Description
The introduction of financial mechanisms and trading strategies in the privatization of assigning access rights to fishery resources are changing socioeconomic and cultural dynamics of structurally dependent fishing communities. The project addresses the whole concept of fisheries governance from a local perspective. Analyzing the social changes that are occurring in two highly dependent regions of fishing, such as Iceland and Galicia, is intended to create the best indicators to planning and designing models fairer and sustainable governance, characterize the social implications caused by the inclusion of 'private use regimes' and the relationships with the new participatory management models in Icelandic and Galician fisheries. The purpose is to develop a comparative study of the advantages / disadvantages of using both models (Galician and Icelandic) and looking for indicators and basic recommendations for good practice and sustainable management. It is hoped that the information collected is used to generate processes of dialogue between fishermen, managers and scientists who usually have very distant interests. The project promoter, University of A Coruña, has a strong experience in the proposed research field .The publications (number and content) are excellent. Donor partner, Stefansson Arctic Institute (Iceland), will contribute its know-how and many years of experience in conducting investigations in ITC, privatization of common property rights, models of fisheries governance, social, marine reserves, risk management, and arctic fisheries. The cooperation is intended as a sharing of individual experiences of two researchers from the University of A Coruña (Dr. Ramón Muiño Boedo and D. Duarte F-Vidal (Phd) and an Icelandic researcher Stefansson Arctic Institute, Dr Niels Einarsson.
Summary of project results
Although fishing regions of the Arctic (Iceland) and communities of Galician fishers have very particular socio-cultural and economic aspects, there are strong similarities and common problems that necessarily deal with. In the Galician case, several important cases of impact of industrial activities on the shores have created an uncertain and hopelessness scenario on the development of local fisheries in the short and long term. A bottom-up experience involving scientists and stakeholders was developed in Galicia since 2007. This type of 'bottom-up' process are not too common in Iceland, because never before had faced challenges like these. Experience at this Galician context could be used to build the main lines of action for fishery management in Iceland, especially in local places where the incidence of different activities tends to increase, while the common interests is moving away. The different activities performed by the grantee were supervised and coordinated by Dr. Niels Einarsson. Other researchers from several research centers in the region supported these activities. Project activities were linked to several presentations performed by different researchers and managers regarding the new economic perspectives and international interests that are arising at the Artic region, such as “Artic Governance: Thinking about indigenous governance in Search and Rescue”, by Dr. Jessica Shadian; “EU and the Artic Region”, by Matthias Brinkman (EU Delegate in Chief for the Artic issues). A presentation was made at the Seminar “Bottom to top”, entitled “Galician management system through experiences on marine Protected Areas”. Visits and Interviews were performed to Icelandic fishing communities and fishers and to the Husavic Research Center. The project is fundamentally a contribution to a better policy understanding how marine governance systems involving private property rights regimes work in specific settings and which lessons can be learned from empirical evidence, especially in terms of social impacts in coastal communities. A first article where the basic lines of action are structured and defines strategies for the Artic development was in preparation at the closure of the project.
Summary of bilateral results
The main objective of the project/stay was to build a strong future collaboration, in academicals terms but also on the way of commons future projects. Various activities were carried out throughout the stay. Initial activities were developed around several presentations developed by different researchers and managers on emerging economic prospects and international interests (EU) that are emerging in the Arctic region. The broad fieldwork and experience from Dr. Niels Einarsson, make him a reference as an intermediary and mediator in some fishing communities where other scientists have difficulties in gaining access to local information without being perceived as a 'strange' or an interested party. This helped the grantee to have very productive conversations and get first-hand information. So far, already it has generated a concrete proposal for collaboration with other institutions such as the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of Coimbra (Portugal). This Portuguese center and Stefansson Actic Institute have received a small grant EEA to work on the promotion of bilateral relations between Iceland and Portugal about finding projects and partnerships related to the management of the sea. The grantee was invited by Dr. Alison Neilson to participate in an intensive workshop (March 2016) in the Azores (Portugal) about two weeks to work on the creation of a draft instrés for local fishing communities. To do this, they will collaborate other organizations and institutions such as the Associação para a Igualdade e Direitos das Mulheres (UMAR-Açores), Cooperativa de Economia Solidária Pescadores da Ribeira Quente (CESPRQ) Organização of Produtores da Pesca (Porto de Abrigo), Associação de Mulheres da Pesca we Açores (Ilhas em Rede), Cooperaiva Cultural Discalced.