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Fisheries are supposed to be for the benefit of society, producing food, providing livelihoods and enabling cultural continuity. Biological productivity goals for fish stocks operationalised through Harvest Control Rules (HCRs) are central to contemporary fisheries management. While fisheries policies often state socio-economic objectives, such as enhancing the livelihoods of coastal communities, those are rarely, if ever, incorporated into operationalised management procedures. The lack of articulation of social objectives and lack of monitoring of social outcomes around HCRs amounts to poor public policy. In this article, we explore the potential for social HCRs (sHCRs) with reference points and agreed predefined actions to make the social dimensions of fisheries explicit. sHCRs cannot cover all social dimensions, so should be considered as one tool within a broader framework of fisheries governance. Moreover, successful sHCRs would require sound deliberative and participatory processes to generate legitimate social objectives, and monitoring and evaluation of fisheries management performance against those objectives. We introduce two potential types of sHCRs, one based on allocation of catch within biological limit reference points, and one for when fishing exceeds biological limit reference points. The application of sHCRs, we argue, can foster accountability and help avoid non-transparent negotiations on size and distribution of the catch. Our proposal is a call to action for policy makers and fisheries managers to properly integrate social criteria into fisheries governance, and for both biophysical fisheries scientists and social scientists to do better in practical collaboration for methods and knowledge development to support this integration.

The worldwide disruption caused by the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the activities of marine scientists working towards the goals of the UN Ocean Decade. As in other disciplines, marine early-career researchers (ECRs) are essential contributors to the development of novel and innovative science. Based on a survey of 322 of our peers, we show that the pandemic negatively impacted marine ECRs in ways that further exacerbate existing structural challenges such as social isolation, job insecurity, and short-term contracts, competitive funding, and work pressure. Furthermore, we find that the success and wellbeing of marine ECRs depends heavily on networking opportunities, gaining practical experience, collecting data, and producing publications, all of which were disrupted by the pandemic. Our analysis shows that those in the earliest stages of their careers feel most vulnerable to long-term career disadvantage as a result of the pandemic. This paper contributes to the empirical body of work about the impacts of the pandemic on marine science and offers recommendations on how marine ECRs should be supported to achieve the UN Ocean Decade’s goal of producing “the science we need for the ocean we want”.

Scientific careers and publishing have radically changed in recent decades creating an increasingly competitive environment for early career scientists (ECS). The lack of quantitative data available on ECS in marine and fisheries sciences prevents direct assessment of the consequences of increased competitiveness. We assessed the contributions of ECS (up to 6 years post first publication) to the field using an indirect approach by investigating the authorships of peer-reviewed articles. We analysed 118461 papers published by 184561 authors in the top 20 marine and fisheries sciences journals over the years 1991-2020. We identified a positive long-term trend in the proportion of scientific articles (co-)authored by ECS. This suggests a growing contribution by ECS to publications in the field. However, the mean proportion of ECS (co-)authors within one publication declined significantly over the study period. Subsequent tests demonstrated that articles with ECS (co-)authors receive fewer citations and that the proportion of ECS (co-)authors on an article has a significant negative effect on the number of citations. We discuss the potential causes of these inequalities and urge systematic support to ECS to achieve more balanced opportunities for funding and publishing between ECS and senior scientists.

Citizens' initiatives and NGOs often aim to green society. They do this at a local level, but often large-scale changes are also pursued, changes we can label “transitions” towards a more nature-friendly society. However, such transitions are not easy to achieve. By drawing up and reflecting on a Theory of Change (ToC), active citizens can develop goals, strategies and concrete activities to increase their potential impact. In this research, we have reconstructed the Theory of Change in two projects:“Beach Clean Ups”, which try to draw attention to plastic waste throughout the Netherlands, and call on the government and companies to take their responsibility, and “Tiny Forests”, where IVN and local residents and schools work together. While both projects engage in local activities, we see clear differences in their strategy of using local action to drive large-scale change., Veel burgerinitiatieven en NGO’s streven naar vergroening van de samenleving. Zij doen dat op lokaal niveau, maar vaak worden ook grootschalige veranderingen nagestreefd, “transities” richting een meer natuurvriendelijke samenleving. Dergelijke transities zijn echter niet gemakkelijk te realiseren. Door een Theory of Change (ToC) op te stellen en daarop te reflecteren kunnen actieve burgers doelen, strategieën en concrete activiteiten ontwikkelen om hun mogelijke impact te vergroten. In dit onderzoek hebben we de Theory of Change gereconstrueerd. We hebben dit gedaan voor “Beach Clean Ups” die verspreid over heel Nederland aandacht proberen te vragen voor plastic afval, en overheid en bedrijven oproepen hun verantwoordelijkheid te nemen, en “Tiny Forests”, waarbij op meer dan honderd locaties IVN en lokale bewoners en scholen samenwerken. Terwijl beide projecten lokale activiteiten ondernemen, zien we duidelijke verschillen in hun strategie om lokale actie te gebruiken om grootschalige veranderingen te bewerkstelligen.

Background The field of behavioural economics holds several opportunities for integrated fisheries management and conservation and can help researchers and managers alike understand fisher behaviour and decision-making. As the study of the cognitive biases that influence decision-making processes, behavioural economics differentiates itself from the classical field of economics in that it does not assume strictly rational behaviour of its agents, but rather looks for all mechanisms that influence behaviour. This field offers potential applications for fisheries management, for example in relation to behavioural change, but such applications require evidence of these mechanisms applied in a fisheries context. Thus, we have developed a systematic literature review protocol focusing on the primary question: “Which behavioural economics mechanisms influence fisher behaviour?” The aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of these different mechanisms and how they have been applied in the study of fisher behaviour. Methods and expected outputs The review protocol was developed in close collaboration with the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Working Group on Maritime Systems (WGMARS). WGMARS members were therefore considered the key stakeholders for this study, and were consulted to develop a suitable systematic review question and methodology. Three academic databases will be searched using a customized Boolean keyword search string. Research articles deemed eligible for inclusion in the systematic review are those that studied the influence of behavioural-economics mechanisms on the behaviour of marine fishers in any location, and at any scale. Insights from this literature will be collated in order to provide an overview of the relevant behavioural-economics mechanisms and actions, how effective these mechanisms are and at what scale, geographic region and in which fisheries sector they have been applied. Any fisheries management implication

Fisheries management is usually supported by technical and financial measurements (i.e. logbooks and market data), which are helpful for ecological or economic assessments. Yet this information is not able to address social heterogeneity and fisher motivations, which are key to understanding fisher behaviour. This case study of the demersal segment in the Netherlands shows that combining quantitative analysis of logbooks with qualitative data collected by engaging with fishers can capture both fishing activity and its motivations, generating a more social understanding of fisher behaviour. A métier analysis of logbook data describes five dominant fishing practices among the selected segment. Twenty-five in-depth interviews with fishers along with focus groups including other experts identify three social factors that influence fisher behaviour in the Dutch demersal fleet: business structure, working rhythm, and polyvalence. The results show that motivations for fisher behaviour are more complex than complying with regulations or seeking profit: social factors also influence fishing activity. Furthermore, these social factors have real implications for the impacts of management measures on both the fishing communities and the environment, especially in times of change. These results are useful for management strategy development or evaluation because they are feasibly observable through existing data collection protocols.

Spiering is een sleutelsoort in het voedselweb van het IJsselmeer en Markermeer. Spieringen zijn klein en veruit de meeste planten zich al voort na een jaar, terwijl ze nog geen 10 cm zijn, terwijl daarnaast ook oudere spiering voorkomt. Spiering is belangrijk voedsel voor baars en snoekbaars en belangrijk voor beschermde visetende watervogels als zaagbekken, futen en sterns. Daarnaast is spiering een aantrekkelijke bron van inkomsten voor de vissers, omdat spiering efficiënt gevangen kan worden wanneer spiering in de paaiperiode in het vroege voorjaar naar de oever trekt en daar concentraties vormt. De laatste jaren is de spieringvisserij met fuiken in het IJsselmeer en Markermeer echter niet opengesteld geweest door de lage spieringstand en door het belang van spiering voor visetende vogels. Internationaal erkende visserijmodellen werken niet goed voor kortlevende soorten als spiering om te bepalen of spieringvisserij duurzaam en doelmatig kan worden bedreven binnen de beleidsdoelstellingen voor visserij en natuurbescherming. Daarom moeten alternatieve afwegingskaders worden geformuleerd om tot een verantwoord beheer te komen. In deze voorstudie wordt onderzocht in hoeverre ecologische risicoanalyses (ERA) op basis van bestaande informatie, expert judgement en stakeholder-consultatie gebruikt kunnen worden voor een dergelijk afwegingskader en welke kennisbehoefte kan worden afgeleid uit de gemaakte (voorlopige) risicobeoordelingen. Belangrijke aspecten die in deze voorstudie naar voren komen zijn de verslechtering van de spieringstand en daarmee gepaard gaande toenemende risico’s van spieringvisserij voor instandhouding van de spieringpopulaties in IJsselmeer, Markermeer en Waddenzee en de effecten daarvan op voedselbeschikbaarheid voor roofvis en vogels.

Het ministerie van LNV heeft in de Kennis- en innovatieagenda LNV 2019-2030 de koers voor de komende tien jaar en de uitvoering hiervan bepaald. In de Kennisagenda Noordzee 2030 zijn visserij-gerelateerde vragen samengevat die de verschillende belanghebbenden hebben gesteld tijdens het consultatieproces rond het Noordzee2030-programma (Ministerie van LNV & I&W, 2018). Ter aanvulling is op verzoek van het ministerie van LNV, gekeken welke aanvullende vragen er leven onder de stakeholders. Om inzicht te krijgen in de vraagstukken die belanghebbenden hebben omtrent een duurzame kust- en zeevisserij op de Noordzee zijn in voorliggende programmeringsstudie kennis- en innovatievragen verzameld door middel van het uitvoeren van interviews met stakeholders (visserijsector, enkele NGO’s, beleid). Aanvullend op de interviews is een online enquête uitgezet via social media om zoveel mogelijk belanghebbenden te bereiken en hen de mogelijkheid te bieden om de kennis- en innovatievragen die zij hebben aan te leveren. Daarnaast zijn twee stakeholderbijeenkomsten georganiseerd om input te krijgen op de programmeringsstudie. Hierbij is gekeken naar 9 deelthema’s: • minder emissies • betere arbeidsomstandigheden • betere dierenwelzijn • minder bodemberoering • betere selectiviteit • bovengenoemde aspecten en daarbij een goede boterham verdienen • het versterken van het beheer van de visbestanden • de realisatie van systeemveranderingen in de visserij • de realisatie van circulaire visserij.