Diversification in small-scale fisheries beyond harvesting: the role of regional trade networks
Small-scale fisheries (SSF) are comprised of multiple types of actors organized in regional trade networks that are involved in activities from harvesting to exporting fisheries’ resources. Diversification, defined as how fishers and traders along these networks harvest, buy, and/or trade different fish resources (or species), is a prevalent strategy in SSF contexts to deal with an increasingly changing environment. In this chapter, we investigate fisheries diversification patterns along an SSF regional trade network, including fishers and traders. We propose a multi-level Social-Ecological Network (SEN) conceptualization that captures trade relationships (i.e., links) between fishers and traders and amongst traders, and connects the trade network with the diverse fish resources on which they rely. Based on this conceptualization, we find that fishers and traders have diversified portfolios of fish resources and investigate whether this diversification occurs amongst fish resources that are interdependent through market (i.e., fish substitutability in the end markets) or ecological (i.e., trophic) networks. In addition, we investigate whether and how the traders’ network interacts with traders’ diversification. Overall, our findings demonstrate the use of a SEN approach to investigate diversification along trade networks in multi-species SSF contexts, while highlighting the potential implications of the patterns found for fisheries sustainability.
