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Abstract This paper investigates the dynamics of institutional development and co-management performance in small-scale fisheries. The study covers different contexts and spatial and temporal scales, for nine case studies in the South Pacific. In these cases, new co-management institutions were intentionally set up from 2008 to 2016 through fishery policy intervention to address over-exploitation problems of sea cucumber resources. This was carried out in a process of adaptive experimentation, based on a collaborative and problem-solving approach to governance, and a context-based vision of sustainability issues. In order to quantitatively and empirically assess change in governance within and between cases, a multidimensional analytical framework of governance performance is developed. A set of governance performance criteria is defined and the criteria are scored using data from an institutional diagnosis of the cases, throughout the research period. Ten out of eleven criteria were positively impacted by the co-management interventions. Three institutional development trajectories can be identified for the fishery co-management building process, involving a range of gradual and abrupt changes. Consolidation of the institutional changes achieved by the interventions is required to successfully develop the resilience of the fishing systems to multiple stresses. This empirical study provides a methodology for systematically assessing institutional dynamics in fisheries, and in particular the crafting and sustaining of co-management regimes in small-scale fisheries. The approach could potentially be applied to other complex social-ecological systems. Highlights • Our adaptive experimentation projects allow assessing fishery policy interventions. • Fishery co-management development is highly dynamic over several years. • Three institutional contexts are analyzed according to multiple governance criteria. • Governance performance fits within three specific temporal trajectory patterns. • Consolidation of institutional changes is needed to build robust governance systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic valuation of ecosystem services is widely advocated as being useful to support ecosystem management decision-making. However, the extent to which it is actually used or considered useful in decision-making is poorly documented. This literature blindspot is explored with an application to coastal and marine ecosystems management in Australia. Based on a nation-wide survey of eighty-eight decision-makers representing a diversity of management organizations, the perceived usefulness and level of use of economic valuation of ecosystem services, in support of coastal and marine management, are examined. A large majority of decision-makers are found to be familiar with economic valuation and consider it useful - even necessary – in decision-making, although this varies across groups of decision-makers. However, most decision-makers never or rarely use economic valuation. The perceived level of importance and trust in estimated dollar values differ across ecosystem services, and are especially high for values that relate to commercial activities. A number of factors are also found to influence respondent's use of economic valuation. Such findings concur with conclusions from other studies on the usefulness and use of ESV in environmental management decision-making. They also demonstrate the strength of the survey-based approach developed in this application to examine this issue in a variety of contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem based management requires the integration of various types of assessment indicators. Understanding stakeholders' information preferences is important, in selecting those indicators that best support management and policy. Both the preferences of decision-makers and the general public may matter, in democratic participatory management institutions. This paper presents a multi-criteria analysis aimed at quantifying the relative importance to these groups of economic, ecological and socio-economic indicators usually considered when managing ecosystem services in a coastal development context. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is applied within two nationwide surveys in Australia, and preferences of both the general public and decision-makers for these indicators are elicited and compared. Results show that, on average across both groups, the priority in assessing a generic coastal development project is for the ecological assessment of its impacts on marine biodiversity. Ecological assessment indicators are globally preferred to both economic and socio-economic indicators regardless of the nature of the impacts studied. These results are observed for a significantly larger proportion of decision-maker than general public respondents, questioning the extent to which the general public's preferences are well reflected in decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modeling the spatial behavior of fishers is critical in assessing fishery management policies and has been dominated by discrete choice models (DCM). Motivated by the widespread availability of micro-data on fishing vessel locations, this paper examines the complexity associated with the choice of the spatial scale in a DCM of fishing locations. Our empirical approach estimates the standard DCM at varying spatial resolutions using both simulated data and vessel monitoring system data from the Gulf of Mexico longline fishery. We assess model performance using goodness-of-fit, predictive capacity, parameter estimates, and the assessment of the fishery response to a hypothetical marine protected area. Results show that, even when the specification of the decision-making process is correct, models can be structurally biased because of the aggregation of spatial scale that neglects the value of many fishing locations. The extent of such biases can only be detected by considering various spatial aggregation levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecosystem model Atlantis was used to investigate the key dynamics and processes that structure the Eastern English Channel ecosystem, with a particular focus on two commercial flatfish species, sole ( Solea solea ) and plaice ( Pleuronectes platessa ). This complex model was parameterized with data collected from diverse sources (a literature review, survey data, as well as landings and stock assessment information) and tuned so both simulated biomass and catch fit 2002–2011 observations. Here, the outputs are mainly presented for the two focus species and for some other vertebrates found to be important in the trophic network. The calibration process revealed the importance of coastal areas in the Eastern English Channel and of nutrient inputs from estuaries: a lack of river nutrients decreases the productivity of nursery grounds and adversely affects the production of sole and plaice. The role of discards in the trophic network is also highlighted. While sole and plaice did not have a strong influence on the trophic network of vertebrates, they are important predators for benthic invertebrates and compete for food with crustaceans, whiting ( Merlangius merlangus ) and other demersal fish. We also found that two key species, cod ( Gadus morhua ) and whiting, thoroughly structured the Eastern English Channel trophic network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]