Data_Sheet_1_Growing Into Poverty: Reconstructing Peruvian Small-Scale Fishing Effort Between 1950 and 2018.pdf

Small-scale fisheries are globally marginalized by management institutions; thus, they have to endure the consequences of ineffective regulations, environmental uncertainty, social traps and market inequity. Small-scale fisheries in Peru, one of the world’s leading fishing countries, are important contributors to national employment, food security and gross domestic product. Yet, relatively little is known about these fisheries and their evolution, except for the fact that the Peruvian small-scale fleet size is rapidly increasing. Here, we reconstructed small-scale fishing effort across time and developed several indicators using it to assess changes in the fleet’s fishing efficiency and economic performance. Segmented regression analysis was used to identify statistically significant breakpoints and changes in their trajectories between 1950 and 2018. Our results suggest that fishing effort has strongly increased, and at much faster rates than the catches, particularly since 2006. The combined effect of these trends results in significant declines in the fleet’s ratio indicators (i.e., catch per unit of effort, revenue per unit of effort, and fisher’s incomes relative to Peru’s minimum wage), suggesting that the growing fishing effort is unsustainable and uneconomic. The behavior of these indicators differs within the fleet, depending on the vessel’s main fishing method. Most small-scale fishers are currently living in relative poverty. Yet, fishers using the least selective fishing gears, or engaged in illegal fishing, had the most stable incomes over the past decade. These findings are discussed in detail by exploring the social, legal and economic drivers fostering fleet growth. Finally, a list of general recommendations aimed at improving fisheries sustainability and fisher’s wellbeing was produced, based on the local context, fisheries literature and common sense.

全球范围内，小型渔业因管理机构的边缘化而受到忽视；因此，它们不得不承受无效法规、环境不确定性、社会陷阱和市场不公的后果。作为世界领先的渔业国家之一，秘鲁的小型渔业对于国家就业、粮食安全和国内生产总值具有重要意义。然而，关于这些渔业及其演变的信息相对有限，除了秘鲁小型渔船数量正迅速增加的事实之外。在本研究中，我们重构了小型渔业随时间的变化，并利用这些变化开发了多个指标，以评估渔船捕鱼效率和经济效益的变化。通过分段回归分析，我们识别了1950年至2018年间轨迹中具有统计学意义的断点和变化。我们的结果表明，捕鱼努力强度显著增加，且增速远超捕捞量，尤其是自2006年以来。这些趋势的叠加效应导致渔船比率指标（即每单位努力捕捞量、每单位努力收入以及渔民收入与秘鲁最低工资的比率）显著下降，表明不断增长的捕鱼努力是不可持续的且经济效益低下。这些指标在不同渔船群体中的表现各异，取决于船只的主要捕鱼方法。目前，大多数小型渔民处于相对贫困状态。然而，使用最不具选择性捕鱼工具或从事非法捕鱼的渔民在过去十年中收入最稳定。通过深入探讨促进渔船增长的社交、法律和经济驱动力，这些发现得到了详细讨论。最后，基于当地背景、渔业文献和常识，制定了一系列旨在提高渔业可持续性和渔民福祉的通用建议。