X-Keynote panel 2: Fisheries in context Edward Allison, University of Washington Alpina Begossi, Universidade Estadual de Campinas Jeremy Phillipson, Newcastle University
One of the keynote speakers of the MARE conference was Daniel Pauly, in 2005. This renowned fisheries biologist reflected on how social scientists are relatively out of sight in applied marine research and argued that this was linked to the lack of generalizations social scientists make (Pauly, 2006). One of the responses to the keynote in the debate following in the MAST journal (Rob van Ginkel, 2006) pointed to the importance of sensitivity for local context. Considering that this in fact is one of the main generalizations social science makes, context matters, this panel will have exactly that perspective. What are the important lessons Begossi (2009), Phillipson and Allison (2017) learned from fisheries within the contexts they studied then? What was key at the time of their keynotes and what do those insights mean to us now? Begossi looks at South America (focusing on Brazil) and discuss dilemmas small-scale fishers face both in marine and riverine systems with regard to conservation, economic pressures, and sustainability directions. Phillipson (special invitee) focuses on NE Atlantic capture fisheries (focusing on Europe) and discuss outstanding challenges for the EU’s common fisheries policy such as managing market forces and shared space, whilst also looking at the future for family businesses and how to close the gap between fisheries and environmental management. Allison discusses how the transformation towards the neo-liberal blue economy model interacts with fishers and their communities and argues there are alternative, more equitable models to provide economic opportunities and achieve ocean sustainability.
