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Marine foods produced by small-scale fishers can make vital contributions to sustainable, healthy food systems with multisectoral considerations of public health nutrition, gender equity, economics, and marine ecology. This pilot study aimed to map the multidimensional determinants of fish food security and young child nutrition in four coastal communities of Kenya with a view toward designing a large intervention trial. We compared anthropometric and dietary diversity indicators of children under 5 years in fishing vs. non-fishing households. Mixed methods included household surveys, 24-h recalls for dietary intake, and anthropometric measures of children. Child dietary diversity score (CDDS) and height-for-age Z (HAZ) were primary outcomes tested in ordinary least square regression modeling. Stunting was widely prevalent (20.2%), as were morbidities for acute diarrhea (29.0%) and fever (46.5%), with no statistically significant differences in fishing compared to non-fishing households. High proportions of children showed nutrient intake inadequacies for vitamins A, C, and E, iron and zinc; <50% met requirements for all nutrients except protein, which was derived primarily from plant-based foods. Regression modeling showed children living in fishing households were associated with lower CDDS. Maternal education, maternal body mass index (BMI), and household livelihood diversity were positively associated with both CDDS and HAZ, while child morbidities and north coast (of Mombasa) residence showed negative associations. Our findings highlight nutritional vulnerabilities within a coastal food system of Kenya and the need to involve multiple sectors—education, environment, health, finance, communications, and governance and policy—in deriving solutions.

Climate change is expected to profoundly affect key food production sectors, including fisheries and agriculture. However, the potential impacts of climate change on these sectors are rarely considered jointly, and when they are, it is often at a national scale, which can mask substantial variability in how communities will be affected. Here, we combine socioeconomic surveys and intersectoral multi-model simulation outputs to conduct a sub-national analysis of the potential impacts of climate change on fisheries and agriculture in 72 coastal communities across five Indo-Pacific countries. Our study reveals three key findings: First, we find that the overall potential losses to fisheries is higher than potential losses to agriculture, but there is substantial within-country variability. Second, while more than two-thirds of locations will bear a double burden of potential losses to both fisheries and agriculture simultaneously, mitigation could reduce the proportion of places facing a double burden. Third, lower socioeconomic status communities are more likely to experience potential impacts than higher socioeconomic status communities.

Climate change is expected to profoundly affect key food production sectors, including fisheries and agriculture. However, the potential impacts of climate change on these sectors are rarely considered jointly, especially below national scales, which can mask substantial variability in how communities will be affected. Here, we combine socioeconomic surveys of 3,008 households and intersectoral multi-model simulation outputs to conduct a sub-national analysis of the potential impacts of climate change on fisheries and agriculture in 72 coastal communities across five Indo-Pacific countries (Indonesia, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, and Tanzania). Our study reveals three key findings: First, overall potential losses to fisheries are higher than potential losses to agriculture. Second, while most locations (> 2/3) will experience potential losses to both fisheries and agriculture simultaneously, climate change mitigation could reduce the proportion of places facing that double burden. Third, potential impacts are more likely in communities with lower socioeconomic status.

Climate change is expected to profoundly affect key food production sectors, including fisheries and agriculture. However, the potential impacts of climate change on these sectors are rarely considered jointly, especially below national scales, which can mask substantial variability in how communities will be affected. Here, we combine socioeconomic surveys of 3,008 households and intersectoral multi-model simulation outputs to conduct a sub-national analysis of the potential impacts of climate change on fisheries and agriculture in 72 coastal communities across five Indo-Pacific countries (Indonesia, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, and Tanzania). Our study reveals three key findings: First, overall potential losses to fisheries are higher than potential losses to agriculture. Second, while most locations (> 2/3) will experience potential losses to both fisheries and agriculture simultaneously, climate change mitigation could reduce the proportion of places facing that double burden. Third, potential impacts are more likely in communities with lower socioeconomic statu

Understanding the migration of fishers through the spatial window clarifies the critical role the phenomenon plays in artisanal fishers’ livelihoods. Migrant fishers’ ‘space’ refers to the complete spectrum of spatial characteristics at the destination, which include fishing ground, landing site, market, social relations and integration into society. A multiple methods approach was employed to evaluate migrant fishers’ ‘space’ at four destinations in coastal Kenya from October 2010 to March 2011. Results point out to the importance of spatial characteristics at the destination landing sites in influencing fishers’ migrations. The social relations of migrant fishers with local communities play a critical role in the integration of migrant fishers by enabling them to maintain a ‘place’ in the fishing practice. The maintenance of ‘place’ provides migrant fishers with access to the resources thereby contributing to migrant fishers' life sustenance. Therefore, understanding fishers ‘space’ allows for a better understanding of the critical roles of fisher migration in sustaining coastal livelihoods. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Understanding how ocean currents impact the distribution and connectivity of marine species, provides vital information for the effective conservation management of migratory marine animals. Here, we used a combination of molecular genetics and ocean drift simulations to investigate the spatial ecology of juvenile green turtle (Chelonia mydas) developmental habitats, and assess the role of ocean currents in driving the dispersal of green turtle hatchlings. We analyzed mitochondrial (mt)DNA sequenced from 358 juvenile green turtles, and from eight developmental areas located throughout the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO). A mixed stock analysis (MSA) was applied to estimate the level of connectivity between developmental sites and published genetic data from 38 known genetic stocks. The MSA showed that the juvenile turtles at all sites originated almost exclusively from the three known SWIO stocks, with a clear shift in stock contributions between sites in the South and Central Areas. The results from the genetic analysis could largely be explained by regional current patterns, as shown by the results of passive numerical drift simulations linking breeding sites to developmental areas utilized by juvenile green turtles. Integrating genetic and oceanographic data helps researchers to better understand how marine species interact with ocean currents at different stages of their lifecycle, and provides the scientific basis for effective conservation management.

This study evaluated the potential impact of global fish trade on local food prices by analyzing a 16-year locally collected time series of disaggregated coral reef fish products and prices that differed in their market chain linkages-ranging from local to international markets. We were primarily interested in evaluating how local and global markets interacted with the local prices of beef, fish, and maize. There was no cointegration between the prices of exported octopus and that of maize and beef over this study period. Further, the three types of fish and associated markets responded in different ways to various price changes. For internationally traded octopus, we found a positive association between price and catch rates but no evidence that the global trade in octopus markets created local inflation, particularly the prices of the fish eaten by the poor. In general, there was no evidence for price transmission from export to nonexport fish products even though fishers appeared to focus on octopus when prices were high. Consequently, fishers' behaviors and trade policies that promote adjusting fishing effort to internationally traded fish did not appear to promote poverty or food insecurity in this fishery.

Coastal communities are particularly at risk from the impacts of a changing climate(1). Building the capacity of coastal communities to cope with and recover from a changing environment is a critical means to reducing their vulnerability(2,3). Yet, few studies have quantitatively examined adaptive capacity in such communities. Here, we build on an emerging body of research examining adaptive capacity in natural resource-dependent communities in two important ways. We examine how nine indicators of adaptive capacity vary: among segments of Kenyan fishing communities; and over time. Socially disaggregated analyses found that the young, those who had migrated, and those who do not participate in decision-making seemed least prepared for adapting to change in these resource-dependent communities. These results highlight the most vulnerable segments of society when it comes to preparing for and adapting to change in resource-dependent communities. Comparisons through time showed that aspects of adaptive capacity seemed to have increased between 2008 and 2012 owing to higher observed community infrastructure and perceived availability of credit.

This article examines how selected socioeconomic characteristics of fishers and traders shape market prices at five coastal communities in Kenya. Focus groups elicited perceived factors affecting market prices, which were then tested using quantitative analysis. Ownership of fishing gear by fishers negatively influenced the prices taken. Fish traders who bought larger quantities paid a higher price. There was no significant relation between the choice of fish market by traders and fish price due to the diffused nature of the fish market. Although fish traders had relatively high income than fishers, the link between individual characteristics, market prices, and the outcomes of such interactions is more complicated than commonly perceived. The complexity is enhanced by the heterogeneity in different fisheries and of the prices at different markets and underlines the importance of continued documentation and exploration of the relationships between social and economic status and market prices for fishers and traders.

This study, carried out in five fishing communities along the Kenyan coast, examined fisheries-derived income of fishers and traders in two different invertebrate fisheries (octopus and sea cucumber) and tested if differences in global market integration of these two products could explain differences in income inequalities among actors involved in the two fisheries. The structure of the value chains was mapped, differences in income between fishers and traders tested, and income inequalities among actors in each fishery examined. Although the octopus fishery included a greater diversity of actors and thereby provides income to a larger group of people, income inequality in this fishery was higher among fishers and traders than in the sea cucumber fishery. Thus, the often cited relationship between increasing market integration and income inequality may require a re-evaluation and a more nuanced treatment.

Marine reserves can create both benefits and costs to fishers. This article explores the perceptions of fishers in Kenya and Seychelles about displacement, spillover, and overall impacts of local marine reserves on their livelihoods. We test whether these perceptions are different among fishers from different geographic and socioeconomic conditions. Sixty-six percent of fishers had been displaced from marine reserves or coastal development and 90% believed they had caught fishes that spilled over from marine reserves. Poorer fishers in Kenya were both displaced from, and also felt like they benefited from, marine reserves. This highlights how people's experiences with marine reserves, both positive and negative, are affected by a range of social considerations that may not be incorporated in typical evaluations of ecological and economic marine reserve success., AuthorCount:7

Communities are increasingly empowered with the ability and responsibility of working with national governments to make decisions about marine resources in decentralized co-management arrangements. This transition toward decentralized management represents a changing governance landscape. This paper explores the transition to decentralisation in marine resource management systems in three East African countries. The paper draws upon expert opinion and literature from both political science and linked social-ecological systems fields to guide exploration of five key governance transition concepts in each country: (1) drivers of change; (2) institutional arrangements; (3) institutional fit; (4) actor interactions; and (5) adaptive management. Key findings are that decentralized management in the region was largely donor-driven and only partly transferred power to local stakeholders. However, increased accountability created a degree of democracy in regards to natural resource governance that was not previously present. Additionally, increased local-level adaptive management has emerged in most systems and, to date, this experimental management has helped to change resource user's views from metaphysical to more scientific cause-and-effect attribution of changes to resource conditions. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved