Understanding Social Robustness in Selected European Fisheries Management Systems

Social robustness is a neglected but crucial component of fisheries management. We present a conceptual framework for evaluating social robustness and we apply it to the analysis of four case studies. We understand social robustness to be a combination of two factors that allow a management regime to adapt to a broad range of potential ecological, economic and political situations: acceptance by stakeholders, reflected in how they perceive and respond to management, and capacity for institutional learning, the process in which institutions change in reaction to internal or external socio-economic or ecological pressures.