Map of the study area, in Isla Natividad (top panel), Baja California, Mexico (bottom panels), showing the location of the no-take (marine reserves) and fished, reference areas (control blocks).

<p>The location of oceanographic sensors (temperature, DO and pH sensors and loggers) is also shown.</p

Postlarval recruit abundance within and outside marine reserves.

<p>(a) Postlarval recruit abundance (averaged across the recruitment season, ±1SE) within the Punta Prieta reserve and nearby fished area in 2008 and 2009, before and after the mass mortality event of spring 2009; (b) postlarval recruit abundance (averaged across the recruitment season) within the reserve and at varying distances from the reserve edge.</p

Estimated reproductive output of pink abalones from reserves and fished areas in 2006–2010.

<p>Reproductive output is calculated as No. eggs produced · m⁻² · year⁻¹. Error bars are bootstrapped standard deviations (SD).</p

Abalone densities within reserves and fished areas in 2006–2010.

<p>Yearly averages (+1SE, N = 11–30 transects per treatment combination) overlain by the same letter (a or b) are not significantly different at α = 0.05 in post-hoc comparisons.</p

DataSheet_1_Social-ecological vulnerability to environmental extremes and adaptation pathways in small-scale fisheries of the southern California Current.docx

Coastal ecosystems and human communities are threatened worldwide by climate change, and shocks from social, market and political change. There is an urgent global need to promote resilient food production and livelihoods in the face of these shocks. Small-scale fisheries (SSF) in rural settings can be particularly vulnerable as they frequently lack the resources, rights and infrastructure to respond to shocks originating outside the focal systems. We examined ecological and social outcomes of environmental extremes in a SSF socio-ecological system (SES) by using long-term oceanographic (between 2010-2019) and ecological (2006-2018) data tracking change in a kelp forest ecosystem of Baja California, Mexico, and concurrent documentation of proactive and reactive actions of a fishing community organized in a cooperative. Results indicate a complex landscape of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ among species and fisheries exposed to unprecedented environmental extremes, including marine heat waves and prolonged hypoxia, and a suite of adaptive actions by the local fishing cooperative, and others in the region, that have helped confront these rapid and drastic changes. Cooperatives have established voluntary marine reserves to promote recovery of affected populations and have invested in diversification of activities enabled by access rights, collective decision-making, and participatory science programs. Results indicate that local actions can support social and ecological resilience in the face of shocks, and that enabling locally-driven adaptation pathways is critical to resilience. This case study highlights the crucial importance of strengthening and supporting rights, governance, capacity, flexibility, learning, and agency for coastal communities to respond to change and sustain their livelihoods and ecosystems in the long run.</p