Vulnerability of coastal fishing communities to climate variability and change : implications for fisheries livelihoods and management in Peru

The warm phase of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is characterized in Peru by positive
sea surface temperatures and negative sea level pressure anomalies. Biotic responses to this
event range from changes in species composition, abundance and biomass, changes in
reproductive success, larval dispersal and recruitment, as well as changes in food availability,
competition and predation. The thesis characterized fishermen livelihoods and how they
responded to El Niño events in two sites in the North (Sechura) and South (Pisco) of Peru.
Additionally, it explored how institutions enable or constrain fishermen livelihoods and
responses to El Niño. While both sites have different histories of ENSO related impacts, they
share the fact that the artisanal fishing sector plays an important role in the local economy.
Livelihood assets exhibit mixed patterns with Pisco possessing a stronger livelihood platform
in terms of assets but lower incomes than in Sechura. This finding highlights the fact that
income is not an accurate measure of resilient livelihoods and needs to be contextualized.
Seasonal migration is a livelihood option practiced by fishermen in both sites depending on
seasonality, the de facto open access facilitating fishermen mobility. The thesis also identified
that fishermen are largely dependent on marine resources for their livelihoods, occupational
pluralism being low at both sites. Diversification being considered a risk-reduction
mechanism and a building block towards resilient livelihoods, the findings suggest that
fishermen are vulnerable to external shocks due to their high reliance on fishing activities.
Moreover, disturbances do not only include climate variability, but also market changes to
which fishermen must adapt.
El Niño events engender negative livelihood outcomes in the North, where floods have a
significant impact on households and the collapse of the scallop fishery considerably
decreases incomes. Conversely, in Pisco the increase in scallop landings provides an
economic “bonanza” for fishermen. An array of coping strategies can be observed in both
sites, mainly prey-switching and migration. However, in Sechura, exiting the fisheries sector
is also a favored strategy. Additionally, the damages of the devastating floods in the North
poses considerable strain on livelihoods and disaster risk reduction initiatives in these
communities are needed.
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Current institutional arrangements in the artisanal fishery, with the de facto open access,
enable migration, an important livelihood option and coping strategy during El Niño in both
communities. With the current chorus of dissatisfaction and trend towards regionalization of
the fishery, changes in this property right regime should be carefully evaluated before being
implemented. Finally, the thesis revealed that formal institutions negatively affect livelihood
outcomes in both sites, the failure of decentralization, hence institutional interplay, hampering
fisheries management. With El Niño being a recurrent phenomenon on the Peruvian shores,
expected to increase in frequency due to global climate change, adaptive management
strategies focusing on diversification of livelihoods, migration and property rights are
imperative. The livelihood framework combined with institutional analysis and the resilience
perspective provided a useful insight into the complex range of assets and activities affected
by climatic events as well as the responses of fishermen. This work is, hitherto, one of the few
empirical studies exploring fishermen livelihoods in Peru and further research is warranted as
well as the incorporation of the findings into ecological and biological studies looking at the
dynamics of the artisanal fisheries, especially in the context of El Niño.