A review of vulnerabilities in worldwide small-scale fisheries

ABSTRACT

Addressing vulnerabilities in small-scale fisheries (SSF) has been gaining increasing attention due to their role in securing livelihoods of millions of people in the world, even though when they are subject to susceptible scenarios. We reviewed the literature with the aim of shedding light on the distribution, coping strategies, and common drivers of vulnerabilities in worldwide SSF. Seventy-eight studied cases worldwide, 21 drivers of vulnerability, and 8 coping strategies were identified. Natural and human-induced declining fish catches was the most common driver of vulnerability and disobedience of fishing rules the most common coping strategy. From the three dimensions of vulnerability, exposure (presence of vulnerable scenarios) was the highest (50%), followed by sensitivity (susceptibility to vulnerable scenarios) (29%) and adaptive capacity (ability to cope with vulnerable scenarios) (21%). The literature review highlights the need for adopting a context-specific threefold (resource management and conservation, livelihoods development, and restructured governance) approach to SSF management.