Local fisherman in Madagascar sorting through the morning's catch ~ Photo by Tara Whitty

Grant Recipient 2010: Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
Artisanal Fisheries Research Network

The Artisanal Fisheries Research Network (AFRN) is a San Diego-based group of students, researchers, and faculty who study artisanal (subsistence and small-scale) fisheries around the world. Network members represent a broad range of academic disciplines – including marine biology, economics, international relations, anthropology, and geography – and are associated with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and San Diego State University.

Founded in January 2010, AFRN aims to serve as a hub for interdisciplinary communication and collaboration on methods for studying artisanal fisheries, and for elucidating the commonalities and differences across fisheries in different regions where our research is conducted. What unites AFRN researchers and their projects is a recognized need to study the ecological, social, economic, and cultural context of artisanal fisheries in order to move toward effective management and conservation.

Project Support

Artisanal fisheries are defined as small-scale operations that catch fish for subsistence or for local markets. Globally, these fisheries catch approximately 30 million tons of fish annually for human consumption (the same amount as commercial fisheries), and provide protein and income for an estimated 500 million people. However, these fisheries have the capacity to significantly alter marine ecosystems through overfishing and habitat damage. Nevertheless, they are also our greatest hope for achieving sustainable harvests, because they are more efficient than commercial fisheries in terms of much lower bycatch and fuel use and much greater employment.

Ayana Johnson conducting socioeconomic interviews with fishermen at a roadside fish stand in Curaçao.

Understanding and reducing the negative impacts of artisanal fisheries on the marine environment is a rapidly emerging priority for marine conservation, and is critical to both the health of marine ecosystems and the welfare of people who depend upon them. To better understand, scientists must engage in interdisciplinary research that considers each the ecological, social, economic, and cultural aspects of artisanal fisheries. Collaboration among scientists, projects, regions, and disciplines is critical if research is to contribute to effective, well-informed management.

By synthesizing the collective expertise and experience of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and beyond, the team will develop and disseminate standardized methods to better document and understand the socioeconomic and cultural context of artisanal fisheries, with the aim of producing results that are applicable to effective management.

Research Team Leaders

Stuart Sandin (Principal Investigator) is an Assistant Professor of Marine Ecology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  Sandin and his lab group work on questions of community ecology, addressing how species-rich marine ecosystems are affected by changing climate and changing interactions with humans.  Coral reefs are a core habitat for this research, as they provide many services to the people living nearby, from fisheries productivity to tourism revenue.  The ecological research in the Sandin lab provides insights that are essential to improve management of marine ecosystems for the generations to come. 

Tara Whitty (founder and co-chair) is a biological oceanography PhD candidate at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She aims to understand ecological and sociocultural aspects of human impacts on the environment, and to work with communities in developing nations toward conservation, management, and capacity-building for research and conservation. For her dissertation, she is studying the bycatch (accidental capture) of cetaceans (dolphins, porpoises, and whales) in artisanal fisheries. Her research comprises: (1) a collaboration with the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission to develop a report on cetacean conservation in developing countries, and (2) ecological and social science fieldwork to study Irrawaddy dolphin bycatch in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand. She has a bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a certificate in Environmental Studies from Princeton University, and has conducted ecological and conservation research in several tropical developing nations.

Ayana Johnson (co-chair) recently completed her marine biology PhD at Scripps Institution of Oceanography with a dissertation, entitled “Fish, Fishing, Diving and the Management of Coral Reefs.” Her research, conducted on the Caribbean islands of Curaçao and Bonaire, took a holistic approach to understanding how to sustainably manage coral reefs by incorporating ecology, economics, and sociology. Broadly, her work aims to produce a gear-based approach to sustainable fisheries management that incorporates stakeholder views and can serve as a blueprint for any coral reef location in need of straightforward fisheries management strategies. She is currently a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow working in the front office of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service on the development of federal ocean policy. She has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard University.

Resources

Artisanal Fisheries Research Network Website
Scripps Institution of Oceanography Website