From Reef to Table: Social and Ecological Factors Affecting Coral Reef Fisheries, Artisanal Seafood Supply Chains, and Seafood Security: e0123856

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 8
• Main Authors: Kittinger, John N, Teneva, Lida T, Koike, Haruko, Stamoulis, Kostantinos A, Kittinger, Daniela S, Oleson, Kirsten LL, Conklin, Eric, Gomes, Mahana, Wilcox, Bart, Friedlander, Alan M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.08.2015
• Subjects: Marine
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123856

Ocean and coastal ecosystems provide critical fisheries, coastal protection, and cultural benefits to communities worldwide, but these services are diminishing due to local and global threats. In response, place-based strategies involve communities and resource users in management have proliferated. Here, we present a transferable community-based approach to assess the social and ecological factors affecting resource sustainability and food security in a small-scale, coral reef fishery. Our results show that this small-scale fishery provides large-scale benefits to communities, including 7,353 plus or minus 1547 kg yr-1 (mean plus or minus SE) of seafood per year, equating to >30,000 meals with an economic value of $78,432. The vast majority of the catch is used for subsistence, contributing to community food security: 58% is kept, 33.5% is given away, and 8.5% is sold. Our spatial analysis assesses the geographic distribution of community beneficiaries from the fishery (the "food shed" for the fishery), and we document that 20% of seafood procured from the fishery is used for sociocultural events that are important for social cohesion. This approach provides a method for assessing social, economic, and cultural values provided by small-scale food systems, as well as important contributions to food security, with significant implications for conservation and management. This interdisciplinary effort aims to demonstrate a transferable participatory research approach useful for resource-dependent communities as they cope with socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental change.