Stewardship, Innovation and Scalability in Small-scale Fisheries. Data Insights from Chilean Territorial User Rights
Stefan Gelcich, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Territorial user rights for fisheries (TURFs) have become increasingly common tools to manage small scale fisheries. However, most TURF systems have failed to assess wide-ranging social and ecological conditions which can help understand impacts and design for further innovations. The types of data needed to foster adaptive and continuous innovation and the capacity for scale of innovative management are not usually part of fisheries programs. The impact of policies increase when small-scale fishery management programs are designed through the lens of potential participants, yet these issues have received little attention in research or practice. Through my work with small-scale marine fisheries in Chile I integrate the ecological and social science of small-scale fishery management to show the types of data that can provide enabling information to foster policy adjustments and continuous innovation. I also provide examples of the necessary data needed for designing programs that focus a priori on scaling and continuous innovation. Managing small-scale fisheries should engage interdisciplinary research to assess and design programs that explicitly integrate a broad range of needs, values, and modes of implementation.

Dr. Stefan Gelcich is a Professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile where he studies human dimensions of marine fisheries management and environmental conservation. He was awarded a 2014 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation. He has led research on developing marine biodiversity offsetting schemes and marine governance. Stefan’s work currently focuses on social-ecological systems, marine conservation, and incentive-based programs focusing on small-scale fisher and coastal communities. He received his BSc from the Universidad Católica del Norte, his MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and his PhD from University of Wales, Bangor.