Bonefish (Albula spp.) support valuable recreational and artisanal fisheries worldwide. Declining stocks have been reported at multiple localities, potentially jeopardising numerous multimillion-dollar industries. In particular, tourism generated through bonefish fly fishing contributes considerably to the economies of many isolated tropical islands and atolls. However, despite their economic value, little is known about bonefish in the Indian Ocean. This study aimed to contribute to the understanding of bonefish ecology in the Indian Ocean by (1) reviewing the bonefish literature to identify knowledge gaps; (2) evaluating the postrelease survival of acoustically tagged bonefish and; (3) quantifying the spatial and temporal movements of bonefish at a near-pristine and predator rich atoll in the Seychelles. A review of published literature on bonefish indicated that despite considerable biological and ecological research in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, virtually no research has been conducted in the Indian Ocean. To help address this research gap, an acoustic telemetry study was initiated at the remote St. Joseph Atoll, within an existing array of 88 automated datalogging acoustic receivers. Thirty Albula glossodonta were surgically implanted with Vemco V13 acoustic transmitters in May 2015 and tracked for a period of one year. Only 10% of the tagged bonefish were detected for more than two weeks. A comparison of the final 100 hours of movement data from fish that were detected for less than two weeks to fish detected for longer periods revealed distinct differences. These included differences in area use patterns and significant differences in the average daily distance moved, speed of movement and residency index. This suggested that mortality in the form of post-release predation was high (90%) with tagged fish detected for less than two weeks being preyed upon by sharks. The three surviving bonefish were tracked for 210 to 367 days. These individuals remained in the atoll and showed high use of the marginal habitats between the shallow sand flats and the deeper lagoon. Water temperature, diel cycle and tide were significant predictors of bonefish presence in the lagoon. The high post-release predation of bonefish has implications for the management of this and other Albula species. Despite these fisheries being catch-and-release, bonefish fishing may be unsustainable due to the high post-release mortality, particularly in areas that are rich in predators. Therefore, protected areas or limitations on fishing effort need to be considered.

The fishing industry provides direct and indirect livelihoods for over 140 000 people in South Africa and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has identified 150 fishing communities. Industrial boats employ some 200 people for every 1 000 tons of fish caught, while small-scale fishing methods employ some 2 400 people for the same amount of fish. There are various means of managing the fishing industry, which operates in a common-pool resource. Small-scale fishers, however, live in poverty. The way in which the fishing industry is currently being managed, through the individual transferable quota system, has led to further problems for the small-scale fishers and the communities in which they live. The aim of the study is provide a solution to the question of the best way to manage the fishing industry, for the benefit of small-scale fishers, while also ensuring sustainability in the fishing industry. The research will investigate three research questions, through literature review and data gathered from interviews with small-scale fishers. The research questions will investigate whether it is economically viable for small-scale fishers to continue to fish, whether small-scale fishers want to have a self-management system and what would be the best institutional model to manage the common-pool resource. The research findings have found that there is not one best way to manage the common-pool resource. For communities to manage the common-pool resource themselves, it is critically important that trust exists in the communities. The research has furthermore confirmed recent literature that the individual transferable quota system can lead in many instances to social problems in a community / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

Bangladesh, a country situated in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta (GBM), is one of the most vulnerable countries to climatic stressors and changes. Low lying coastal region in the southern part of the country is highly vulnerable due to its exposure to frequent and intense cyclones, and other hydro-meteorological coastal hazards, such as projected sea-level rise, storm surges, monsoonal flooding and waterlogging, and saline water intrusion. In addition, there have been significant infrastructure development and land use change across Bangladesh’s coastal regions since the 1960s that contributed to increase environmental risk and vulnerability of coastal communities. This dissertation examines the risks and vulnerabilities faced by the coastal communities, particularly small-scale fisheries and aquaculture-based communities, in Bangladesh and how the households and the government respond to manage these risks and vulnerabilities. Three specific objectives of this dissertation are: a) to explore the risk and vulnerability that coastal households face in Bangladesh in conjunction with main climatic hazards and changes; b) to understand households' temporary internal migration decision-making in the context of climatic stressors and socio-ecological changes; and c) to explore the extent to which social protection programs in the coastal districts of Bangladesh are responsive to environmental and climatic changes facing coastal dwellers, with a focus on whether such programs help households build adaptive capacity. This research is primarily based on a fieldwork in three coastal districts of Bangladesh in 2017. During the fieldwork, the researcher conducted a household survey of 720 households, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The three research objectives lead to three research papers. The first paper of this dissertation constructs household-level vulnerability and risk indices by applying the risk framework offered in the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). With the help of these indices, this paper shows the levels of risk of hazards vary among geographical units, income levels and occupational groups. The indices also show that although vulnerability is well-correlated with poverty, risks of hazards are high for upper-income households as well. Applying the New Economics of Labour Migration (NELM) theory and the more recent environmental migration framework proposed by Black et al. (2011), the second paper shows that various types of environmental and climatic stressors impact households’ decisions on temporary migration differently, and alongside environmental and climatic factors, traditional socioeconomic drivers of migration also play significant roles in households’ temporary migration decisions. The third paper applies the adaptive social protection framework and finds poor targeting efficiency and the inability of the social protection system in scaling up when needed. However, the analysis does show poor households benefiting from social protection programs were less likely to use adverse coping strategies and were more likely to adopt productive livelihood strategies including production innovations and diversification. This dissertation contributes to the methods of measuring and understanding risk and vulnerability specific to stressors, locations, income levels and occupations. It also sheds light on the importance of temporary migration as a risk management strategy that received less attention in the literature than permanent migration. Finally, it identifies areas to improve existing social protection programs to make them responsive to emerging risks and vulnerabilities. While addressing three separate but related topics, the papers are consistent in their implication for adaptation planning for coastal communities.

One of the biggest questions surrounding common-pool natural resources (CPRs) lies in understanding the circumstances which increase the likelihood of sustainable use and those that lead to resource degradation. Small-scale fisheries are an example of a CPR that has proven difficult to manage sustainably. I use social network analysis methods to examine the social connectivity of small-scale fishing communities and the association of network structures with collaborative behavior of small-scale fisheries in the Northern Gulf of California, Mexico.I found considerable connectivity of communities via kinship ties of small-scale fishers, both within the region and to other areas in Mexico. Fisher kinship relationships are important mechanisms for information transfer. Identifying communities in the network that are most likely to share information with other communities allows managers to develop more effective and efficient education, outreach, and enforcement efforts.Communities are also connected by their use of the same fishing zones and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). My results provide suggestions for dividing communities based on common use of fishing areas and MPAs. This may help fishers and managers to develop, implement, and enforce boundary rules that will facilitate regional management of small-scale fisheries. My results provided mixed evidence for the role of social structure in impacting positive outcomes for fisher' ability to collaborate and organize. A wide range of factors affect the emergence of institutions for CPR management. Similarly, finding a common network structure that can accurately predict sustainable use of CPRs is unlikely. Knowing how people are connected and the ways in which information about CPR resources moves through (or is hindered from moving through) a network can improve manager's ability to develop more effective strategies and actions. Adding social networks into the CPR management toolbox provides a mechanism by which those working in management and conservation can incorporate social structure into management activities.An understanding of the social networks that connect communities and the potential pathways for information transfer, combined with a system of enforceable rules and policies and effective outreach methods and materials, may help managers and resource users more effectively and sustainably manage CPRs in the long term.

<p>The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to a better understanding of how global seafood trade interacts with the governance of small-scale fisheries (SSFs). As global seafood trade expands, SSFs have the potential to experience significant economic, social, and political benefits from participation in export markets. At the same time, market connections that place increasing pressures on resources pose risks to both the ecological and social integrity of SSFs. This dissertation seeks to explore the factors that mediate between the potential benefits and risks of global seafood markets for SSFs, with the goal of developing hypotheses regarding these relationships. </p><p>The empirical investigation consists of a series of case studies from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. This is a particularly rich context in which to study global market connections with SSFs because the SSFs in this region engage in a variety of market-oriented harvests, most notably for octopus, groupers and snappers, lobster, and sea cucumber. Variation in market forms and the institutional diversity of local-level governance arrangements allows the dissertation to explore a number of examples. </p><p>The analysis is guided primarily by common-pool resource (CPR) theory because of the insights it provides regarding the conditions that facilitate collective action and the factors that promote long-lasting resource governance arrangements. Theory from institutional economics and political ecology contribute to the elaboration of a multi-faceted conceptualization of markets for CPR theory, with the aim of facilitating the identification of mechanisms through which markets and CPR governance actually interact. This dissertation conceptualizes markets as sets of institutions that structure the exchange of property rights over fisheries resources, affect the material incentives to harvest resources, and transmit ideas and values about fisheries resources and governance.</p><p> The case studies explore four different mechanisms through which markets potentially influence resource governance: 1) Markets can contribute to costly resource governance activities by offsetting costs through profits, 2) markets can undermine resource governance by generating incentives for noncompliance and lead to overharvesting resources, 3) markets can increase the costs of resource governance, for example by augmenting monitoring and enforcement burdens, and 4) markets can alter values and norms underpinning resource governance by transmitting ideas between local resource users and a variety of market actors. </p><p>Data collected using participant observation, survey, informal and structured interviews contributed to the elaboration of the following hypotheses relevant to interactions between global seafood trade and SSFs governance. 1) Roll-back neoliberalization of fisheries policies has undermined cooperatives’ ability to achieve financial success through engagement with markets and thus their potential role as key actors in resource governance (chapter two). 2) Different relations of production influence whether local governance institutions will erode or strengthen when faced with market pressures. In particular, relations of production in which fishers own their own means of production and share the collective costs of governance are more likely to strengthen resource governance while relations of production in which a single entrepreneur controls capital and access to the fishery are more likely to contribute to the erosion of resource governance institutions in the face of market pressures (chapter three). 3) By serving as a new discursive framework within which to conceive of and talk about fisheries resources, markets can influence norms and values that shape and constitute governance arrangements.</p><p>In sum, the dissertation demonstrates that global seafood trade manifests in a diversity of local forms and effects. Whether SSFs moderate risks and take advantage of benefits depends on a variety of factors, and resource users themselves have the potential to influence the outcomes of seafood market connections through local forms of collective action.</p> / Dissertation

The lack of timely reporting of commercial fisheries landings interferes with effective management of fisheries in United States Virgin Islands (USVI). Federal law requires that landings be limited to prevent annual catch limits (ACLs) from being exceeded. Previous attempts to predict total landings have used historic data from prior fishing seasons to predict future landings rather than leveraging available in-season data to provide a more real-time prediction of landings. This study presents an in-season model that predicts total landings using partial reports from the current fishing year. This estimate of total landings, including error bounds around that estimate, can then be compared to the ACL established for the species to estimate potential deviations from the allowable landings and adjust effort accordingly. The performance of the model was tested in a retrospective analysis on historical commercial landings data. Differences between predicted and observed fishing year landings by defined cut-off dates were used to identify reasonable deadlines for fishery managers to begin making reliable predictions on total annual landings. On average, predictions can be made with less than 9% error with at least four months of partial data, and with less than 5% error with at least seven months of partial data. This model's in-season predictions should be useful to managers to prevent ACL overages, and to guide fishers in their application of effort within and among components of the fishery, for example, to shift effort from one fishery management unit to another in response to excessive landings.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar os conflitos socioambientais envolvendo os pescadores artesanais na Baía de Ilha Grande e as iniciativas institucionais que buscam dar tratamento a esses conflitos de forma compartilhada. Neste sentido, foram consideradas duas iniciativas institucionais: i) o Projeto Desenvolvimento e Gerenciamento dos Sistemas de Gestão da Pesca e Aquicultura na baía de Ilha Grande GPESCA-BIG; e ii) o Termo de Compromisso entre a Estação Ecológica de Tamoios e as comunidades pesqueiras de Angra dos Reis e Paraty. A metodologia envolveu a observação direta da autora em reuniões de conselhos consultivos e grupos de trabalho em unidades de conservação, em especial, os espaços envolvendo a Estação Ecológica de Tamoios, além de apresentações e audiências públicas sobre a proposta de Acordos de Pesca. Utilizou-se também a observação participante em reuniões e oficinas no âmbito do projeto GPESCA-BIG. De forma complementar, a pesquisa se baseou em entrevistas (formais e informais) e análise de documentos diversos elaborados por entidades representativas dos pescadores e demais atores direta e indiretamente envolvidos no conflito. Foram identificadas três grandes grupos de conflitos relacionados aos pescadores artesanais: (1) sobreposição de territórios de pesca/pesqueiros e as áreas protegidas, principalmente aqueles relacionados à ESEC Tamoios; (2) conflitos associados à pesca industrial, identificados pelos pescadores como barcos de fora, e em menor escala, as embarcações de petróleo/gás e do turismo e; (3) conflitos resultantes da falta de regularização/permissionamento da atividade. Em síntese, estes conflitos envolvem políticas de desenvolvimento e de conservação, que se confrontam com o modo de vida tradicional dos pescadores artesanais e caiçaras. Além dos conflitos oriundos das diferentes formas de apropriação do espaço marinho, estes conflitos também estiveram relacionados ao papel paradoxal do Estado no estabelecimento das regras e normas de ordenamento (incluindo-se a fiscalização/monitoramento ambiental), à burocracia e às diversas instituições existentes para tratar de problemas comuns, tornado confuso o gerenciamento da atividade. No que se refere às iniciativas em análise, os resultados demonstram a existência de instituições relativamente bem constituídas na região, com a atuação de órgãos de gestão pública e ambiental nos mais variados níveis: municipal estadual e federal. Além destes, registra-se também a participação da sociedade civil, em especial, dos pescadores artesanais de Paraty e de suas representações, na busca pelo tratamento dos conflitos nos quais estão inseridos. Por outro lado, evidencia-se a falta de articulação e integração entre as políticas e atores, bem como entre as experiências institucionais em curso. Portanto, um dos maiores desafios existentes na implantação de um modo compartilhado de gestão dos recursos pesqueiros na BIG consiste justamente em superar tais limitações institucionais, de maneira que possam promover ações articuladas visando não apenas a conservação integrada do ecossistema, como também a reprodução das práticas tradicionais de pesca e a sua co-existência com os demais tipos de usos / This thesis analyses environmental conflicts involving artisanal fishermen in the Ilha Grande Bay and institutional initiatives aiming at managing such conflicts in shared manners. Two initiatives were considered: i) the project Development of Management Systems of Fisheries and Aquaculture in Ilha Grande Bay GPESCA-BIG; and ii) The Commiment Term between the Tamoios Ecological Station and fishermen communities of Angra dos Reis and Paraty. The methodology comprised the authors direct observation in meetings of the consultation councils and working groups in conservation units, in special, those involving the Tamoios Ecological Station, and also participation in presentations about the proposition of Fishing Agreements and other public hearings. The research also used participative observation in meetings and workshops within the GPESCA-BIG project. Additionally, formal and informal interviews were carried on with relevant actors, and varied documents by entities such as Fishermen Associations, City Governments and City Councils, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Ministry of Environment were consulted. Three major groups of fisheries-related conflicts were identified: (1) overlapping between fishing and protected areas; (2) conflicts associated with large-scale fishing and, to a smaller degree, with oil and gas ships and touristic boats; and (3) conflicts due to the lack of regularization/allowance of the activity. In sum, these conflicts involve both development and conservation policies, which at all times contradict the traditional lifestyle of artisanal fishermen and caiçaras. Besides resulting from different forms of use of the sea, these conflicts are also related to the paradoxical role of the State in setting rules (including supervision and environmental monitoring) to the bureaucracy and to several institutions dedicated to common problems. Regarding the initiatives under analysis, results show that there are relatively well established institutions in the region, comprising public environmental agencies at local, state and national levels. One can also mention the participation of civil society, in special, artisanal fishermen from Paraty and their associations. On the other hand, it is worth highlighting the lack of integration among such policies and agencies/actors, as well as among institutional experiences under way. Therefore, one of the major challenges in the implementation of a strategy of co-management of fishing resources in the Ilha Grande Bay consists in overcoming such institutional shortcomings and adopting articulated initiatives aimed not only at the conservation of the environment, but also the sustainability of traditional fisheries and their co-existence with other kinds of use of the marine resources

Brackish water ecosystems such as mangroves are among the most biodiverse in the world. The mangroves located in the Gulf of California, Mexico are not an exception. This sea has been studied several times due to its biodiverse coastal ecosystems, one of these sites being “Marismas Nacionales” or National Marshes in the southeast area of the Gulf, which was the focus of the thesis. Local fishing communities have been present in the area since pre-Hispanic times and the area became recognized for their abundant oyster, shrimp, and finfish yields during the XX century. Overexploitation of fisheries in Mexico and national financial crisis opened the door to neoliberal policy and law reforms which affected directly and still affect the subsistence, economy and political power of the fishers in the area. Because of the neoliberal reforms, shrimp aquaculture became an important economic activity in and around the region of Marismas Nacionales by the end of the 1980s. By the 1990s international and national protection, instruments were implemented to revert the damages and pressures created by overexploited fishers, as well as by the new aquaculture practices introduced in the ecosystem, giving Marismas Nacionales the status of the biosphere reserve. The figure of biosphere reserve has reverted the damages in the ecosystem while preserving the communal land inside of it. Nevertheless, since the biosphere reserve does not cover the whole ecosystem, the political boundaries of the biosphere reserve have also been detrimental for the ecosystem and local fishers’ land tenure that remained outside of it, creating an inside/outside effect. The study was done considering the perspectives of the actors involved, mainly the fishers in the area through semi-structured interviews gathered using a snowball method, through second-hand sources collection and literature review. The analysis was done through the political ecology and political economy perspectives to examine the conflicts that were found. The neoliberal laws from the period between 1986 and 1992 have not stopped the depletion of fisheries in the Marismas Nacionales ecosystem. Additionally, with the combination of a lack of formal credit schemes leading to an exploitation by permit holders and middlemen; fishers, in particular, free fishers, in the Marismas Nacionales ecosystem have become vulnerable, as well as scapegoats for the shortcomings of the flawed policies. The most affected fishers inside Marismas Nacionales ecosystem where found outside the limits of the biosphere reserve, demonstrating the deficiencies of the biosphere reserve. Additionally, I claim that conservation instruments and areas around Mexico could potentially become part of a process of primitive accumulation which could end up in privatizing those areas as seen in other places around the world. Moreover, shrimp aquaculture seems to benefit from the conservation policies. Further research is advised in regulatory processes and conservation law schemes, as well as an accurate implementation in the Marismas Nacionales wetlands, that considers all those implicated.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar os conflitos socioambientais envolvendo os pescadores artesanais na Baía de Ilha Grande e as iniciativas institucionais que buscam dar tratamento a esses conflitos de forma compartilhada. Neste sentido, foram consideradas duas iniciativas institucionais: i) o Projeto Desenvolvimento e Gerenciamento dos Sistemas de Gestão da Pesca e Aquicultura na baía de Ilha Grande GPESCA-BIG; e ii) o Termo de Compromisso entre a Estação Ecológica de Tamoios e as comunidades pesqueiras de Angra dos Reis e Paraty. A metodologia envolveu a observação direta da autora em reuniões de conselhos consultivos e grupos de trabalho em unidades de conservação, em especial, os espaços envolvendo a Estação Ecológica de Tamoios, além de apresentações e audiências públicas sobre a proposta de Acordos de Pesca. Utilizou-se também a observação participante em reuniões e oficinas no âmbito do projeto GPESCA-BIG. De forma complementar, a pesquisa se baseou em entrevistas (formais e informais) e análise de documentos diversos elaborados por entidades representativas dos pescadores e demais atores direta e indiretamente envolvidos no conflito. Foram identificadas três grandes grupos de conflitos relacionados aos pescadores artesanais: (1) sobreposição de territórios de pesca/pesqueiros e as áreas protegidas, principalmente aqueles relacionados à ESEC Tamoios; (2) conflitos associados à pesca industrial, identificados pelos pescadores como barcos de fora, e em menor escala, as embarcações de petróleo/gás e do turismo e; (3) conflitos resultantes da falta de regularização/permissionamento da atividade. Em síntese, estes conflitos envolvem políticas de desenvolvimento e de conservação, que se confrontam com o modo de vida tradicional dos pescadores artesanais e caiçaras. Além dos conflitos oriundos das diferentes formas de apropriação do espaço marinho, estes conflitos também estiveram relacionados ao papel paradoxal do Estado no estabelecimento das regras e normas de ordenamento (incluindo-se a fiscalização/monitoramento ambiental), à burocracia e às diversas instituições existentes para tratar de problemas comuns, tornado confuso o gerenciamento da atividade. No que se refere às iniciativas em análise, os resultados demonstram a existência de instituições relativamente bem constituídas na região, com a atuação de órgãos de gestão pública e ambiental nos mais variados níveis: municipal estadual e federal. Além destes, registra-se também a participação da sociedade civil, em especial, dos pescadores artesanais de Paraty e de suas representações, na busca pelo tratamento dos conflitos nos quais estão inseridos. Por outro lado, evidencia-se a falta de articulação e integração entre as políticas e atores, bem como entre as experiências institucionais em curso. Portanto, um dos maiores desafios existentes na implantação de um modo compartilhado de gestão dos recursos pesqueiros na BIG consiste justamente em superar tais limitações institucionais, de maneira que possam promover ações articuladas visando não apenas a conservação integrada do ecossistema, como também a reprodução das práticas tradicionais de pesca e a sua co-existência com os demais tipos de usos / This thesis analyses environmental conflicts involving artisanal fishermen in the Ilha Grande Bay and institutional initiatives aiming at managing such conflicts in shared manners. Two initiatives were considered: i) the project Development of Management Systems of Fisheries and Aquaculture in Ilha Grande Bay GPESCA-BIG; and ii) The Commiment Term between the Tamoios Ecological Station and fishermen communities of Angra dos Reis and Paraty. The methodology comprised the authors direct observation in meetings of the consultation councils and working groups in conservation units, in special, those involving the Tamoios Ecological Station, and also participation in presentations about the proposition of Fishing Agreements and other public hearings. The research also used participative observation in meetings and workshops within the GPESCA-BIG project. Additionally, formal and informal interviews were carried on with relevant actors, and varied documents by entities such as Fishermen Associations, City Governments and City Councils, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Ministry of Environment were consulted. Three major groups of fisheries-related conflicts were identified: (1) overlapping between fishing and protected areas; (2) conflicts associated with large-scale fishing and, to a smaller degree, with oil and gas ships and touristic boats; and (3) conflicts due to the lack of regularization/allowance of the activity. In sum, these conflicts involve both development and conservation policies, which at all times contradict the traditional lifestyle of artisanal fishermen and caiçaras. Besides resulting from different forms of use of the sea, these conflicts are also related to the paradoxical role of the State in setting rules (including supervision and environmental monitoring) to the bureaucracy and to several institutions dedicated to common problems. Regarding the initiatives under analysis, results show that there are relatively well established institutions in the region, comprising public environmental agencies at local, state and national levels. One can also mention the participation of civil society, in special, artisanal fishermen from Paraty and their associations. On the other hand, it is worth highlighting the lack of integration among such policies and agencies/actors, as well as among institutional experiences under way. Therefore, one of the major challenges in the implementation of a strategy of co-management of fishing resources in the Ilha Grande Bay consists in overcoming such institutional shortcomings and adopting articulated initiatives aimed not only at the conservation of the environment, but also the sustainability of traditional fisheries and their co-existence with other kinds of use of the marine resources

En este estudio se analizan los efectos de las condiciones oceanográficas sobre la captura agregada de las tres principales especies de túnidos tropicales considerando las dos estrategias de pesca principales de la flota española de cerco, es decir, la pesca sobre dispositivo artificiales de agregación de peces (FADs) y banco libre (FSC). Además, para cada estrategia de pesca, se investiga el desplazamiento de la agregación de captura bajo los efectos del cambio climático utilizando la captura de atún Katsuwonus pelamis como indicador biológico, y se discuten las implicaciones sociales y económicas del impacto climático sobre los países costeros alrededor del Canal de Mozambique. El atún Katsuwonus pelamis es el recurso pesquero ecológico más importante que sustenta las necesidades sociales y económicas de los países costeros del MZC y, por tanto, las predicciones de puntos críticos para mediados y finales de siglo bajo diferentes escenarios de cambio climático son resultados que deben ser considerados en los planes de conservación y gestión de este recurso. Además, se analizaron las tendencias en las capturas de atún de las flotas industrial y artesanal y el impacto de su interacción. El objetivo general de esta investigación de tesis es mejorar nuestro conocimiento sobre los factores clave que impulsan la dinámica de las pesquerías de túnidos tropicales en el MZC, bajo un contexto que combina la acción e interacción de la flota de cerco industrial y la pesca a pequeña escala. Para el desarrollo del objetivo general, se han definido y resumido objetivos específicos de la siguiente manera: (i) investigar las relaciones entre los factores ambientales y la acumulación de cardúmenes de túnidos tropicales en hábitats marinos capturados por la flota Española de cerco sobre FADs o sobre FSC en el Canal de Mozambique; (ii) investigar la dinámica temporal y predecir los hábitats espaciales para la agregación de cardúmenes de túnidos o puntos críticos para la pesca en relación con sus preferencia ambientales;, (iii) investigar los cambios de distribución y agregación del Katsuwonus pelamis frente a los escenarios futuros de concentraciones representativas (RCP) de cambios climáticos para 2050 y 2100. (iv) discutir los cambios en las tasas de captura y socioeconómicos que afectan a las comunidades pesqueras considerando la incertidumbre asociada al cambio climático en el Canal de Mozambique; (v) describir las interacciones socioecológicas y socioeconómicas entre la pesca industrial y los sectores de la pesca en pequeña escala en las aguas costeras, en base a la información disponible de las pesquerías de Mozambique; (vi) explorar, desde el punto de vista ecológico, el efecto que ejercen la flota industrial en las poblaciones objetivo, así como el impacto socioeconómico en la pesca a pequeña escala, siendo esta, además, más vulnerable al cambio climático a lo largo de la costa de Mozambique. Los datos científicos utilizados en el análisis de capturas y esfuerzo de la flota española de cerco en el área del Canal de Mozambique se obtuvieron de las bases de datos del Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO) para el período de Febrero de 2003 a Junio de 2013 a partir de los cuadernos de pesca de la flota de cerco española, una vez corregida la composición específica de las capturas a partir de los datos detallados de la flota y el muestreo de puertos. Los datos de captura y esfuerzo de los cuadernos de pesca contienen información de los lances de pesca para FADs y FSC. Paralelamente a los datos de pesca, los datos ambientales para la misma subárea del MZC y el mismo periodo de tiempo se obtuvieron del consorcio MyOcean-Copernicus EU (marine.copernicus.eu) en formato netCDF. Finalmente, las conclusiones de estas tres etapas de investigación fueron las siguientes: (i) Entre las condiciones oceanográficas que determinaban los puntos críticos de captura para ambos tipos de pesca de cerco (FSC y FADs) en el canal de MZC se encontraban la temperatura de la superficie del mar y su variabilidad, la productividad, la altura de la superficie del mar y la las interacciones de las variables espaciales y temporales. Sin embargo, las corrientes geostróficas mostraron un efecto significativo solo para la acumulación de captura pescable en los FADs. El efecto dinámico de las variables oceanográficas ambientales sobre la acumulación de captura de túnidos tropicales a lo largo del Canal de Mozambique varía según el modo de pesca FAD y FSC. Los modelos predijeron hábitats preferidos para peces asociados con FADs entre 10ºS y 18ºS, con el núcleo, en general, en la costa noroeste de Madagascar. Las predicciones para el hábitat preferido en FSC muestran que el núcleo se encuentra principalmente en la parte norte del Canal de Mozambique y también cerca de la costa de Mozambique entre las latitudes 10ºS a 16ºS. El modelo predijo un caladero de pesca parcialmente superpuesto entre los FADs y la el FSC, a pesar de la diferencia en las variables oceanográficas seleccionadas por cada modelo aditivo generalizado para establecer hábitats de pesca preferidos a lo largo del canal de Mozambique.(ii) En relación de la captura de K. pelamis bajo el escenario climático, los hallazgos sugieren que las variables biofísicas afectan la distribución de las capturas de barrilete en el MZC y que la distribución de las especies se verá afectada por el cambio climático, particularmente en la parte norte, con posibles implicaciones en las comunidades pesqueras locales e internacionales. El modelo proyectó la distribución del K. pelamis e bajo escenarios de cambio climático optimista (RCP2.6) y pesimista (RCP8.5). El escenario optimista proyectaba que las capturas de K. pelamis se desplazarían hacia la parte sur del Canal de Mozambique, entre las latitudes 19ºS y 25ºS, para el 2050, y que el cambio de distribución sería menor o sin cambios entre 2050 y 2100. En el peor de los casos (RCP8.5), los caladeros potenciales de pesca se proyectaron en latitudes >20ºS para 2050, y se pronosticó que probablemente se producirían anomalías positivas en latitudes <20ºS entre 2050 y 2100. Además, para fines del siglo XXI, se observan signos de una alta distribución de las capturas. se espera fuera del MZC en latitudes >25ºS hacia las regiones templadas. Dado que se prevé que el cambio climático afectará la pesca de barrilete en el MZC, puede generar desafíos socioeconómicos para las comunidades pesqueras. Los estados costeros en el área de MZC deben fortalecer la gobernanza y promover políticas para construir resiliencia y aumentar la capacidad de adaptación de las pesquerías locales, nacionales y regionales para reducir su vulnerabilidad a los impactos climáticos. (iii) Las capturas nominales de atún han ido disminuyendo con el tiempo en Mozambique, independientemente de si los peces son capturados por flotas industriales o pescadores en pequeña escala. La competencia entre las flotas industriales y los pescadores en pequeña escala para maximizar las capturas y los beneficios de las especies de túnidos de alto valor comercial, como el rabil, el listado y el patudo hayan contribuido, muy probablemente, a generar esta tendencia decreciente, ya que los mismos stocks se capturan en diferentes regiones del océano Índico occidental (costa y alta mar) y por todo tipo de artes durante la migración estacional y espacial de las tres especies de túnidos tropicales. La existencia de tal interacción entre flotas industriales y pescadores locales a pequeña escala y la tendencia decreciente de los stocks tiene mayores consecuencias sobre los pescadores locales dada su mayor vulnerabilidad. Por lo tanto, es importante fortalecer la aplicación de la separación legal ya existente de las áreas de extracción entre la pesca artesanal e industrial. Es importante evitar la explotación excesiva del atún en las aguas nacionales de Mozambique y al mismo tiempo establecer acuerdos de pesca que apoyen el desarrollo socioeconómico del país. Los futuros acuerdos deberían ser socialmente justos, viable ecológicamente y estar respaldados por un buen asesoramiento de gestión sobre la sostenibilidad de las tasas de explotación.