Household finances and trust are key determinants of benefits from small-scale fisheries co-management

Highlights

• Co-managed fisheries benefit household food, financial and job security.

• Household savings and income increase food, financial and job security.

• Household finances and trust in leadership drives support for fishing closures.

• Women fishers support household food and job security.

• Financing and gender policies are needed for sustainable fisheries management.

Abstract

Socioeconomic conditions of small-scale fishing households often influence the benefits communities accrue from fisheries management interventions. Adjacent to seven newly established fisheries comanagement areas initiated in 2018, we examine the attributes of fishing households that influence perceived food, finance and job security, and compliance with fishing closures. We interviewed respondents from 1828 fishing households in 2019 and 2025 households in 2021 across the seven areas in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. A key finding was that perceived food, financial and job security outcomes increased over the two-year period and were positively related to respondents knowledge of fisheries comanagement. Relationships between both household savings and loans and with household food security highlights the need for policy and institutional support for fishing households in times of need. Household income from fisheries and trust in community leaders was also related to higher reported compliance with fishing closures, suggesting that income security and community leadership are important drivers of adoption of comanagement resource harvest rules. In contrast, women who identified as fish processors reported that they did not comply with fishing closures, as likely they were not involved in management decision making. Moreover, the positive impact of respondent’s trust in their community, on food, financial and job security, implies that strong community relationships can benefit well-being of coastal communities. Our findings highlight the need for programs that strengthen community institutions, improve household financial literacy, promote access to financial services and recognize gendered roles in fishing, as integral parts of community-based fisheries management.

Introduction

Fishing livelihoods in the Asia-Pacific contribute significantly to the income, nutrition and food security of coastal communities [1], generating economic opportunities and livelihoods including for vulnerable and marginalized peoples [2]. Many small-scale fisheries are also tied to local culture and traditional values and benefits, where social wellbeing and the maintenance of livelihoods play essential roles [3], [4]. Increasingly the socioeconomic attributes of small-scale fishing communities are being examined to understand how management of these systems may be achieving desirable outcomes that improve the lives of fishing communities [3]. There is also increasing recognition that the economic viability of small-scale fishing communities is highly dependent on their access to marine natural resources, the benefits they receive and their support and participation in management that promotes sustainable fishing practices [5], [6].

Small-scale fisheries households in low to middle income countries may often be characterized by low financial performance which can increase fishers’ vulnerability to external shocks and leave households at risk of poverty traps and inter-generational debt cycles [7]. Therefore, material resources as they pertain to wellbeing, including economic dependency through household income and savings derived from natural resources [7], [8], [9], may provide important insights into the economic viability of fishing communities [6]. Such factors can directly influence fisher perceptions of food, financial and employment security and their support for natural resource management rules, including compliance with fishing regulations [10], [11]. Where forms of human capital, for example where people have knowledge of local rules and support local management, and where social capital through self-determination and participation in decision-making is strong, community compliance with management rules is often durable [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]. In particular, the trust of people in their fellow community members and leaders has been shown to be critically important for management success and livelihood outcomes [18].

Recently a simplified 3-dimensional wellbeing framework composed of material resources, social relations, and subjective dimensions has been proposed [12]. Material wellbeing encompasses the resources that people have to meet their needs [19], relational wellbeing draws on social relationships, through which people connect with and access other human needs and benefits in the society [20], while subjective wellbeing encompasses people’s perceptions of their life, often including access to food, financial and employment opportunities [21], [22], [23]. Others have examined how contextual, wellbeing and institutional conditions are conducive to performance of conservation management relative to unmanaged areas and over various timescales [24], [25], [26]. Studies of how various wellbeing attributes may impact socioeconomic livelihood and management outcomes are generally nascent in marine natural resource use settings [10], [27].

In rural fishing households in Indonesia, men and women have multiple roles related to their local fisheries including the capture, post-harvest processing and trade of fish and other marine products as well as in the supply of protein for the household [28]. Understanding how various wellbeing attributes of fishing communities, including material resources and their human, financial and social capital may influence socioeconomic and management outcomes is important for characterizing the long-term outlook for fishing communities (27), as differentiated policy and governance approaches may be required that acknowledge the roles of different sectors of fishing communities within different fishing activities [8]. Incorporating social and cultural norms and gender inclusion strategies into management and livelihood programs may also have positive implications for fishing household and community wellbeing [29], [30] and for equitable adaptations by fishing communities to economic changes and community recovery policies [31], [32].

Here we examine if expected socioeconomic outcomes (ie. perceived food, financial, job security, compliance with fishing closures) in villages adjacent to seven areas where small-scale fisheries management interventions were implemented, changed over time. We also examine if the expected outcomes were impacted by household material resources (ie. household savings, access to loans, household income from fisheries), proportion of households with fisher women, proportion of households with women processors, human capital (ie. knowledge of natural resource rules, fishing dependency) and social capital (ie. trust in community, local leaders). To examine these relationships, we conducted surveys of 1828 fishing households in 2019 and 2025 households in 2021 from 48 village communities adjacent to seven fisheries comanagement areas initiated in 2018 in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia [33]. These newly formed fisheries management areas are termed ‘other effective conservation measures’ [34]. The findings are being used to inform fishers and policy makers with data and knowledge to create sustainable, equitable and adaptive policies and governance.