Opposing trends in fisheries portfolio diversity at harvester and community scales signal opportunities for adaptation

Understanding mechanisms that promote social-ecological resilience can inform future adaptation strategies. Among seafood dependent communities, these can be illuminated by assessing change among fisheries portfolios. Here, in collaboration with a Coast Salish Nation in British Columbia, Canada, we used expert Indigenous knowledge and network analyses to chronicle differences in fisheries portfolios pre and post a social-ecological regime shift. We then evaluated key drivers of change using semi-structured interviews. We found that while portfolios decreased in diversity of seafood types harvested and consumed among individuals overtime, portfolios increased in their diversification at the community level because more similar seafoods within less diverse individual portfolios were more commonly harvested and consumed by the Nation as a whole. Thus, diversity can operate simultaneously in opposing directions at different scales of organization. Experts identified four key mechanisms driving these changes, including commercial activities controlled by a centralized governance regime, intergenerational knowledge loss, adaptive learning to new ecologi-cal and economic opportunities, and the trading of seafood with other Indigenous communities. Unexpectedly, increased predation by marine mammals was also flagged as a key driver of change. Adaptation strategies that support access to and governance of diverse fisheries, exchange of seafoods among communities, and knowledge transfer among generations would promote social-ecological resilience, food security, and community well-being.

Automated summary

This study examines the differences in fisheries portfolios before and after a social-ecological regime shift by using expert Indigenous knowledge and network analyses. The research finds that while the diversity of seafood types harvested and consumed by individuals decreased over time, the diversification of portfolios at the community level increased. Four key drivers of change, including commercial activities, intergenerational knowledge loss, adaptive learning, and seafood trading, were identified. The study emphasizes the importance of adaptation strategies that promote access to diverse fisheries, seafood exchange among communities, and knowledge transfer for social-ecological resilience, food security, and community well-being.