing capacity by identifying socioeconomic drivers while considering the current resources state in Northwestern Mediterranean fisheries. The case-study is focused on demersal fisheries from the province of Girona (NE Spain) whereas purse seiners were only jux...
| Autores: | , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2020 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:293445 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/293445 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Fishing capacity Mix-methods approach Socioeconomic drivers Sociocultural aspects Multi Annual Plan Demersal fishing |
| Sumario: | The aim of this paper is to evaluate fishing capacity by identifying socioeconomic drivers while considering the current resources state in Northwestern Mediterranean fisheries. The case-study is focused on demersal fisheries from the province of Girona (NE Spain) whereas purse seiners were only juxtaposed as comparison. While in fishing capacity studies there has been a major effort in the analysis of vessel as means of production in estimating efficiency, social and cultural aspects are not usually integrated in the analysis. To address this knowledge gap in this study a more holistic capacity evaluation approach is used through qualitative-quantitative mix-method as the most suitable insight to capture the economic, sociocultural and ecological dimensions that can inform more accurately on fishing capacity. Data gathered from face-to-face semi-structured interviews were analysed through data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and triangulated with qualitative data extracted from interviews and participant observation. The results showed that higher inefficiency of small-scale fishing is due to, mainly, unpredictability of resources which is notably affecting smallscale fishing, whereas OTB is progressively being more subjected to fishing specialization, enhancing its efficiency. Small-scale fisheries need to work a lot of days, diversifying at maximum the target species to remain within the production frontier. Or, otherwise, they had to specialize in fishing specific highly demanded and priced species. An important finding is that social/familial networks as well as knowledge are paramount in fisheries-based economies and play a role in the characterisation of fishing capacity that has to be taken into consideration. The findings were discussed in light of the objective of the fishing effort reduction of European Multi Annual Plan (CFP) into force since January 2020. |
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