Enhancing stewardship in Latin America and Caribbean small-scale fisheries:challenges and opportunities

This thematic series, entitled “Enhancing Stewardship in Latin America and Caribbean Small-Scale Fisheries”, emerged as part of a joint effort to bridge Latin-American scholars interested in networking on small-scale fisheries in the region. Built on results presented at two meetings (‘Too Big to Ignore’ (TBTI) Workshop in Curitiba, Brazil, and the 2nd World Small-Scale Fisheries Congress in Merida, Mexico), this issue combines a unique collection of emergent and pressing issues related to small-scale fisheries in Latin America. It comprises of theoretical, methodological and policy-related aspects across a range of topics such as co-management, biodiversity conservation, governance challenges, and territorial tenure, in seven countries - predominantly from South America. In this Introduction, we provide some background to the similarities and diversity within the Latin America and Caribbean region, and their relevance to small-scale fisheries stewardship. Subsequently, we briefly introduce the contributions that range from cross-scale governance in Chile, cooperativism in Mexico, species introduction in Bolivia, interactive governance in the Galápagos and co-management in Uruguay, Brazil and Colombia, to territorial losses in Brazil. Multiple contexts and processes, theoretical and analytical perspectives (multi-stakeholders, socio-ecological systems, cross-scale issues, territorial approach) are highlighted, as well as the policy challenges to safeguard small-scale fisheries from numerous pressures such as urbanization, industrial expansion, tourism, pollution, and conservation policies. This series aims at inciting further consideration of innovative perspectives to bridge local communities, academics, practitioners and policy makers in joint efforts to promote priority action on issues that require immediate attention and transdisciplinary multidimensional outlooks on that important sector

Socio-ecological assessment for environmental planning in coastal fishery areas: A case study in Brazilian mangroves

Along the world's (sub) tropics mangroves are important coastal ecosystems supporting small-scale fisheries and human populations, highlighting the need to consider participatory approaches in this ecosystem management. We carried out a socio-ecological assessment to characterize the use and perceptions of local populations at Northeastern Brazil (São Francisco River Estuary) on mangrove fisheries and local development, and pointed out strategies for environmental planning. The questionnaire-based results show that the locals are economically dependent on mangrove fisheries, exploring 12 types of fish, 4 types of crabs, 3 types of mollusks and shrimps. All populations indicated a decrease in the fishery yield, mainly due to a high fishery pressure and shrimp farming. We conclude that strategies pointed out by the locals as creation of an protected area of sustainable use (Extractive Reserve), aided by government support to create a local small-scale fishery processing industry, to cultivate oysters and fish and ecotourism are sustainable alternatives for poverty alleviation and mangrove conservation. These alternatives and the socio-ecological assessment should be a guideline for other mangroves areas worldwide with similar environmental problems and where fishery is the base of economic subsistence, in order to guarantees the long term sustainability of mangrove socio-ecological systems.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe