A rapid impact and vulnerability assessment approach for commercial fisheries management

Abstract Fisheries managers are faced with a paucity of both data and tools to assess the socio-economic dimensions of fisheries management. However, Federal law requires fisheries managers to consider social and economic consequences of management plans (i.e., Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 and its amendments). Assessing the potential consequences requires data and analytical tools that address not only multiple species but also multiple stakeholders and sectors of the economy. To help meet these mandates and overcome challenges to their implementation we developed an approach to rapidly and efficiently assemble decision-relevant information. We call this a rapid impact and vulnerability assessment (RIVA). RIVA builds on the concepts of risk and vulnerability to document causal linkages between management interventions (e.g., introduction of new rule) and downstream consequences, whether positive or negative. We illustrate its application and utility with an example from New Bedford, Massachusetts. It can help managers identify the ways individuals and groups within a given fishing community may be differentially impacted and able to respond to reduce harms. Such information can inform managers about how to intervene to mitigate consequences and promote positive forms of responding that do not create further undesirable ecological and social consequences. By being sensitive to agency resource constraints, the framework enables the rapid gathering of information in contrast to more traditional and large-scale social impact assessment or vulnerability assessment methods. A systematic application of this framework can facilitate learning and long-term policy making by guiding routine gathering of social, economic, and cultural data and identifying critical knowledge gaps and uncertainties. After illustrating the application of RIVA we discuss both its strengths and weaknesses.