CO-SUSTAIN · Collaborative Sustainable Innovation: co-designing governance approaches for a sustainable and innovative small-scale fishing industry in the Irish islands

Collaborative Sustainable Innovation: co-designing governance approaches for a sustainable and innovative small-scale fishing industry in the Irish islands

European fisheries and coastal communities are facing significant challenges that call for innovative, sustainable and inclusive responses. Almost three thousand islanders live on eighteen islands off the west coast of Ireland. Many of Ireland’s eighteen offshore islands depend on a small-scale fishing industry for survival. Their fishing communities face challenges in navigating complex fisheries governance systems at local, regional, national and EU scales. This research project engaged with Irish island fishing communities, the fishing industry and the policy environment in examining the challenges faced by island fishing communities in implementing innovative initiatives to manage island fisheries on a collective, seasonal basis. Windows of opportunity are open at this time of significant policy change that involves the development of a national policy for Ireland’s offshore islands alongside national and regional marine plans for the sound management of Ireland’s marine environment. These processes provide an opportunity for the design and piloting of innovative governance initiatives for small-scale island fishing communities, that contribute towards meeting policy objectives at national, European and international scales. The central research objective of this Fellowship was to work with the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation to co-design and test innovative governance approaches for small-scale fisheries in the Irish islands that meet national and European marine planning and conservation objectives. Key findings that emerged from the research are: - The current fisheries policy framework produces inequities for small-scale fishers despite the State’s critical policy objective to manage quota-controlled stocks as a public resource. This policy is supposed to ensure that fishing opportunities are not concentrated into the hands of large fishing interests and a strong economic link between fishing vessels and the island and coastal communities where alternative economic activities may not be available. - The Irish fisheries policy environment does not welcome challenges to the status quo, with the result that small-scale fishers continue to operate within a system that has been designed around the realities of the larger, industrial fleet. This entrenchment of the status quo constrains the agility of access to the resource that is crucial to the survival of island small-scale fishing communities who depend on fish stocks appearing in inshore waters within their reach. - Resistance to changing the status quo of fisheries management approaches prevents the emergence of the space needed to trial innovative fisheries governance initiatives such as co-management of the islands fleet on a distinctive regional basis. - To address the inequities in the system, differentiated approaches are needed that move beyond carving out sections of a historical status quo that privileges a small number of large operators.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union